Rapper Lil Nas X wrote a letter to himself about publicly coming out as gay.
The artist “Old Town Road” addressed the note to “14-year-old Montero”, using his Christian name, Montero Lamar Hill. “I wrote a song with our name on it. It’s about a guy I met last summer,” he wrote.
“I know that we promised never to reveal publicly, I know that we promised never to be ‘that’ kind of gay person, I know that we promised to die with the secret, but that will open doors for many other queer people to just exist,” he continued.
He added that taking office was difficult for him, and people accused him of “pushing an agenda”.
Fans gathered around him in response, thanking him for being open about who he is and helping future generations feel comfortable doing the same.
“As someone who didn’t express himself even to me until I was almost grown up, I’m so proud of you”, a fan I wrote.
In a follow-up tweet, Lil Nas X shared a link to his new single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”, with a video clip that Rolling Stone described as “blatantly weird”.
“In life, we hide the parts of ourselves that we don’t want the world to see,” he says in a narration at the beginning of the video. “We lock them up. We say ‘No’. We banned them. But here, we don’t. Welcome to Montero. “
Lil Nas X first appeared in a tweet in June 2019, on the last day of the Pride month. He pointed to a rainbow forming on the cover of his album, “C7osure”, and said, “Damn – I thought I made that obvious.”
The rapper said he did not always plan to leave, according to an August 2019 interview with Time. He said he was raised to believe that homosexuality “will never be okay” and is afraid to turn fans away.
“I know the people who hear it the most and don’t accept homosexuality,” he said at the time.
Then, during Pride month, he changed his mind. “I would never have done that if I hadn’t been pushed in a way by the universe,” he said. “In June, I see Pride flags everywhere and I see couples holding hands – little things like that.”
After coming out, he faced some bullying on social media, and other celebrities expressed their support.
Dwyane Wade – whose 13-year-old daughter, Zaya, is transgender – told the rapper to “focus on the best in his life” in an Instagram comment. “Don’t let these idiots get to you. Many of us here are proud of who and what you represent.”
Lil Nas X rose to fame after Billboard removed his song “Old Town Road” from the Hot Country chart after its 19th place debut in March 2019.
In response, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus joined him on a remix of the song, which became the oldest number 1 single in Hot 100 history, remaining on top for 19 weeks, according to Billboard.
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