In the middle of Pride Month, when rainbows flood every timeline and drag queens rule the airwaves, queer pop darling Fletcher dropped a gut-punch of a single — and it’s not the kind of anthem anyone was expecting. Her new track “Boy” comes not with glitter, but with gloom. In it, Fletcher mourns falling in love with a man like she’s committed a queer crime, and the lyrics have sparked a storm of confused side-eyes across the LGBTQ+ community.
“I had no choice, I kissed a boy,” Fletcher croons with the resignation of someone confessing to arson — not romance. And the vibes don’t get much brighter. “It wasn’t on your bingo card this year / Well, it wasn’t on mine,” she adds, twisting the knife deeper into what should’ve been a celebratory coming out of a new relationship.
Now, let’s be clear: no one’s mad that Fletcher, an openly queer woman since 2021, fell for a man. We’ve all been there (some of us more reluctantly than others). But the hand-wringing tone of “Boy” — and the rollout of a new album Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me? — has left fans feeling like they’re watching a breakup, not a love story.
Bi-Erasure or Bi-Embrace?
There’s a difference between honest vulnerability and full-on shame spiral. Fletcher’s lyrics lean toward the latter, making it sound like she needs to apologize for her bisexuality. That’s the kicker for a lot of her fans — especially queer women — who expected her to serve a hot bi summer anthem and instead got a moody monologue.
This isn’t a JoJo Siwa-style identity shift. Fletcher’s always said she’s queer and attracted to different energies. She never labeled herself strictly lesbian. But wiping her Instagram of sapphic history, running to Northern California where “nobody knows who I was before,” and singing about the supposed tragedy of loving a man? It’s giving internalized bi panic, not bi pride.
The numbers don’t lie: more than half of LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S. identify as bisexual. That’s not a niche group — that’s the majority. So why is one of pop’s proudest queer voices making it sound like loving across the gender aisle is a betrayal?
Community Isn’t Canceled, It’s Expanded
Fletcher’s fear about being judged isn’t unfounded — biphobia is real, even inside the queer world. But the idea that she’s “lost” her community for being with a man is not just sad — it’s false. If anything, her audience got bigger. More people, queer and otherwise, can now relate to her lyrics and love life.
Other queer icons like Dove Cameron, Demi Lovato, and Miley Cyrus have all proudly dated men without mourning their queer card. Kesha recently dropped “Boy Crazy,” a joyfully horny ode to bi lust, and no one batted a glittery eyelash.
Fletcher, in contrast, seems trapped in an emotional limbo. Her self-described “fear” about how the community would react seems to have shaped her own sad narrative — and that sadness is now being projected onto her fans, who once looked to her for empowerment.
Pride Month Pity Party?
The optics of releasing a song that reads like a bisexual apology letter during Pride Month? Not exactly ideal. While queer people are fighting for the right to exist, love, and marry, Fletcher’s tear-stained confession about dating a man hits like a tone-deaf ballad of woe.
Of course, her feelings are valid. Shame and guilt are common in the queer journey. But when you’re a public figure with a fanbase hungry for joyful representation, leading with “I had no choice” sends the wrong message. It implies that bisexuality is a deviation, not a dimension.
Fletcher deserves love — and so does her boyfriend. But she also owes her fans a narrative that doesn’t treat bi love as second-class. Because at the end of the rainbow, being queer isn’t about who you’re with. It’s about who you are.
And Cari, baby, you’re still queer. Own it.