SAN DIEGO – In a time where unity among the LGBTQ community is critical, indie recording artist, Alicia Champion is singing about the one part of the community that is the least recognized or discussed – bisexuals.
Ironically many gays and lesbians across the nation will come out to family and friends during Pride month and they will get the standard annoying response “It’s just a phase”. This is the same response many bisexuals receive as well. The difference is, they will often get those comments from within the gay and lesbian community.
Champion admits during the initial promotions for Bi, the interest for covering the video was there, however the motivation for some to actually do it was a challenge. “We received some hesitations from media outlets stating they weren’t sure how readers would respond to a bisexual themed song even though they thought it was amazing”. Meanwhile fans that identified as being bisexual started flooding her inbox and Tumblr account. Some stating they were so proud to finally have a song of their own.
Watch the video above.
As the LGBTQ community continued to fight for equal rights for the Pride celebrations that begun kicking off around the nation, popularity for Champion’s pop / rock dance hit was increasing. Then on June 12th everything changed. The tragedy at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando shook the gay community to its very core. “We were shocked and heartbroken as human beings, troubled and offended as members of the LGBTQ community” Stated Champion’s Manager Jody Taylor. We witnessed the best in some and the jaw-dropping worst in others.
Champion like many other artist was in the midst of a promotional campaign and halted everything to respect the victims and for herself to process what happened. But fans started to reach out with messages like “we need to keep playing this song, we need to keep dancing” and “I am in high school and my friends all have Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift songs to play about boys they like, I had nothing until your song came out. Thank you for making me feel equal”. So earlier this week Champion and her team started to promote again. Only this time the meaning and importance is much deeper.
Champion explains the song is a celebration for bisexuals, but the overall message is to allow yourself to be attracted to whoever you want and to love whoever you want. In one of the most subtle yet powerful scenes, Champion is opposite transgender film star, Buck Angel sinking to her knees while singing “gender-bender trans-whatever any shape or size don’t care, cuz it’s your eyes in which I wanna stare, no matter what you’ve got down there”.
Champion explains “We have to find away to dismiss the power in labels. Personally, I would identify as bisexual, but I think Buck is sexy as hell, and I am married to a woman. What does that make me? It makes me human. If we as a community are going to preach Love is Love, then we truly need to mean it”
