Angel Olsen Is Gay, “Shut Up Kiss Me” Now Canon Dyke Anthem

In an Instagram post and on her story, Angel Olsen put it quite simply: “I’m gay” and me and my homegirls are quite pleased. Her story shared a picture of herself red-nosed and beaming at the camera, which I can only assume her beau was behind. I was informed by a gay friend’s story and immediately went to the source to see if it could possibly be true, and reader, it was. Angel Olsen is gay. She also shared some very cute pictures of her cute partner and again, me and my girls? Overjoyed. My favorite picture of the bunch (besides the picture of Angel smiling like a woman in love) is a picture of her partner bundled up in a yellow and burgundy scarf, strolling across the street in a tan overcoat. The scarf is just swallowing this person’s whole head and it made me giggle when I saw it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNvRyf1jwhB/

I’ve been listening to Angel Olsen since around 2015 when I first heard “Unfucktheworld” off of Burn Your Fire For No Witness. I thought, “damn, this voice.” Even in that song where she sits at a lower register and the vocal performance is relatively calm, you can tell she can sing sing, not just sing. The song I fucked with the most off that album was “White Fire”; it made its way onto my many “I’m Sad” playlists for the opening lyrics: “everything is tragic / it all just falls apart” and the creeping, haunting tenor of the instruments in it. It’s safe to say I’m a fan and I’m very happy about this news that Angel Olsen is gay.

When a singer like Angel Olsen comes out, it feels more personal for me than other celebrities, especially if I really like their music. The singers I know that are out as gay are few and far between, though the number has been steadily growing for years. I’m not ashamed to say I just like listening to gay people’s music more than straight people. In some cases, I don’t have to switch up the pronouns, the lyrics resonate more, and, I’ll say it, gay people are just more talented. When I saw the Instagram story that confirmed what my friend had posted, I immediately cranked up my favorite Angel Olsen song, “Sister” from her album My Woman. It felt good, people coming out and stepping into their selves feels good. In a week of truly horrible news for Black, Brown, and trans people, I was just dying for some good news. Though I don’t know her and am only a fan, I’m really very happy for Angel. It’s truly a blessing to be in love in a world this ugly.

So dykes, I’m here to give you permission to send “Shut Up Kiss Me” to your crush and hope they are a fan of blunt communication. My Premiere Emotional Crisis playlist just got gayer.