Lady Sovereign is Over the Closet: She Likes Girls & Says So

LADY SOVEREIGN: When Autostraddle first launched in March, the team was thrilled when our then-music editor Stef, on location at South by Southewest in Austin, immediately snagged an interview with British rapper Lady Sovereign. We’d existed for maybe two weeks at this point, so our excitement was palpable. We put it on our little calendar on Basecamp. There was a lot of all-caps going on.

However, the day before our scheduled interview, it was canceled by her publicist. Why? Because we’re a gay publication, and speaking to us would only fan the flames of Sov’s lesbian/bisexual rumors. (Turns out We weren’t the only ones who dealt with dicey sexuality handlers when attempting to interview Lady Sov)

But now the cutie critter is taking matters into her own hands and speaking openly about her sexuality. Last week before being eliminated on Big Brother, this conversation happened:

You can almost sense the palpable strain to avoid keywords in the dialogue (you should probs watch it, as her body language and sighs are more revealing than anything else) which happens after Lady Sov says her ex-girlfriend is now dating a boy:

Nicola: Do you have boyfriends as well? If you had to choose would you choose a boyfriend or a girlfriend?
Lady Sovereign: I haven’t had a boyfriend for ages… ages.
Nicola: Haven’t you?
Lady Sovereign: Obviously I find guys good looking and stuff… I don’t know…
Nicola: But you’re more attracted to girls?
Lady Sovereign: … I guess so.
Nicola: When did you like tell your Mom and stuff?
Lady Sovereign: Ahhh… my sister found like some little letters that I’d hid that someone gave to me. and I denied it, I was like oh no, it’s just a friend, just um… trying to be funny.
Nicola: How old were you?
Lady Sovereign: I think I just admitted… whatever… when I was like, 17?

Out Magazine reports:

There’s well-founded speculation that publicist pressure kept her from discussing sexuality prior to this, though the “bisexual” rumors have been floated for some time (or maybe it was just the desire to avoid being headlined with things like “Asbo lesbo aggro ago-go”). So here’s hoping that her departure from reality TV makes way for something beyond more tabloid trash-talking — a return to her roots, of sorts. Lady Sov has learned some hard lessons about the fickleness of fame and success, but she seems, perhaps, better equipped than many to learn from them. The scrappy image she’s built for herself isn’t just posturing, in other words — she put herself on the internet map in the first place and dusted herself off more than once after a tumble. Maybe this revelation means she’s committed to doing things the way she does them best — on her own terms.

So we salute you, Lady Sov. And maybe we can get our interview back now? And perhaps a hoodie-themed photo shoot? (@out)

GLEE: Kurt’s gonna get a boyfriend!: “We just announced we’re doing a nationwide search for the season 2 cast, and [a boyfriend for Kurt is] one of the three roles that we’re adding. And we’re going to make them a power couple. We’re not going to do the whole hiding in the shadows thing. We’re going to make them popular, and out and proud and glamorous. Like prom king and king. We’re doing the opposite of what’s been done.” But wait, there’s more: “We’re also casting sort of a Eve Harrington [from All About Eve] to kind of steal Rachel’s thunder a little. So those are two of the three.” (@ew)

GLAMBERT: Adam Lambert may be hooking up with his ex Drake Labry again. Apparently they were at the LA club, Avalon “sitting at a private table with friends, but the two of them could not keep their hands off of each other. Drake was stroking Adam’s leg, and Adam could barely take his eyes off of him.” Hot! (@eonline)

JOHN MAYER: In a rather TMI interview with Rolling Stone, John Mayer talks about his excessive jerking off and finding some photos of men sexy: “I don’t care about anything other than energy,” Mayer said. Though he hasn’t quite slept with another man, he sees the appeal: “I’ve seen pictures of men on the Internet that are sexier than pictures of most women.” It’s true. I find Brian Kinney hotter than many women, just sayin’. (@advocate)

