L DEVINE.
“I think I was always really scared growing up that I didn’t want to capitalise or cash-in on my sexuality,” says L Devine, curled up on a sofa at the East London studio she rehearses at. “It’s ridiculous now when I think about it.”
We’ve relocated from Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club – the backdrop of our photoshoot with the star – and have started to discuss how important it was to L Devine to be open about her sexuality from the start of her career. The oftentold story when it comes to LGBTQ musicians is that traditionally they have been encouraged to keep their sexual orientation under wraps. A new generation, however, have found themselves with a very different problem: they are resisting their identity potentially being exploited as a marketing narrative.
“I just didn’t want people to think I was using it as an arc or something like that,” L Devine continues. “Obviously there’s something in society that’s told me that that’s what I would be doing. Even when I was 14 and I thought, ‘I really want to be a singer but what am I going to do about being a lesbian?’ I thought I’d have to say I am bisexual so that I could still appeal to
