Watch: Chappell Roan Opens Up about Exactly When She Knew

Watch: Chappell Roan Opens Up about Exactly When She Knew

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

"The Giver" singer is giving some serious authenticity, telling Bowen Yang on his podcast "Las Culturistas" how it was her experiences with men in bed that made it clear to her that she prefers women.

The admission was part of a freewheeling conversation about Roan's songwriting process, the concept of "service tops," whether sex between gay men is mostly "transactional," and the joy of seeing someone's "o face."

The topic started with Yang asking Roan, "What do you love about service topping?" Yang then recounted hooking up with someone who described themself as someone who gets pleasure from giving pleasure to a sexual partner.

"That's just sex!" Roan burst out. As the conversation continued, the "Good Luck, Babe!" singer went on to add that, from her perspective, giving a partner pleasure – even if she doesn't derive pleasure from whatever act is happening at the moment – is ultimately satisfying. "I may not understand this pleasure thing for you, but I'm gonna do it anyway because you like [it]. But, to me... I just thought that's how sex works."

Tying back to Roan's latest single, Yang asked, "So what does being a giver mean to you?"

"That just means I want to do things that make you feel good," Roan answered. "For me, I give you pleasure, and that gives me pleasure," she went on to say.

"This is the healthiest discourse on sex anyone's ever had," Yang declared, before observing that sex "these days... has been so divorced from pleasure, I think, for a lot of people."

"I mean, that is why – that is my experience when I hooked up with men," Roan said. "That's how I knew I was gay... I just felt so performative" with men.

"Ahh!" Yang and cohost Matt Rogers chorused.

"I just did what I thought they wanted, even if it didn't feel good," Roan recalled. "To me, when I'm like, 'Okay, service top,' is that, you want to do a service even if you don't want to?"

"I don't know," Roan continued. "I just want to do what my partner – [what] makes them feel good, and when I make them feel good, I – that makes me feel good."

Roan went on to explain that, from all the labels that are out there, she'd identify with one that expresses sexual interest in people with whom one has already forged an emotional bond.

"That is why I'm so uncomfortable when I'm hit on," the singer – who has been vocal about her dislike of being treated casually by fans – explained. "Because, like, 'I don't know you'... That is why it's such a turn-off when people, like, are so bold at the beginning."

Listen to and watch the conversation below.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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