Dove Cameron recently opened up to Variety about hitting it big with the queer anthem, “Boyfriend.”
She told the outlet. “Growing up, always knowing that I was queer, there were instances of queer songs being on the radio, but I don’t remember them being so indistinguishable from a song about a straight couple. I always saw queer relationships being fetishized or objectified or held in this kind of laissez-faire, male-gaze attitude, especially when it came to two queer women.
“And then to see people embrace it without even discussing the novelty of having a queer song — where there’s no pretense, there’s nothing about the song that makes it any different than if a man was singing about a woman or vice versa — I think it’s incredibly special.”
Growing up as a queer kid wasn't always easy for the former Disney channel star. Despite her on-screen success, she didn't always have an easy time at school.
Cameron said, “I was basically just the opposite of cool, right? I feel like all the popular kids are always the ones who are super like-minded and they don’t really care about that much, they’re organized around a sport or a certain activity. And I was just like crying all the time, drawing Sharpie tattoos on me, wanting to be a vampire or a boy. I would come to school as a hundred different characters because I was just so expressive.”
“Boyfriend” topped out as No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum in the United States.