GLEE: Jane Lynch will make her musical debut on Glee in the much anticipated Madonna episode. “I’m going to be singing the song and doing a video for it. It’s going to be so much fun!” (@eonline)

SUNDANCE: The Sundance Film Festival begins today in Park City, Utah. Check out 10 Sundance films Nerve is psyched about this year…hopefully coming soon to an art-house theatre near you! (@nerve)

GAGA: The wonderful Rich from FourFour, pretty much our biggest hero of all time, has an essay in The Village Voice on our beloved Lady Gaga. The piece discusses not just her music, but all that she shrouds it in, including the persona she claims that she doesn’t have. (@villagevoice)

TOP CHEF: Top Chef Master and out lesbian Anita Lo talks to Autostraddle about beating Mario Batali at Iron Chef, her new venture Rickshaw, why you shouldn’t be afraid to eat weird food, and the challenges & rewards of being a Chinese-American Lesbian Chef & restaurant owner!

MUSIC FIX: Check out Autostraddle’s weekly music fix featuring An Horse, Ke$sha, Kaki King, Coachella and more!

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

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Riese

Riese is the 43-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish and has a cute dog named Carol. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3273 articles for us.

25 Comments

  1. remember that sigh of relief you felt after being honest about yourself? I BET THAT’S WHAT LADY SOV FEELS LIKE TODAY. <3 <3

    zomg the lynch, singing madonna, on my teevee. you guys. shut up.

  3. Do you know what else is adorable about Sov? Her real name is Louise. LOUISE. She is tiny and not straight and British with the ‘low class’ London accent and her name is Louise. Can I keep her?

  4. Rich+Gaga= love.

    While All About Eve is an excellent movie, I’m pretty sure the whole crazy L Word AAE storyline ruined it for TV adaptation.

    • I know I screamed at the TV A LOT about the All About Eve ripoffs. Actually most of that season was a parody/satire/homage to another person’s story or life. That might be why it was better than the seasons where Ilene made up her own stories.

  5. I use to love Lady Sov- I think she reminds me of all the slightly abrasive, trashy things I liked about England- in a good way! COME TO AUTO LADY SOVEREIGN

      • i really liked the part on the vertically challenged ep (was it “a little bit of shh?”) where there’s a piano breakdown and suddenly she yells OH MY GAWD, PIANOS! AHHHHHH!!!!!
        just me?
        thought so.

        • YES thats was my FAVOURITE THING EVER! Sometimes I’ll throw “oh my god pianos” into a conversation and no one wil get it hahahah.
          On another note, Lady Sov once called me “the girl with the tits” then poured vodka into my mouth from the stage. Definately a highlight from my concert experiences.

          • She is fucking cute..I forgot how much until I just youtube’d her. God. Her new(ish) stuff is amazing.

    • My favorite part was when she wrote a song about fake tanning, because I def did not know you were allowed to do that.

  6. One of my very favorite things is when English people say a word like letter or butter and leave out a full 50% of the consonants. Or better yet, “sweetheart” said without h, r or either t. Which is to say that the Lady Sov clip brought me great joy. :)

    But I’m still confused about why I had to be exposed to the idea of John Mayer jerking off (I really could have been much happier without that). Is it because he shares the Autostraddle love for Brian Kinney?

        • I am MADLY in love with her…can’t wait for her nex tour in Europe :)
          I knew for sure she was gay when I saw her the first time 3 years ago, but my gaydar results are really different from a real open and official coming out!

          • Yeah, she was never very well closeted but an official public coming out was still quite welcome! Although she broke my heart mentioning another woman. :( Alas.

  10. I thought everyone knew Sov was gay?? I watched her on Big Brother and was really disappointed she got voted out so soon :(.

    I hope you guys manage to get an interview with her, she did say she wanted to tour America again soon, so hunt her down!

  12. NOOOOOO!!!!! I wanted to date her so bad when I was younger, *sigh* guess i’ll have to have a sex change operation so she’ll date me

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