I received some interesting news from my sister Holly, who is an avid country music enthusiast, this morning. Country music star Chely Wright, in an interview Monday,  May 3rd with People.com, has come out of the closet. Wright is a 39 year old singer-songwriter, who has won both an Academy of Country Music and a Country Music award. Wright is the first popular country music musician to announce their homosexuality, and she addresses this in the interview. Here is an excerpt from the post,

“There had never, ever been a country music artist who had acknowledged his or her homosexuality,” she tells PEOPLE. “I wasn’t going to be the first.”

With this announcement on the heels of the Jennifer Knapp story, many questions come to mind. While Rock & Roll and Pop music have been friendly with the gay community for sometime (Queen, David Bowie, George Michael etc.), both the Contemporary Christian and Country music scenes have sung a different tune. There has historically been more of a taboo towards homosexuality in these cultures. Something is changing with the candor of these two musicians. I don’t know if it is the music business, these genres in particular, or contemporary American culture. Either way, the closet door has been opened for musicians in these realms and it will be interesting to see who enters in, or “comes out.”

Full Post on PEOPLE.com

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