How Sam Smith, Kim Petras & Steve Lacy Are Dispelling the ‘Queer Quota’ Myth

“There can only be one.” It’s a bombastic and thrilling motto when spoken by the immortal characters of the Highlander film franchise, but much more nefarious in the context of queer artists trying to make it in the music industry.

For years, LGBTQ artists have spoken about an inferred “queer quota” that exists within the music industry, where decision-makers are hesitant to provide expanded representation to the community at large after filling a pre-determined slot for a queer artist — whether on label rosters, event lineups, radio airplay or various other platforms.

Darren Hayes, the Australian singer-songwriter of Savage Garden fame, recently explained the concept in an interview with Billboard. “When you’re a queer artist, it’s as though you are somehow niche. And there is this unspoken quota that exists, like, ‘Well, we have our one gay person already,’” he explained. “Or, it’s worse than that — it’s patronizing. I get feedback, like, ‘Oh my god, we love you! We can’t play the song [on radio], but we love you.”

Moore Kismet, an up-and-coming superstar in the dance space, told Billboard in a February interview that they “try not to really think about inclusivity riders, or if they’re booking me — a Black queer 17-year-old — to fill a diversity quota.” Even Kim Petras, undeniably the most popular transgender artist currently making pop music, told Billboard last week that there is very little room for her community to thrive in the industry. “There’s always been incredible and talented trans artists, and they have been paid dust,” she said. “That same story just keeps repeating over and over for trans girls who have been making exceptional music and have been pushed under the rug.”

But Petras is part of a changing tide. Sam Smith and Petras made history this week when their sultry duet “Unholy” reached the Billboard Hot 100‘s No. 1 spot. It’s a first for both artists, but also for their communities — Smith became the first out non-binary solo artist to reach No. 1, and Petras became the first out trans solo artist to do the same.

“I’ve been genuinely humbled by the reaction to ‘Unholy,’” Smith tells Billboard of the track’s breakout success via email. “I felt like we’d made something special in the studio, but you never know how that is going to translate. It was only when I started playing it to people close to me and seeing their reactions to the record that I dared to think it might.”

Smith and Petras are far from the only ones bringing much-needed representation to their respective communities. The pair replaced Steve Lacy, the openly bisexual R&B-pop superstar, at No. 1, as “Bad Habit” moved down to No. 2, spending its 16th week on the chart.

Having two gender-diverse artists replace an openly bi artist at No. 1 is a feat that has naturally never occurred in the Hot 100’s been accomplished in the chart’s 64-year history. And according to David James Lennon, a digital marketing consultant at Warner Music Group and co-founder of U.K. collective Pride in Music, it says a lot about the state of the music industry today.

“It’s such a fantastic result for visibility,” he says. “We’ve come a long, long way from the dark days of the ’90s, where labels and managers were regularly telling people not to come out, because it would hurt album sales.”

Smith’s success here is a clear example of the exact opposite, in fact. “Unholy” is not only their biggest hit to date, but also their first big success since coming out as non-binary in September 2019, definitively showing that their identity doesn’t diminish their cultural impact. Add in the fact that the song deals in overtly queer themes — like “on the down-low” hookups where straight-presenting men are sleeping with other guys behind closed doors — and you have the silver bullet for any anti-queer argument still being presented.

Smith, Petras and Lacy aren’t the only openly LGBTQ artists on this week’s chart, either: Doja Cat appears on two songs in the chart’s top 15, as a guest star on Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song)” at No. 5 and her own “Vegas” at No. 13, Elton John’s collaboration with Britney Spears “Hold Me Closer” remains within the Top 40 at No. 34; Lil Nas X’s League of Legends-themed track “Star Walkin’” sits at No. 43; Omar Apollo’s stunning breakup ballad “Evergreen” comes in at No. 77; and one other Lacy track, “Static,” remains on the chart at No. 96.

After the 2010s helped usher in a new era for queer artists merely existing in the mainstream, the 2020s are already building on that success, where multiple queer artists can not only survive at once, but thrive and top the biggest charts in the music industry.

“We found that when people, especially creators, live their lives authentically and they don’t feel they have to hide who they are, then the art that they put out into the world is so much better,” explains Anthony Allen Ramos, GLAAD’s vice president of communications and talent. “People thrive once they feel fully comfortable and accepted for who they are.”

So, how does a concept like the “queer quota” continue when the two most popular songs in the world are performed by LGBTQ artists? In short; it doesn’t. “Being an out artist doesn’t harm record sales, and it creates visibility for that 14 year old who doesn’t have anyone to speak to and needs someone to look up to,” Lennon says. “It’s like there was a strange mentality that queer people don’t buy records, which is completely bizarre.”

The facts point to the opposite being true — as Billboard reported in a study published with Luminate and Queer Capita earlier this year, LGBTQ music fans regularly over-index when it comes to monthly spending as compared to their straight counterparts. Queer and gender diverse listeners shell out an average of $72 more per year than the standard consumer, and spend 27% more overall on physical sales than the general population.

A significant factor in songs like “Unholy” and “Bad Habit” reaching the summit of the Hot 100 has been TikTok — both songs accrued massive, universal attention across the app both prior to and following their releases, which allowed fans to drum up hype at breakneck speed.

“The beauty of those platforms is you have such a special direct connection to fans, and it was so rewarding to be able to share something with them first hand at an early stage like that,” Smith says. “I was such a novice on TikTok but now I love it, and the positivity and love that we got for the record was so life-affirming.”

TikTok has not only revolutionized the way listeners discover music, or artists and labels market their sounds — the platform has also created a sense of democratization for LGBTQ art, where users can show labels just how popular a song containing explicitly queer themes can get, without any tastemakers interfering to decide what the public does or doesn’t want to hear.

“Anybody can do anything on TikTok, and that provides a platform for a lot of people to be themselves, to be able to create their own content, to be able to engage with artists,” Lennon explains. “If a queer artist’s song resonates on TikTok, then that’s where the audience is, and labels are going to listen.”

When the specter of the “queer quota” is dispensed with, you’re left with a growing number of successful queer artists showing other up-and-coming queer artists that their sexuality or gender identity is not a hurdle to be overcome. “It’s great to have this as a moment for people who are non-binary and who are trans to see success from people like them,” Ramos says. “It’s about making them feel accepted and motivated to strive for their own success.”

Smith affirms that point, saying they stand as a personal example of that very concept. “I know from watching gay artists like George Michael growing up what representation means to marginalized communities,” they explain. “Nothing is as powerful as success on your own terms.”

As for the music industry, Lennon says that the rising tide of LGBTQ representation on the artist side is just a small piece of the equation; when it comes to the more behind the scenes work of the industry, there is still plenty to be done. He points to Pride in Music’s collaboration with Warner-Chappell and British artist MNEK back in 2019 to host a songwriting camp for queer writers as an example of some of the work he’d like to see more of from major labels.

“Whether it’s labels working with LGBTQ songwriters through writing camps like ours, or giving up-and-coming queer artists a place to shine on the live side, or creating more ERGs (employee resource groups) for the queer community, there is so much that can be done,” he says.

In the meantime, Ramos is also quick to point out that the kind of visibility of these back-to-back No. 1s is not only good for queer artists, but good for the larger issue of LGBTQ acceptance at a societal level. “So much of the what is going on specifically with the trans community right now is largely based on people both not understanding and also not wanting to understand what it means to be trans or non-binary,” he explains. “I hope that people have their eyes opened to this and see Sam and Kim and Steve and just want to learn a little bit more. That’s all that we can ask for.”

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