The Weeknd's New Song Is Super Homophobic

The Weeknd recently released a new collab with Gesaffelstein called “Lost in the Fire.”

A number of fans are saying it’s dissing Drake and talking about how much The Weeknd wants to have sex with his on again, off again girlfriend Bella Hadid (who was rumored to have dated Drake when they were broken up), but there’s something a lot more insidious than that about the lyrics.

According to Genius.com:

"You said you might be into girls (into girls)
You said you’re going through a phase (through a phase)
Keepin’ your heart safe (keepin’ your heart safe, oh)
Well, baby, you can bring a friend (bring a friend)
She can ride on top your face (top your face)
While I fuck you straight (while I fuck you straight, yeah)"

...yeah. 

While it’s completely valid to explore your feelings through your art, and that art is rarely a perfectly socially conscious thing, the lyrics to “Lost in the Fire” are pretty atrocious.

Just last month, a man in Seattle assaulted two married women at a Seahawks game, spending the majority of the game harassing them and asking if they needed a man, or “wanted some dick,” before escalating to physical violence.

Just yesterday, a thread went viral on Twitter about a lesbian being harassed by a random man at CVS for intimate details of why she didn’t date men.

A day ago, a week ago, a month ago — it’s not an uncommon story. Straight men still see turning lesbian or bisexual women “straight” (whatever that means) as a challenge to be issued and completed with their dick.

Of course, some of his fans are defending him, namely by claiming that if he’s open to having a threeway, how could that possibly be homophobic? So here’s a friendly reminder that queer women’s sexuality, or exploration of that sexuality, is not something that exists to be fetishized by straight men. Making it about that, or something to “conquer,” is, in fact, homophobic or biphobic.

And if the song really is about Hadid, hopefully she finds a safer space to explore her sexuality, because nobody deserves to be treated like who they are is just a phase.