Country superstar Maren Morris has long been outspoken in her support of the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, she was deemed a “lunatic country music person” by Fox News after she called out Brittany Aldean for making transphobic comments. She was so honored by the statement that she changed her social media profile pictures to a screencap from the Fox News segment during which she received the title. She also began selling special “lunatic country music person” merch.
Earlier this year, Morris made an appearance as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she also apologized to the LGBTQ+ community for how country music has treated them over the years.
Today (June 7), Billboard published a long-form essay in which Morris explained what she’s learned from being an outspoken ally of the LGBTQ+ community. While she’s certainly received backlash for her support, Morris notes that she is generally unfazed.
“I have not been pulled from the radio — at least not as a reaction to my actions,” she said. “I’ve certainly lost fans along the way. But I think that’s sort of like spring cleaning. I don’t want to make three albums and go away forever; this is it for me. I don’t love anything else as much as I love performing and writing songs. So, with the effects of the ‘punishment phase’ of speaking out, I couldn’t give a sh-t because I’m going to be doing this for the long haul. You lose some people along the way, but you solidify those that you had from the get-go.”
Elsewhere, she noted that musicians can never please anyone, but she simply plans to keep surrounding herself with good people, and doing the best she can to support marginalized communities.
“[C]lapping back on Twitter and expecting a different result doesn’t work for me anymore,” said Morris. “I’m going to look to where the people are helping and just Mister Rogers this b*tch.”
