A visibly frustrated Chappell Roan clarified her views on the 2024 U.S. presidential race and her dissatisfaction with the political status quo, even as she admitted she would vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in November.
And yet, Roan refuses to endorse the sitting vice president, saying that she won’t put her stamp of approval on policies or positions with which she disagrees.
“Endorsing and voting are completely different,” the pop singer said on TikTok. “I don’t agree with a lot of what is going on with policies. Like, obviously, fuck the policies of the Right, but also, fuck some of the policies on the Left.
“That’s why I can’t endorse. That’s why I can’t put my entire name and my entire project behind one. Because there is no way I can stand behind some of the Left’s completely transphobic and completely genocidal views.”
Roan has been critical of U.S. support of Israel and of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza in response to a Hamas terrorist attack earlier this year. She has also criticized the Biden administration for allowing cisgender people to determine what decisions transgender people are allowed to make about their own lives.
The latter assertion appears to refer to a White House statement regarding Biden’s belief that transgender youth should delay surgical interventions until adulthood — which some LGBTQ advocates and left-wing critics interpreted as condoning state-level efforts to ban such procedures. (The White House eventually partially walked back the comment.)
Roan previously garnered negative attention for comments she made to the U.K. newspaper The Guardian. In the interview, Roan took issue with some of the stances held by the major political parties — especially with respect to Gaza and transgender autonomy — and said she had major problems with both parties and didn’t feel the need to endorse a presidential candidate.
Many — especially on the political Left — interpreted her comments that there were issues on “both sides” as her equating the Republican and Democratic parties as equally problematic. However, Roan had previously made comments that were generally considered positive about the historic nature of Kamala Harris’s candidacy.
The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer posted a TikTok video on Monday responding to the criticism, arguing that her quote had been taken out of context “per usual.” She called on people to “use critical thinking” to determine what they support politically and encouraged them to “question authority and question world leaders.”
“If you come to my shows, if you read my full interviews, if you literally know anything about me and what I stand for, you know that this is not lip service, this is not virtue signaling, that my actions have always paved the way for my project and the people who really know me,” she said. “Actions speak louder than words, and actions speak louder than an endorsement.”
The next day, she followed up with another TikTok post, elaborating more on her views, but also noting that it would be her last riff on the subject.
“If you don’t get what I’m saying from this, it’s a lost cause,” she said. But the “Pink Pony Club” singer, appearing on camera looking as though she had just woken up, also vented frustration at people misunderstanding her nuanced, left-wing critique of the two major political parties in America — or, worse, deliberately misrepresenting her statements to push their own agenda.
She took umbrage that people were accusing her of being a closeted right-winger or trying to straddle the fence without taking a side in the upcoming election.
“Fuck Trump for fucking real,” Roan said. “But fuck some of the shit that has gone down in the Democratic Party that has failed people like me and you, and more so Palestine. And more so every marginalized community in the world. So, no, I’m not going to settle with what the options are in front of me. And you’re not going to make me feel bad about that.
“So, yeah, I’m voting for fucking Kamala,” she continued, mispronouncing the vice president’s name. “But I’m not settling for what is offered, because that’s questionable.”
She then added, “You know what? Endorsing someone — if someone is publicly endorsing a political figure, that doesn’t even mean that they’re going to fucking vote for them. Because as I said in my other video, actions speak louder than words. … This is not me playing both sides. This is me questioning both sides because this is what we have in front of us. … You’re not getting it. This is me critiquing both sides because they’re both fucked up.”
She ended the video by encouraging people to vote.
“Voting is all we have right now in this system,” she said, urging her followers to vote for whichever candidate they think is better.
“I hope this makes it clear that, no, I’m not picking the sides of what we have right now. Yes, one’s obviously better than the other. But Jesus fucking Christ, I hope you don’t settle for what we have, and put your name behind someone you don’t fully, fully trust, because of their blatant actions,” she concluded, a pointed reference to her dissatisfaction with the Biden administration.
Im done talking about it. If you dont get what im saying from this, its a lost cause. And im not forcing you to agree with me. This is my statement. Have a good day
Two sitting Democratic congressmen came out publicly against allowing transgender females to compete on women's sports teams.
This continues an alarming trend of people on the political Left blaming LGBTQ visibility as one of the reasons for Republican victories in this year's elections.
Following Donald Trump's win in the presidential race and the start of post-election analyses to determine why most voters shifted heavily away from the Democratic party, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) told The New York Times that the party "have to stop pandering to the far left."
Time to turkey-trot out a timely gratitude column. I often extol the benefits of gratitude. It may have come later in life, but I have learned that simply being thankful is a nearly impenetrable shield from life's blows. It's a superpower. No wonder Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday after New Year's Eve.
Most LGBTQ Americans are probably not feeling particularly grateful ahead of this year's feasting. According to polling commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign, we voted for Vice President Kamala Harris over President-elect Donald Trump by an 84-14 margin.
