OUT MAGAZINE
And on the first day of Pride, Lesbian Jesus said "let there be dancing and gay kissing!"
Hayley Kiyoko is back to kick off Pride Month with the music video for her brand new single "Chance."
"Chance" is another classic Kiyoko bop that dares you to dance and challenges you to take a leap of faith. It's a song about what could be, and leaving yourself open for love.
In the video, Kiyoko continues her self-directed journey into the lesbian gaze. By directing all her own music videos, she's created a style and look that's all her own that is distinctly and defiantly gay. "Chance" is another escalation of that style.
When she released the video for "Girls Like Girls" back in 2015, you could see she had a vision that included queer fashion, fun choreography, and lots and lots of pretty girls. Since then, with videos like "Gravel to Tempo," "Sleepover," "Curious," and "What I Need," she's continued to hone that queer-centric vision down to a fine point.
The video costars Alexandra Shipp (Love, Simon) and follows Kiyoko and Shipp as they fall in love and take a chance on each other. It's cheesy in all the best ways and the perfect heartwarming romance to kick off Pride.
For Kiyoko, it was important that this video have a happy queer ending, something that she doesn't see a lot in media. "I think I always focus on having hope involved in everything that I do, and sometimes hope equals truth and sometimes it's heartbreak," she says. "But I really wanted to showcase the honeymoon stages of a relationship when love is reciprocated. Cause I think it's important because it can happen and it will happen."
If you've seen Kiyoko live, you know that there's nothing quite as empowering as a whole crowd singing along with her songs as she waves a rainbow flag on stage. Unfortunately, it's been over a year since she's been able to do that due to the global pandemic. But that's about to change.
Lesbian Jesus will be performing live, in front of a crowd, on June 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at OUTLOUD: Raising Voices alongside Adam Lambert (who also curated the line-up), Mykki Blanco, Kim Petras, and Sofi Tukker. Tickets are on sale now.
She'll also be performing this Friday, June 4 at "Can't Cancel Pride," a virtual relief benefit for the LGBTQ+ community that will be streaming on iHeartRadio's TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram TV page, and on PrideRadio.com, Revry, and iHeartMedia radio stations across the country. Other artists involved include Ricky Martin, Demi Lovato, JoJo Siwa, and Lil Nas X.
"I am so excited to get back on the stage and be able to perform in front of human beings in person! I think there's just nothing like that energy," she says. "I feel like that's why concert-goers love live music, because it's a form of therapy and I'm excited to share that with everyone again and get off the computer screen and get to see people in person."
It means even more to her that her first live performance will be at a Pride event. "I mean, Pride is such an important month and time to reflect and acknowledge what you've been through and what you're going through and who you're becoming," Kiyoko says. "And so I think it's important to celebrate your sexuality, your identity, your discovery, and just your journey as a person and your journey of self-love."
Check out "Chance" below.
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