23 September 2018
Newsdesk
In a world exclusive for Gay Times Lady Leshurr is their first pansexual coverstar. In an in-depth interview
she discusses bigotry in the industry and how she was told to keep her sexuality a secret
On coming out publicly as pansexual:
“From my first Queen’s Speech I said ‘I kissed a girl and I liked it ting, I take your girl and I wife it ting’. I’ve been saying what I like. People only listen to what they want or they just think I’m bantering.”
“I’m just happy that I don’t have to hide anything anymore, I am free. In life you have to tell the truth, you have to feel comfortable in your own skin and now I feel so comfortable in my own skin.”
“I don’t have to hide anything anymore. My sexuality doesn’t define who I am.”
“Life is all about growth, just developing and understanding yourself and being more confident. I understand feeling trapped, I understand feeling like you can’t be yourself. If you want to come out, you have to come out yourself. It’s not anybody’s place to out someone.”
“I remember searching on the internet ‘Lady Leshurr gay’ and ‘Lady Leshurr lesbian’ just to see what I used to put out back in 2008/2009, and I realised I was trying to come out but no one was giving me the ‘it’s fine, it’s okay to come out’.
On being outed by an ex:
“The way she outed me was quiet malice and she tried to out someone else out in the tweet as well and I don’t think it was respectful at all, it was really mean. The thing is, people actually knew we were going out, it was just never confirmed. Initially, I thought I could ignore what she’s tweeted about me and just pretend like nothing’s happened and simply carry on doing my music, but then I thought no, I’m gonna actually turn this negative into a positive. I’ve grown so much since then and I learned from that whole situation.”
“There were certain people around me at the time that started treating me differently and acting a bit funny with me. I was shocked and I quickly learnt that all that meant was that those people were not meant to be in my life.”
“If you can’t take me for who I am then you can leave. At the end of the day I’m not going to stop being myself. The whole situation showed me who was real and who wasn’t, who was meant to be around me and who didn’t deserve my time and energy”.
On being pressured to remain in the closet:
“My ex manager told me coming out wasn’t a good look or the right move for me or my career. I remember it made me feel so depressed because I wasn’t being allowed to be my authentic self and honestly, speaking from experience, I understand how it can make someone feel trapped, give you low self-esteem and anxiety, because you can’t fully be yourself. People’s opinions are the reason sometimes you can’t be yourself and it’s sad. People can be really mean.”
