Why everybody has an opinion about King Princess’s sexuality

On this, the ultimate day of Bisexual Visibility Month, I need to say my piece a few sexuality label controversy earlier than I as soon as once more disappear into the ether till subsequent September.

It facilities round musician King Princess, who identifies as a lesbian. This week, a Nov. 2024 look on the podcast Celebrity Book Club with Steven & Lily resurfaced on social media, during which the singer-songwriter stated, “I’ve taken a lot of dick.”

“Sometimes you get bored, and you’re just like, ‘I’m just gonna ride a cock,'” she continued. “People get really shook when I say that… I’m not bi, but why would I exclude myself?”

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

“I would fuck a dude if I was bored enough,” she stated. 

If you understand something concerning the on-line sapphic group, you’d be capable of guess this could begin a firestorm. And it did. King Princess’s identify trended on Reddit, with threads in varied subreddits like r/lesbiangang and r/lesbianactually expressing disappointment and confusion. The dialog bled into X, Instagram, and TikTok, with reactions starting from commenters saying she’s “yet another bisexual cosplaying as a lesbian” to “lesbian deserves better than this” to “hot takes” that it is OK for her to determine as a lesbian and specific this. 

King Princess herself responded to the controversy in now-deleted TikToks, saying she’s by no means dated or fallen in love with males, she’s simply slept with them as a result of, “Why not?” She rejected the notion that she’s much less of a lesbian as a result of she’s not a “gold star,” a time period within the lesbian group to confer with a lesbian who has by no means slept with males.

In one other deleted response, King Princess asserted that she’s a lesbian and that it is unfair to bi folks to equate her with that. 

“The amount that I actually care about men romantically or sexually is so small…it would be inappropriate to call myself bisexual,” she stated. “You can’t tell me what my sexuality is.”

As a bisexual one who has written about how bisexual individuals are plagued with the fear that they don’t seem to be queer sufficient, and the way bisexual ladies are routinely the Pride punching bag, right here is my take.

Is King Princess bisexual?

Only King Princess can reply this query. I feel she’s proper that strangers cannot inform her what her sexuality is. But if she got here as much as me and begged, “Anna — whom I have previously never met and know nothing about except your exceptional coverage of LGBTQ issues on Mashable.com — please, please tell me what you think my sexuality is!” I’d, truthfully, say bisexual. 

Labels exist to suit the particular person, not the opposite method round. From my observations on-line, some individuals are altering what labels imply in order that they’ll squeeze themselves right into a sure identification, as a substitute of reflecting on their precise needs and behaviors and selecting the label that coincides with it. “Lesbian” connotes not sleeping with males, ever. Right? So, how does what King Princess describes match into lesbianism?

It’s my bisexual opinion that for those who’re 99 % attracted to at least one gender and one % attracted to a different, that also makes you bisexual. I get pissed off when “straight” ladies prefer to make out with different ladies however poo-poo the thought that they are bi. I do not see a lot of a distinction between that and what King Princess stated.

I hear the lesbian group’s frustration about this, as properly. This is much from the primary time a celeb who as soon as recognized as a lesbian has come out as bisexual (or pansexual) and relationship a person. Jojo Siwa is a current instance. Reneé Rapp got here out as a lesbian in 2024 after beforehand saying she was bi, however in a 2025 podcast look, she questioned out loud, “What if in 10 years I don’t like that identity either? What if in 10 years I’m completely different?”

I can think about that is vexing to lesbians who’re sure their identities will not change. 

I do marvel if the reluctance to determine as bisexual is due to the general public opinion about it. As I wrote earlier this yr, bisexual individuals are a bit of annoying. We are a grey space of sexuality, and the human mind prefers issues to be black-and-white. We do not match into the monosexual field. We query societal and gender norms, and we frequently need to be loud about it.

Societal stigma towards bi folks nonetheless exists. This summer time, discourse about how some straight ladies do not wish to date bisexual males recycled round but once more. And as of this month, there’s new information about it: Two-thirds of straight ladies are unwilling up to now a bisexual man, in keeping with YouGov. 

It’s not simply straight ladies, both. The identical analysis discovered {that a} third of straight males are unwilling up to now a bi lady, and one in 5 lesbians really feel the identical about bi ladies.

When requested why, straight folks could not articulate why. One in six gave non-answers, like saying it is their desire or that they only do not wish to. Others stated they’re afraid a bisexual particular person would cheat, a longtime stereotype towards bisexual folks. 

So, yeah, I perceive why somebody could not wish to be part of the bi group. We’re not precisely universally beloved. We’re known as liars, cheaters, and sluts. We’re informed we do not exist. But provided that most individuals within the LGBTQ group determine as bisexual (within the U.S., anyway), we’re additionally not alone.

It additionally would not assist that King Princess has thrown different sapphic pop stars below the bus with an (additionally now-deleted) remark that, “You guys also might wanna check on the pop divas who are actively lying about being gay…in fully committed relationships with men on the DL.” This has since spun right into a type of witch hunt, with social media customers speculating about who, precisely, she meant.

How King Princess identifies is her enterprise. But the controversy round her feedback means that, in 2026, individuals are extra excited about deciding who matches inside an identification than in understanding the individuals who use it.