Yahoo Movies Kehlani Comes Out as a Lesbian and Jokes of Their Friends and Family, 'Everyone Knew but Me'
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Kehlani
Kehlani is speaking her truth.
The 25-year-old R&B singer came out as a lesbian in a video posted Thursday on TikTok. The artist begins the video by saying, "I'm just gonna f---ing say it, because everybody keeps bringing it up to me."
In the now-deleted clip, captured by Pop Crave and shared to Twitter, Kehlani said, "I finally know I'm a lesbian" and "I am gay, g-gay, gay."
Keeping a lighthearted tone, the "Can I" hitmaker (who goes by she/they pronouns) told fans she has run into a snag when she "want(s) to have these heart-to-hearts with my family and my friends" about their sexuality.
"I'm like, 'Guys, I finally know that I'm gay — like, I'm gay gay,' and they're like, 'We know. Duh, stupid. Duh,'" she joked.
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"I feel like, 'No. I want you to fall on the floor and be like, "Congratulations! We had no idea!" she continued. "Everyone's just like, 'Duh. You're the only one who didn't f---ing know. The f---ing closet was glass.' "
Addressing her TikTok audience, Kehlani concluded, "So I guess I just wanted y'all to know that everyone knew but me."
While the singer previously said "Never have I identified as a lesbian" during an Instagram Live session, she has been open about identifying as queer.
Speaking with The Advocate recently for the magazine's April/May cover story, Kehlani said she also recognizes how her "straight and cisgender presenting" privilege has played a part in finding success.
"I have a lot of privilege," said Kehlani. "I think a lot of artists who we talk about and say, 'Oh, they had to come out or they had to do this,' a lot of them can't hide it."
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"A lot of it is very [much] in how they present. It's tougher for them," continued the mother of one. "It's tougher for trans artists. It's tougher for Black gay men. It's tougher for Black masculine gay women."
While the "Bad News" singer clarified on Twitter in 2018 that she identifies as "queer," she never felt the pressure to come out in their own personal life before — mainly due to the way she presents herself.
"I didn't even really have to come out in my private life," said Kehlani. "I don't walk down the street and people look at me and go, 'Oh, I bet she's queer' or 'I bet that she's into women' or anything like that because of the way I present."
"That's all privilege and I think that there are quite a few artists who were truly at the forefront but weren't able to make the strides that I was able to make being 100% myself because of the way they present and the biases and the phobias of the American public and the world," she added. "I've been lucky, super lucky."
