Christine and the Queens explains what it means to be genderqueer
The 'Girlfriend' singer opens up about her identity in the first episode of Attitude's LGBTQ Slang Challenge.
By Will Stroude
Christine and the Queens is part of a new generation of pop stars revolutionising the narrative around sex and gender; bringing long-overdue conversations about humanity’s vast spectrum of identities into the mainstream through both her music and no-holds-barred public persona.
The ‘Girlfriend’ singer identifies as genderqueer, and in the first ever episode of Attitude’s LGBTQ Slang Challenge, a new digital series which puts stars’ knowledge of queer phrases to the test, 31-year-old Christine – real name Héloïse Letissier – reveals what the term means to her.
Asked the meaning of ‘genderqueer’, the 31 year-old explains: “Someone who subverts gender norms and doesn’t identify as either [gender].”
Pointing to herself, she adds: “Someone who escapes binarism [sic] and works on something more fluid.”
Attitude’s LGBTQ Slang Challenge – which will see new episodes released each Wednesday on YouTube – also sees Christine attempt to guess the meaning behind other queer phrases that aren’t so close to home – including ‘Spaghetti Girl’ and ‘Size Queen’.
“Fat and fabulous?” No?!” Christine replies when tasked with explaining the latter, before being told it refers to the size to a certain part of human anatomy.
“Oh ok, I didn’t know that one”, she laughs.
Attitude Artist Award winner Christine also appears on the cover of this month’s Attitude Awards issue – available to download and to order globally now – where she opens up further about the struggles she’s faced in coming to terms with her genderqueer idendity.
“When I was young, I used to feel monstrous,” she tells us in an exclusive interview.
Christine and the Queens, shot by Ferry Van der Nat exclusively for the Attitude Awards issue, out now
“I had lots of questions because I couldn’t define myself properly.
“Was I a young man trapped in a woman’s body? I don’t feel I have body dysmorphia. So, I’m a woman, but then I don’t relate to women as they are. I had skin rashes out of stress.
She goes on: “Identity itself, for me, is a shattered mirror. So being consistent and coherent never appealed to me, even when I was younger.
Christine and the Queens, shot by Ferry Van der Nat exclusively for the Attitude Awards issue, out now
“I remember high school as a nightmare for me because everyone defined identity so strictly. Fluidity brings more possibilities and I like that.
“Nuances. You explore, and thank God you can let go of the idea of ticking a box, which never appealed to me.
“So, yes, more names, more pronouns, and sub-categories, or whatever. There is poetry also in the multiplications of the names.”
Read the full interview with Christine in the Attitude Awards issue, out now.
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