With her fourth studio album Dreamsicle dropping this Friday, Maren Morris is entering a new era marked by freedom, vulnerability, and the kind of self-expression that doesn’t ask permission.
In a new interview with The Zoe Report, the Grammy-winning singer opened up about how embracing that part of herself has helped her feel more connected than ever.
Maren Morris in her interview with The Zoe Report
Whitten Sabbatini for TZR
“I’ve always known that I am attracted to men and women,” Morris said. But after 15 years of being in heterosexual relationships and navigating a career rooted in Nashville, she never felt “brave enough” to talk about it publicly—until now. “That was just a facet of me that I didn’t think I wanted private anymore,” she added. “I wanted to be able to connect with my fans and my queer community.”
That connection has been more than personal—it's been life-saving. Following her 2023 divorce and departure from mainstream country music, Morris said she found comfort and strength through queer community and creative collaborators like MUNA, with whom she co-wrote the sultry, synth-forward track “Push Me Over.” The song, which features the cheeky lyric “sittin’ on the fence feels good between my legs,” is already ruffling feathers—and she knows it.
Maren Morris in her interview with The Zoe Report
Whitten Sabbatini for TZR
Still, Morris isn’t backing down. “Especially in a time where you’re in this free-for-all post-divorce reckoning,” she says, “being honest and being vulnerable is the only way that you find community.”
Morris has long been known as a dedicated activist and ally, so much so that GLAAD honored her with the Excellence in Media Award back in 2023. She ultimately departed country music the same year, saying the genre was “burning itself down” without her help and that the biases shown during Trump’s first presidency showed people’s true colors.
“It just revealed who people really were and that they were proud to be misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic,” she told the Los Angeles Times at the time.
Then, in June 2024, Morris came out in a since-deleted Instagram post (everything on her page prior to March 21, 2025, has also been deleted, so this is not an anomaly or backtrack.) At the time, she posted a photo of her holding Pride flags during her RSVP Redux Tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona, captioned, “happy to be the B in the LGBTQ+” and wishing everyone a “happy pride.”
As Dreamsicle promises to usher in a new, more liberated version of Morris, one thing is clear: she’s no longer interested in fitting any mold.
LGBTQ+ history is often erased from our textbooks, andLGBTQ+ artis often censored. It feels like every day, new book bans are announced, but for those paying attention, this is nothing new for queer folks. Our story is one of perseverance, joy in the face of tragedy, and strength. We have been through it all and come out it while also, well, coming out.
Our stories are rich and the art we make is iconic. So, is it really any surprise that there are museums and archives around the world dedicated to those stories, histories, and creative expressions? While these foundations and groups are doing their part to collect and preserve these records and artworks, for them to truly stay alive, we need to bear witness and experience them!
So, consider visiting these incredible LGBTQ+ museums and archives from around the world that are combating erasure and celebrating queerness by preserving our rich history for future generations.
This story originally ran on Pride in March 2016.
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City
The Leslie-Lohman Museum has a permanent collection of 1,300 objects from incredible LGBTQ+ artists including Robert Mapplethorpe, Catherine Opie, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney.
The GLBT History Museum from the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco features art, objects, and publications from the 1940s to today. The museum also hosts events throughout the year with artists, activists, and authors.
The Schwules Museum opened in 1985, and was originally located above a gay nightclub. The museum has become one of the world’s largest and most significant LGBTQ+ museums.
The Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago isn’t your average museum. They’re dedicated to the preservation of leather, kink, and fetish lifestyles. Be sure to check out their extensive library and Tom of Finland gallery!
The ArQuives (formally the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives) collects LGBTQ2+ historical records, personal papers, publications, art, photographs, posters, and artifacts. The CLGA also features art exhibits throughout the archive and in the gallery.
The Pride Library is a collection of periodicals, books, and audio-visual resources housed in the D.B. Weldon Library at The University of Western Ontario. There are over 6000 items in the collection in over 15 languages, from popular novels, to documentaries and art.
IHLIA LGBT Heritage was established in 1999, and is an international archive of over 100,000 LGBT books, journals, magazines, films, documentaries, photographs, and objects.
Chris Gonzalez Collection in Indianapolis, Indiana
The Chris Gonzalez Collection is housed at Central Library in Indianapolis. Many of the materials are circulated, and the library has over 7,000 individual titles, as well as LGBTQ+ publications, videos, art, and photos.
Australian Queer Archives (formally known as The Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives) was founded in 1978, and collects significant LGBT materials. Since its founding the collection has amassed over "400,000 items of archive, library, museum and gallery material." The archive also hosts gallery exhibits of LGBTQ+ artists.
Brooklyn-based Lesbian History Archives seeks to preserve lesbian and sapphic history by documenting the lives and activities of women-loving women. Not only does this project aim to keep queer women’s stories alive but finds their all too often hidden histories that other patriarchal historians have ignored.
