Chely Wright: Out and loud
The country singer celebrates her open lifestyle -- and prepares for The Dinah.
Country singer Chely Wright made headlines last May when she came out publicly as a lesbian, and it's been a rollercoaster of national attention and new opportunities for the 40-year-old ever since. The LGBT community welcomed Wright with open arms and she was named one of Out magazine's annual 100 people of the year in 2010.
Even though April may seem far away, Wright is already preparing for her first performance at The Dinah -- considered by some to be the largest lesbian event in the world. Wright took a break from preparations to chat with Bay Windows about the upcoming concert, the fans she's lost (and gained) since coming out, and why she doesn't believe in New Year's resolutions.
Bay Windows: Your performance at The Dinah is coming up. Have you ever attended before?
Chely Wright: I have not. [Laughs]
BW: Are you looking forward to it?
CW: I am! I think it's going to be fun. Those weekend festivals are pretty fun. I hear the gals are excited that we're headed out that way, so it should be a good time.
BW: I heard it's going to be an intimate concert geared toward your lesbian fans.
CW: Well, I'll have the whole band there, so it might not be that intimate...it's going to be a ruckus, it's going to be full-band and it's going to be loud, but I'd like to think that my style of performance is a little bit more intimate. I do talk a lot, I do like to tell stories. [Laughs] It will definitely be unlike any show that you could see the rest of the year from me. It'll be special for The Dinah.
BW: You've been a celebrated country music star for a long time. Have you sensed any kind of change in your fanbase since coming out last May?
CW: I've lost some of my fans, and some of my fans have hung in there with me, and perhaps I've gained some new ones. I've certainly gained a recognition among the LGBT community -- folks who have come to my Facebook page and hit the "like" button in support and written nice things and read my book and been amazingly open-armed to me. Country music fans...the ones that went away, they don't say much when they leave, they just kind of go away, and that's okay. I had a feeling that would happen, and that's fine. That's none of my business.
BW: Tell our readers a little more about your decision to come out.
CW: I decided in June of 2007 to come out, and that's the day I started my book, [Like Me].
BW: We've heard a lot about celebrities offering support for LGBT youth. Can you tell me about the LIKE ME Organization?
CW: After I was out and kind of doing my book tour and doing shows, I noticed there were fans that were wearing plain white t-shirts and writing things on the shirts themselves, you know, "Chely, thank you for being like me," and just writing, "Like me" on the shirts and I thought, Well, isn't that great? I just figured they were all gay or LGBT folks. One young man came through the autograph line and I asked him, "How long have you been out?" And he said, "I'm not gay." And I said, "Well, you have 'Like me' on your shirt." And he said, "Well, I loved your book. I wanted to get your attention in the audience and I wore this shirt. I really loved your book. I read it and I identified with so much of it -- being from a small town, having the dream of being a musician, but I'm not gay." And I said, "Oh, okay." And I got to thinking, wouldn't it be neat if we identified with one another and looked at the ways that we're similar as a people, rather than ways that we're different? And I really liked his style, I really liked that about him. So I started brainstorming with my friends with whom I'd started another organization ten years ago. And I said, you know, there's really something to this. This is resonating with people. We started LIKE ME and began with an online forum where perhaps a mom with a gay child, she could find a place to find another mom with a gay child, and she could correspond with them online. Perhaps a gay guy in the military could find another gay guy in the military and they could talk about a shared experience, and find other people like them. I was thinking about raising a lot of dollars, and ultimately building an LGBT center in Kansas City, which is my hometown, and there isn't actually an LGBT center there, so we're going to build the first brick and mortar LGBT center there in Kansas City.
BW: I'm sure it's no accident that the organization has the same name as your memoir.
CW: Well, it just seemed to be...that's the phrase that people were identifying with and it felt right, it felt organic.
BW: In light of the past year, what are your New Year's resolutions for 2011?
CW: I don't do New Year's resolutions! I feel like they only set me up for failure. But I do have goals. I do have goals for the year. My goals are to continue touring, and be out there a lot doing shows and to continue to grow in my advocacy work, and really just to enjoy my new out life. I totally see what all the fuss is about now. I totally see why straight people enjoy being out and open. Out and open is a great thing, and being out and open as a gay person is awesome. I love it.
For more information about The Dinah -- which is held March 30 - April 3 in Palm Springs, California -- please visit www.thedinah.com. For more information about Chely Wright's foundation, the LIKE ME Organization, please visit www.likeme.org.