Troye Sivan Says He Wants To Be A Role Model For Queer Youth

Troye Sivan has sent out a message for queer youth in the United States who have been caught amidst the wave of anti-LGBTQI legislation over the past year. 

The Australian singer-songwriter spoke to Elle Australia, describing his journey into his music career and the importance of queer representation in the media to advocate for LGBTQI+ rights.

There are currently 469 ant-LGBTQI bills in the United States, which are targeting LGBTQ rights across several areas including limiting the ability to update gender information on IDs and records, limiting access to books that are queer, trying to ban or censor performances, using religion to discriminate queer people and prohibiting transgender people from using public facilities bathrooms and locker rooms.

The bills have been tracked by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an American non-profit organisation that “works in the courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States”.

In March this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law, which critics have termed the ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill’, prohibiting any mention of sexual orientation or gender in the classroom. 

A Model For Queer Youth

Sivan said that he wanted to serve as a model for queer and questioning youth, which paralleled the role Lady Gaga had when he was younger. 

He spoke to Elle, remembering a time when he was much younger and watched a YouTube video of Lady Gaga speaking at a Pride parade where he had been unfamiliar with any other queer representation. 

“I didn’t know any queer people in real life, and just seeing that crowd I was like, ‘Okay, so it is out there somewhere, I just have to go find it.’” he said. 

Sivan explained the vitality of queer representation, especially at a time when it was severely lacking in his formative youth years, adding “And I think that that’s what representation really does. It shows you that your immediate circumstances are not going to be your circumstances forever, that there are people out there who are going to love you and support you, and places where you can feel safe”. 

Queer Representation In Media

The Australian pop singer expressed his relief at the queer representation that could be found in today’s media, while the anti-LGBTQI+ bills and attacks on gay rights were occurring. 

While some people are “really attempting to send us backwards”, “young people can go on TikTok or turn on the Grammys or watch music videos on YouTube and see themselves [represented]”, Sivan said.

“I think it’s a lot less suffocating than it used to be, because having access to the representation, it shows you that the world is a big place. Those people who are trying to send us backwards? They’re not everyone,” he added.