So, what's there to be particularly grateful for as we watch the Gilded Age 2.0 billionaire class line up behind a guy who's already shown us how little he cares for democracy? As even the popular vote has apparently nudged into the Trump column?
"As a kid, I heard a lot of sad stories about women."
Those words appear early in Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir, which the pop superstar released in 2017. As she tells it, Lauper was especially distraught hearing stories in which her grandmother, her mother, and her aunt were each dissuaded or denied chances to pursue their individual dreams or opportunities -- and all solely because of their gender. "I could never undo the wrong done...because of a ridiculous mentality that kept women back," she wrote.
What she could do was to commit herself to changing that narrative, and to not let similar limits get in her way, particularly when it came to pursuing a career in music. Her drive was at least in part motivated by her mother, the Brooklyn-reared daughter of Catholic immigrants from Sicily.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
A visibly frustrated Chappell Roan clarified her views on the 2024 U.S. presidential race and her dissatisfaction with the political status quo, even as she admitted she would vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in November.
And yet, Roan refuses to endorse the sitting vice president, saying that she won’t put her stamp of approval on policies or positions with which she disagrees.
“Endorsing and voting are completely different,” the pop singer said on TikTok. “I don’t agree with a lot of what is going on with policies. Like, obviously, fuck the policies of the Right, but also, fuck some of the policies on the Left.
“That’s why I can’t endorse. That’s why I can’t put my entire name and my entire project behind one. Because there is no way I can stand behind some of the Left’s completely transphobic and completely genocidal views.”
Roan has been critical of U.S. support of Israel and of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza in response to a Hamas terrorist attack earlier this year. She has also criticized the Biden administration for allowing cisgender people to determine what decisions transgender people are allowed to make about their own lives.
The latter assertion appears to refer to a White House statement regarding Biden’s belief that transgender youth should delay surgical interventions until adulthood — which some LGBTQ advocates and left-wing critics interpreted as condoning state-level efforts to ban such procedures. (The White House eventually partially walked back the comment.)
Roan previously garnered negative attention for comments she made to the U.K. newspaper The Guardian. In the interview, Roan took issue with some of the stances held by the major political parties — especially with respect to Gaza and transgender autonomy — and said she had major problems with both parties and didn’t feel the need to endorse a presidential candidate.
Many — especially on the political Left — interpreted her comments that there were issues on “both sides” as her equating the Republican and Democratic parties as equally problematic. However, Roan had previously made comments that were generally considered positive about the historic nature of Kamala Harris’s candidacy.
The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer posted a TikTok video on Monday responding to the criticism, arguing that her quote had been taken out of context “per usual.” She called on people to “use critical thinking” to determine what they support politically and encouraged them to “question authority and question world leaders.”
“If you come to my shows, if you read my full interviews, if you literally know anything about me and what I stand for, you know that this is not lip service, this is not virtue signaling, that my actions have always paved the way for my project and the people who really know me,” she said. “Actions speak louder than words, and actions speak louder than an endorsement.”
The next day, she followed up with another TikTok post, elaborating more on her views, but also noting that it would be her last riff on the subject.
“If you don’t get what I’m saying from this, it’s a lost cause,” she said. But the “Pink Pony Club” singer, appearing on camera looking as though she had just woken up, also vented frustration at people misunderstanding her nuanced, left-wing critique of the two major political parties in America — or, worse, deliberately misrepresenting her statements to push their own agenda.
She took umbrage that people were accusing her of being a closeted right-winger or trying to straddle the fence without taking a side in the upcoming election.
“Fuck Trump for fucking real,” Roan said. “But fuck some of the shit that has gone down in the Democratic Party that has failed people like me and you, and more so Palestine. And more so every marginalized community in the world. So, no, I’m not going to settle with what the options are in front of me. And you’re not going to make me feel bad about that.
“So, yeah, I’m voting for fucking Kamala,” she continued, mispronouncing the vice president’s name. “But I’m not settling for what is offered, because that’s questionable.”
She then added, “You know what? Endorsing someone — if someone is publicly endorsing a political figure, that doesn’t even mean that they’re going to fucking vote for them. Because as I said in my other video, actions speak louder than words. … This is not me playing both sides. This is me questioning both sides because this is what we have in front of us. … You’re not getting it. This is me critiquing both sides because they’re both fucked up.”
She ended the video by encouraging people to vote.
“Voting is all we have right now in this system,” she said, urging her followers to vote for whichever candidate they think is better.
“I hope this makes it clear that, no, I’m not picking the sides of what we have right now. Yes, one’s obviously better than the other. But Jesus fucking Christ, I hope you don’t settle for what we have, and put your name behind someone you don’t fully, fully trust, because of their blatant actions,” she concluded, a pointed reference to her dissatisfaction with the Biden administration.
Watch Chappel Roan’s full TikTik statement below:
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