Kim Petras Is Here to Save Pop Music

The way the LGBTQ+ community has been portrayed in popular culture has come a long, long way in recent years. Although there's still a lot of work to be done, so many creative queer folks have been making awesome and inclusive movies, music, TV shows, and more that better represents our lives and our stories, so in honor of Pride Month, we're taking the time to honor 25 of these inspiring people! This is the 2019 #PRIDE25!

In the age of streaming, where quick-hit, viral singles dominate, it's hard for pop stars to leave lasting impressions like they used back in the '90s and early '00s. But Kim Petras is here to save pop music. Over the past two years, the German singer-songwriter has been reliably releasing bop after bop after bop, and as one of the very few openly trans pop artists in the industry, by being her unapologetic and authentic self in front of the world, she's been helping increase visibility while doing so.

"I definitely always have a responsibility to the transgender community because I’m a part of it. But I don’t want to let anybody down," she told Out. It’s always going to be important to me to help young transgender kids. You can be a cool person and you can live a cool life being transgender. It's definitely difficult to have role models being transgender."

She continued:

"At the same time, I’m just having fun making my music, being artistically whatever I want to be and being free. My music’s not about me being transgender, but I’m writing songs about how I feel, what I’m obsessed with, what I love, what I hate, what makes me happy—just human emotions. It’s not songs specifically about being transgender."

Listen to Kim Petras' music on Spotify! And listen to her single "Another One" below!

And check out more of the 2019 #PRIDE25 honorees here!