Selena Gomez credits gay people with helping launch her music career – Metro Weekly

Selena Gomez has thanked her LGBTQ fans for helping launch her music career back in 2009.

In an interview with GRAMMY.com about the launch of her latest EP, the Spanish-language Revelación, the pop star reflected on her second single, “Naturally,” released in 2009, which helped kickstart her music career.

At the time, Gomez was most widely known for her portrayal of Alex Russo on Disney Channel’s hit series Wizards of Waverly Place.

But after “Naturally” launched, Gomez credited LGBTQ people with helping push the song — which ultimately ended up going 4x platinum.

“I remember when it was released, it truly started getting played in gay bars before anywhere else,” Gomez said. “I would hear from older friends that they heard it when they went out. I was so jealous that I was too young to be out and dancing to it with everyone.”

Asked about her support for the LGBTQ community, Gomez said she hoped her LGTBQ fans “hear in my music the importance of self-love and the strength that comes through vulnerability.”

“The LGBTQ+ community has been there for me and I don’t take them for granted,” she said. “Growing up in Texas, I remember when I was a kid, my mother had a group of gay friends and I loved being around them. There was no talk about anyone being ‘different.’ It was all pure and genuine love for one another and I’ll never forget that.”

Echoing her close friend Taylor Swift’s outspoken support for the Equality Act, a landmark piece of LGBTQ rights legislation, Gomez urged lawmakers to finally pass it and protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.

“We’ve come a long way in the last 10 years, but we have so much further to go,” she said. “The Senate must pass the Equality Act. It’s absurd that this is even being debated in 2021.”

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