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Is country music a safe space for LGBTQ+ artists?<\/p>\n
Chely Wright<\/a> is reflecting on what\u2019s changed, and what hasn\u2019t, in the industry she has long called home.<\/p>\n In a new interview, the country music trailblazer explains that while the industry is “more welcoming as a whole than most might think,” it\u2019s also “not as evolved as many might want to believe,” especially when it comes to proximity to power.<\/p>\n “The closer to the power center you are, the less likely you will acknowledge that the systems and the norms and the structures within that entity [are broken],” she told People<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> 20 Country Songs That Share a LGBTQ+ Perspective<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n “Because if you do \u2014 and if you’re adjacent to power \u2014 then you have to do something. And you also have to acknowledge that you’ve benefited from a system or institution that is unfair\u2026 and it’s really hard for people to acknowledge privilege.”<\/p>\n Wright, who made headlines in 2010 as the first major country artist to come out publicly, acknowledges that meaningful progress has been made.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s not nothing that we have openly queer artists at the CMA Awards and on country radio,” she said, pointing to stars like Brandi Carlile<\/a>, T.J. Osborne<\/a> and Maren Morris<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, the “Single White Female” singer is adamant that coming-out stories matter \u2014 now more than ever.<\/p>\n