‘Chappell Roan is right – US politics is just not hot to go’

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Chappell Roan was asked about the upcoming US presidential election.

“I have so many issues with our government in every way,” she said. “There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides. I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote – vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.”

Roan went on to say that thing she wants to see change is trans rights, adding: “They cannot have cis people making decisions for trans people, period.”

As is the case with almost celebrity interview these days, the quotes were shared on social media by various pop culture news accounts. And as the case with nearly all social media discourse, the nuance of Roan’s words got lost.

After reading the quote out of context, people – many who likely never read the article they originated from – started piling on the singer on social media. She was dubbed a Republican by one user, while another called her “MAGA coded”.

“Building your entire career on queer identities and on the work of trans women and drag queens and then refusing to support the political party that isn’t trying to make your entire career/life illegal is a wild choice and reeks of cis white privilege, wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter.

The problem, it seemed, was the singer’s “both sides” argument. Given that Roan is a queer woman, surely Kamala Harris is better bet than Donald Trump, whose anti-LGBTQ+ stance could have genuinely terrifying implications on repercussions for queer people in America? Isn’t endorsing Harris just common sense?

The answer, Roan has since said in a video on TikTok, is yes. But that doesn’t mean that she needs to relish doing so. In fact, the singer has made her opinions about the current state of the Democratic Party pretty clear over the last year.

During a performance at the 2024 Governors Ball in New York in June, Roan said that she had declined an invitation to perform at the White House’s Pride event until there was freedom for all. “That means freedom and trans rights,” she said. “That meets freedom and women’s rights. And it especially means freedom for all oppressed people in occupied territories.”

While not explicit, it was thought that with her last comment, Roan was referring to Israel’s ongoing presence in Palestinian territories, which both the United Nations General Assembly and the International Court of Justice has dubbed an illegal occupation.

In a later interview with Rolling Stone, Roan said that she had, in fact, considered going to the Pride event, although instead of performing she wanted to read poetry in protest of the government’s pro-Israel stance during the recent conflict, which experts from the UN have called a genocide of the Palestinian people. Roan went on to say that after discussing the potential security risks of protesting the president in his presence with her team, she ultimately decided against going.

Even then, certain corners of the internet said her refusal to attend the Pride event proved she was a Trump supporter. Her response, as with her comments to the Guardian, were nuanced.

“It is not so black and white that you hate one and you like the other,” she said. “No matter how you say it, people are still going to be pissed for fucking some reason. I’m not going to go to the White House because I am not going to be a monkey for Pride.”

She pointed to the Biden administration’s poor track record on trans rights, including a statement that saw them oppose gender-affirming surgery for transgender minors, something they would later walk back. “I don’t have a side,” she added, “because I hate both sides, and I’m so embarrassed about everything going on right now.”

“This is me questioning both sides because this is what we have” – Chappell Roan

American politics, of course, is complicated, especially as it operates within a seemingly unbreakable two-party system. For those who feel disenfranchised, especially those on the left, this binary infrastructure can leave them out in the cold.

In the end, you vote for the lesser of two evils. This, it seems, is what Roan has advocated for. “Right now, it’s more important than ever to use your vote, and I will do whatever it takes to protect people’s civil rights, especially the LGBTQ+ community,” she told Rolling Stone. “My ethics and values will always align with that.”

Given Roan’s stance on Palestine – she has sold merch with proceeds going towards aid for the country – as well as her staunch stance on LGBTQ+ rights, it’s frankly wild that some would assume that her refusal to endorse Harris means she’s supporting Trump.

Instead, Harris’s commitment to providing arms to Israel amid an ongoing genocide and her reluctance to listen to those with a pro-Palestine stance (she mocked protestors during a campaign rally in Detroit in August), has given Roan cause for concern. “This is me questioning both sides because this is what we have,” she said in a video shared on TikTok on Wednesday (26 September). “I’m critiquing both sides because they’re both so fucked up.”

Given what is at stake during this year’s American election, especially for LGBTQ+ people, it is perhaps understandable that people may be on edge. The threat of another Trump presidency, as well as the far-right Project 2025 initiative, would have devastating implications for the rights of queer people.

Roan knows this (“Fuck Trump for fucking real,” she said on TikTok). Nevertheless, she’s refusing to partake in the tribalism inherent in American political discourse while highlighting the artificiality of celebrity endorsements. Politics isn’t pop music, and pop stars aren’t politicians. While they can, of course, influence the political sphere – Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris being a prime example – the expectation that artists become a mouthpiece for political leaders, even if it sits at adds with that artist’s own nuanced opinions, feels off.

Of course we want our favourite artists to be politically conscious. But as Roan has since said, “Actions speak louder than words and actions speak louder than an endorsement.” She’s proved time and time again who she is and what she stands for. She’s encouraged her fans to get out and vote for what matters to them. She’s even said that she’s going to vote, however begrudgingly, for Kamala Harris.

Ultimately, it all goes back to her plea for critical thinking. The result of this election is too important to get tied up in unnecessary discourse over an unnecessary endorsement. Instead, voters should be thinking about the issues at hand, using their own beliefs and feelings to form their decision come November. That the choices on offer on both sides is so poor proves that the state of American politics is just not hot to go.

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