The popular reality and OnlyFans star isn't afraid to show plenty of skin on social media. After all, this is the same guy who had no problem dishing on his kinks and steamy routines in the bedroom.
While attending the 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, Calafiore dished on his spicy photos that have his fans going feral online.
"I've got to drop them every now and then! My branding online is 95% serious and 5% thirst traps. I have to keep everyone entertained with the thirst traps. Everybody wants to see [me] half naked," Calafiore tells PRIDE.
The self-described 'bisexual badass' made a splash on reality TV by competing on Big Brother and multiple seasons of TheChallenge. His next gig? Starring in season two of Lisa Vanderpump's new spin-off Vanderpump Villa.
"The range! Who would have though that Big Brother would cross over to the queen herself? I was in the presence of royalty. Lisa, I know you're hiring. We'll talk. Your people will talk to my people."
In typical Calafiore fashion, the sexy star is teasing plenty of spicy moments between the hot male and female competitors in the upcoming season.
"I contributed to a lot of shenanigans that happened [with] a little bit of both [men and women]."
Fans can keep up with Paulie Calafiore by following him on Instagram here. To see the full interview, check out the video at the top of the page.
Ione Skye and Jenny Shimuzu attend the Fashion Forward Los Angeles charity fashion show on June 8, 2003 in Beverly Hills, California.
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Say Anything star Ione Skye is opening up about a lifetime of famous flings — including one with model Jenny Shimizu.
The 1989 Cameron Crowe classic was Skye’s big break after appearing in several smaller films with burgeoning stars. Within three years, she’d gotten married to Adam Horowitz of the Beastie Boys at age 21.
In her memoir, Say Everything, Skye admits that her various affairs led to the dissolution of the marriage within just seven years. One of those affairs was with Shimizu.
"[Shimizu was a] masterful lover, sometimes a dominant one," she recalls, per Page Six. "She didn’t use whips or handcuff me to the bed, she just held this vibe."
Anyone well-versed in '90s pop culture knows that this was the same decade in which Shimizu dated both Madonna and Angelina Jolie.
"I probably would have married Jenny Shimizu if I hadn’t married my husband [Jonny Lee Miller]," Jolie reportedly toldGirlfriends magazine back in 1997. "I fell in love with her the first second I saw her."
Skye says her entanglement with the model came to an end after she became too "needy and devoted."
"Jenny didn’t want me to be her dog," she writes. "She left shortly thereafter for a modeling job and never came back to me, except as a good friend."
A number of other flings with celebrities are touched upon in the memoir, including with Ingrid Casares and musician Alice Temple — although The New York Timesreassures that "it doesn’t come across as meanspirited or salacious."
"I think as you get older, you feel freer just taking chances creatively and not worrying so much about everybody being happy," Skye toldPeople. "I definitely don't want to hurt anyone. But some people I named in the book have read it, and luckily everyone has loved it."
The 2025 Oscars are just a couple of days away, but Drew Barrymore is already hoping something a little naughty happens at the star-studded event.
On Today’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the eponymous host was joined by Ross Mathews and Entertainment Tonight cohosts Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner, who spent part of the show talking about what they wish they'd get to see at the famed ceremony.
“My Oscar wish is I always wish for another streaker as it happened in the ‘70s!” Barrymore said straight to the camera as though she were sharing a secret with the audience, Entertainment Weekly reports.
For those unaware of this salacious and very gay part of Oscars’ history, homoerotic gallery owner and gay rights activist Robert Opel became an instant icon when he took his clothes off and streaked across the stage at the 46th Academy Awards. It was 1974, and he threw up a peace sign as he dashed past actor David Niven while introducing Elizabeth Taylor, according to The Advocate.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was almost bound to happen,” Niven joked after the notorious incident. “But isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?"
After his Oscars fame, Opel became a well-known nudist who even streaked through a Los Angeles City Council meeting during a debate on outlawing nudity on public beaches, and even ran for president as a nudist.
But Opel was also a bisexual man who owned his own successful photography business, and PRIDE’s sister publication, The Advocate, was a client. He also helped bring national attention to now-famous erotic gay artists like Tom of Finland and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Opel running nude across the stage at the Academy Awards became so infamous that last year's ceremony paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of the streak heard around the world by having John Cena present the award for Costume Design while appearing totally naked except for a large envelope he held to cover his private parts.
After making her confession, Barrymore went on to talk about her excitement that comedian and television host Conan O’Brien is going to be hosting the Academy Awards this year. “But I digress! My real Oscars wish is I’m really excited to see Conan O’Brien,” she said. “I think that was a really smart choice and I think he’s such a winning human being that I’m like, ‘Do this for a long time.’”
So, if Barrymore gets her wish, which celeb would you like to see streak across the stage on Sunday night, and why is it Pedro Pascal?
The 2025 Oscars will air on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. on ABC.
