65th Annual Grammys Celebrate Queer Creators

The night of the 65th Annual Grammy Awards was a night of queer celebration. Queer artists and allies alike took to the stage to celebrate a fantastic year of music.

Though Beyonce won the Grammy for Best R&B Song for the track “Cuff It,” she was stuck in traffic and unable to come to the stage to accept it. But when, later in the night, Renaissance won the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album, she dedicated her win to her gay Uncle Jonny, as well as to the queer community as a whole. Her win for Renaissance was her 32nd Grammy win, which surpassed the previous record of most Grammy awards won, held by Georg Solti.

Lizzo, another notable queer ally, performed during the show and was introduced by Jayla Sullivan, a transgender dancer who competed in her dance competition show, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.

Allies weren’t the only ones to have a great night at the Grammys, though. Kim Petras accepted the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance on behalf of herself and Sam Smith for “Unholy.” The pair had previously made headlines in October 2022 by becoming the first openly nonbinary and trans artists to top the Billboard Hot 100 with this track. Petras, who now leaves her mark on the world by becoming the first out trans woman to win this award, made sure to mention “all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight.” She especially highlighted SOPHIE, who passed away two years ago and had been supportive of Petras.

Brandi Carlile, who was introduced by her wife and two young daughters, won the awards for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Broken Horses.”

Harry Styles, who has intentionally never confirmed his sexuality but is speculated to be queer in some form or another, came home with the wins for Best Pop Album as well as Album of the Year for Harry’s House, which features the song “Boyfriends.”