How to Be Queer in Country Music: The Story of Mya Byrne
As a folk musician and transgender activist, Mya Byrne has been paving the way for queer artists in Nashville. The singer-songwriter recently spoke to The Advocate about the progress of LGBTQ+ individuals in the Americana scene, and how coming out completely changed her career.Byrne recently became the first transgender woman featured in Rolling Stones Country.
Though she gushed about how it feels to be “above the fold,” she admitted she “was not expecting to get the lead.”As a country musician who has been active since 2003, Byrne is no stranger to the discrimination against queer individuals in Americana.“It’s still a hard place to exist,” she says. “Trans women – we’ve got a glass ceiling too, but it’s safety glass.
I feel like [the Rolling Stones Country piece] really put a crack in the armor.”Byrne entered the professional music scene in 2003, where she became acquainted with queer artists in folk, rock, and even country.
Despite LGBTQ+ creators having historic influences in the genres, the reinforcement of heteronormativity and cisnormativity in the scene made her “afraid” of being queer. “I didn’t know what being queer really meant,” she shares. “I wouldn’t allow myself to be queer.”The toxicity of the culture delayed Byrne’s acceptance of herself as transgender.
