Lil Nas X has been riding a wave of success and controversy since releasing his hit Old Town Road. First he initially received discriminatory backlash from country music industry execs and country music fans. Then racist whites began to boycott Wrangler Jeans when the company decided to partner with Lil Nas X. Since releasing his remix with country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus, Old Town Road has become the catchy stand out song of the year.  The track has been the No. 1 song in the U.S. since April, breaking streaming records previously set by Drake and holding back Taylor Swift’s new singles. Recently his EP 7 debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

Closing out Pride Month, Lil Nas X decided to reveal (confirm) his sexuality to the world via Twitter.

I will always be happy when Black men live their best lives. My concern comes from when the reality of the anti-gayness that exists in our society kicks in. LGBT peoples, allies and supporters were over the rainbow for football player Michael Sam when he came out. He briefly played in the NFL but was cut over other players who had weaker stats. No doubt the NFL (owners, players, coaches) were not ready for an openly gay player. Sam’s promising career in football is over and since Sam has stated he regrets coming out before the draft.

Granted the music industry is different and the industry elites are quick to show support like they did for Frank Ocean but what about the consumers? As a consumer of media (social media, music, film, television, Black talk radio, etc.) I see and hear on a daily basis the disdain our society currently has towards non-heterosexuals. Of course publicly we’ve made strides as a society but privately (and publicly)…folk still hate gays.

I will continue to root for Lil Nas X. I feel he represents what many Black non-heterosexual men face, discrimination from racist whites and discrimination from within their own communities. We’ll see in the next couple of months the impact of his coming out decision.