Steve Grand, who is seeking to become the first major country music star who is openly gay, has a video/song (see below) that has gone somewhat viral and in the process won him an interview on Good Morning America. Grand has been criticized by some for his depiction of gays, but he is nonetheless breaking down barriers.
In addition, he has talked about his experience of being pushed into bogus "ex-gay" therapy. He talks about this in an article in The Advocate. Here are highlights:
Steve Grand became an overnight sensation when his gay-themed music video, “All American Boy,” went viral shortly after being posted on YouTube last week.
The video has racked up more than 650,000 views in just six days—an accomplishment on par with some of the most successful artists currently working in the music industry.
However, the independent singer/songwriter wasn’t always as comfortable with his sexuality as he appears in his hit video, and has revealed to ABC that he once endured so-called gay-to-straight reparative therapy after he told his family he was gay.
"I felt like I really was a shame to my parents," Grand said. "I felt like there was no way I could ever make them proud and I felt like I was a constant disappointment."
Since coming to terms with his sexuality, Grand says he was driven to tell the story of his popular power-ballad, risking everything he had to make “All American Boy” a reality.
Kudos to Grand for talking about his experience and coming to terms with being gay. I look forward to the day when, hopefully, being gay is simply a non-issue.
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