Tegan and Sara Cement Their Legacy on ‘Crybaby’ – Them

So that’s where they focused their efforts, funding community organizations with grants of $2,500 to $5,000, which Tegan says “keep these grassroots organizations up and running for months at a time.” (Tax records show that in 2020, the foundation helped fund LGBTQ+ summer camps for queer youth, a crisis hotline for incarcerated people, COVID-related aid programs, and more.)

That commitment to helping smaller, underserved LGBTQ+ organizations stems from Tegan and Sara’s vivid recollection of what it’s like to feel like you’re shouting into a void. “When you’ve also felt like nobody is listening to you, when suddenly people will listen to you, you return the favor,” Sara says. “There’s a lot of reciprocity in the community, where we didn’t necessarily experience reciprocity anywhere outside of the community.”

But whether it’s making music or doing charity work, the throughline in Tegan and Sara’s ever-changing career is a commitment to taking young women and young queer people seriously. It’s the focus of High School as both a book and show, and the driving principle behind their 2019 album Hey I’m Just Like You. The sisters don’t seem trapped by their past, having embraced it instead, diving into the muck of their adolescence to create bold new work. Rather than running from their roots, they want to stay in touch with the young people for whom they continue to be a beacon.

“Because of the show, I feel like a lot of young people are going to discover our music now,” Tegan says. “There’s like fifteen-year-olds who are writing [into our newsletter] and being like, ‘I just literally discovered your music two weeks ago and I just can’t believe it, and this is so cool. You’re my idols now.’” 

I felt that same allure during my own adolescence, which overlapped with their early indie heyday and mainstream pop success. I can’t imagine LGBTQ+ representation — or at the very least sapphic representation — without Tegan and Sara.

“Representation” is a fickle thing, a concept used and misused so many times its meaning has been divorced from its connotation. I’m supposed to be as tired of writing about it as they’re supposed to be of talking about it – and to be clear, I think we all are, the three of us sitting in a nondescript Flatiron office. But in sharing that they were part of the limited queer representation I had growing up, I mention I saw them live a decade ago. Their faces light up. Sara remembers the show distinctly because of the bitter cold in Philadelphia that made her lose her voice, causing them to cancel two subsequent shows.

Tegan grows animated as we recall the day. It mattered to me and my best friend to see Tegan and Sara, and to be able to see them for free. 

“I know it sounds silly and I don’t need to turn it around to make it part of this interview, but we think a lot about legacy and career, and who we are as people. And it’s funny, but so much of what’s motivated us – and so much of what’s kept us the people we are today – has been this concept,” Tegan says. “That is why you bring your best attitude when you get on stage. That is why you go do the free event. That is why you’re nice to people when they come up to you on the street. Because ten years later, they’re probably going to interview you.”

Crybaby is out now from Mom + Pop Music.

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