Country Music Day — Maren Morris Comes Out as Bisexual 

It’s Bisexual Awareness Week! It’s also Country Music Day. We’ve decided to combine the two by putting the spotlight on country legend Maren Morris. 

Introducing Country Music Person 

Maren Morris is a 34 year-old country singer from Arlington, Texas. She began her singing career early in age, touring around Texas before she was even a teenager. She released her first album, HERO, in 2017. From the album, she had several songs become popular, such as My Church, I Could Use A Love Song, and 80s Mercedes. Her name became known outside of country music due to her collaboration with Zedd in 2018 on The Middle. 

Maren Morris proceeded to release her sophomore album GIRL in 2019, followed by her third album Humble Quest in 2022. This August, she released her EP, Intermission. 

Country Music and Being Outside the Norm

The country music genre is known for catering to traditional, straight people, so anything that derives from the norm is a bold move. A while ago, we had Lil Nas X who came out as gay and shocked the country music world. Before that, we had Brandi Carlile, Chely Wright and Allison Russell who came out as gay too. 

This year during Pride month, Maren Morris revealed she was bisexual. She posted a set of pictures from her concert in Phoenix, Arizona and captioned it with “happy to be the B in LGBTQ+”. 

Before that, Maren Morris advocated for the inequalities within the country genre. She talked about her privilege as a white woman compared to a black woman, saying even though there’s inequality between men and women in country, there’s even more resistance when it comes to black women in the genre. She has been outspoken about not tolerating racism, misogyny or queerphobias. When she spoke out against Brittany Aldean, Jason Aldean’s wife for making a transphobic post, she received backlash from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who referred to her as a “lunatic” and “fake country music singer”. Maren Moris made t-shirts with the phrase “lunatic country music person”, already showing inclusivity in her initiative with not gendering her t-shirts. Most importantly, she linked the phone number of Trans Lifeline on the sales website, and donated the proceeds of the t-shirts to both Trans Lifeline and GLAAD. 

Leaving Country Music 

In September 2023, Maren Morris did an interview with LA Times where she admitted she wanted to leave country music. She cited the industry’s failure when it comes acknowledging racism, misogyny, and queerphobias. Although she has been vocal about her stance, she admitted she couldn’t change the genre from within and that “it’s burning itself down without my help”. Her two-song EP The Bridge talked about making the switch. This further proved how hostile the genre is to people who don’t fit the white cishet mould. 

What About Now?

Maren Morris’ most recent project, Intermission, mixes up both country and pop. She is known for mixing genres, but this is different after her Los Angeles Times statement. Although the EP talks about recovering from a failed relationship, there is more to be said about the ending track this is how a woman leaves. 

This is how a woman leaves, even though it’s killing me, I’ll make it look so easy that even you’ll believe me.

The lyrics transcend the territory of a regular break-up, with Morris’ intention of leaving country music. The title of the project Intermission hints at the extended play serving as a transition between her past and her future. 

What we should learn from this is that there is more work to be done, not only in the music industry, but also in more misrepresented genres. Maren Morris’ decision is more than valid after fighting to make change happen, but being pushed down every time. Everyone deserves to feel included in the profession they choose to pursue, yet we have a long way to go. Don’t hesitate to support Maren Morris’ EP, Intermission! 

If you’ve missed out on the first article of this week, here’s why bisexual awareness week is important:

Sources:

• Entertainment Weekly, September 2nd 2022, Emlyn Travis, <https://ew.com/music/maren-morris-brittany-aldean-clash-again-transphobic-remarks/>
• Los Angeles Times, September 15th 2023, Mikael Wood, <https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2023-09-15/maren-morris-the-bridge-nashville-country-music-leaving>