The first time I became familiar with the name Chely Wright was not in 2010 when she came out as the first openly gay country music star. Chely Wright was first introduced to me in 1999 when my mother brought home Chely’s album titled Single White Female. I grew up listening to the music that my parents enjoyed and their love of country music had carried over to me. At that time I was a junior in high school and just coming to terms with the realization that I was gay. At 16 years old I just wanted to fit in with my friends. They all listened to hip-hop music and I would have been the odd man out listening to country. Due to my insecurities around being gay, I didn’t need any help feeling like an outcast. So for the sake of fitting in I kept my love of country music a secret. When left home alone I would take the CD with the woman in the red dress on the cover, put it in the stereo in the living room, and sing along. At the time I didn’t think anything of it. It was just another country album by another country star that I enjoyed in solitude. It’s funny as I think back on it now; I was hiding, listening to the music of someone who was hiding the same secret that I was. I came out to friends, my family and myself shortly after graduating high school in 2000. Even though I openly came out ten years prior to Chely Wright, her journey to liberation has struck a chord with me and provides a sense of comfort, reassuring me that I was never alone even all those years ago.
My interest in the Wish Me Away documentary grew from my love of Chely’s memoir titled Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer. To my surprise I found her story extremely relatable. What I most connected with was Chely’s relationship with God, her relationship with her sexuality, with the people around her, and unfortunately her “deep down low” moment. As a young child I found myself praying to God to not let me be gay. In my teenage years I planned to come out once I gained financial independence from my parents and didn’t need them anymore. I even made plans to develop a demanding career in my adult life that would excuse not having a girlfriend or wife. And when all of the praying and planning grew tiresome I decided that simultaneously drinking alcohol and taking drugs was a risk I was willing to take to end the static in my head.
For most of my life I felt like an outsider. When I finally came out and made friends who were gay I was able to feel comfortable with my newly accepted self. Even though I had gay friends, their stories about their time in the closet never seemed to match up with mine and I still felt like all of the coping mechanisms from my youth were irrational, silly, or dramatic. Reading Chely’s story made me feel normal and, more importantly, made me feel that there really are people like me.
Wish Me Away is not just about a country music star coming out as a lesbian. Yes, that is obviously a big part of the film but the even greater part, and what I feel the film really showcases, is the emotion, the experiences, and the road traveled by many of us in the LGBTQ community. No matter what our life experience is, I think that we are all bound together by certain reactions to our own truth. Thankfully, in this day and age there are many more celebrities using their voices to create a positive platform for gay youth than when I was growing up.
Fortunately for me Chely Wright’s voice was heard the loudest both in speaking and in song. I admire her tenacity and courage to share her whole truth with the world in the hopes that she can help even just one person accept their reality. If you’re scared, struggling, “ok,” straight, uneasy, or un-phased you cannot help but walk away from this film more enlightened and more hopeful than when you sat down to watch it. My hope is that Wish Me Away will spark organic conversations between people who may be avoiding the topic, hiding their sexuality, or unsure of how to start the conversation in the first place. I am grateful to the filmmakers and producers for bringing this story to fruition and of course I am grateful to Chely Wright for choosing to live her life openly and honestly. You have all made an impact on OUR lives.
*Wish Me Away is currently available on iTunes and available on DVD October 16, 2012. http://www.wishmeawaydoc.com/pre-order-chely-wright-wish-me-away-on-dvd-now.html
My interest in the Wish Me Away documentary grew from my love of Chely’s memoir titled Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer. To my surprise I found her story extremely relatable. What I most connected with was Chely’s relationship with God, her relationship with her sexuality, with the people around her, and unfortunately her “deep down low” moment. As a young child I found myself praying to God to not let me be gay. In my teenage years I planned to come out once I gained financial independence from my parents and didn’t need them anymore. I even made plans to develop a demanding career in my adult life that would excuse not having a girlfriend or wife. And when all of the praying and planning grew tiresome I decided that simultaneously drinking alcohol and taking drugs was a risk I was willing to take to end the static in my head.
For most of my life I felt like an outsider. When I finally came out and made friends who were gay I was able to feel comfortable with my newly accepted self. Even though I had gay friends, their stories about their time in the closet never seemed to match up with mine and I still felt like all of the coping mechanisms from my youth were irrational, silly, or dramatic. Reading Chely’s story made me feel normal and, more importantly, made me feel that there really are people like me.
Wish Me Away is not just about a country music star coming out as a lesbian. Yes, that is obviously a big part of the film but the even greater part, and what I feel the film really showcases, is the emotion, the experiences, and the road traveled by many of us in the LGBTQ community. No matter what our life experience is, I think that we are all bound together by certain reactions to our own truth. Thankfully, in this day and age there are many more celebrities using their voices to create a positive platform for gay youth than when I was growing up.
Fortunately for me Chely Wright’s voice was heard the loudest both in speaking and in song. I admire her tenacity and courage to share her whole truth with the world in the hopes that she can help even just one person accept their reality. If you’re scared, struggling, “ok,” straight, uneasy, or un-phased you cannot help but walk away from this film more enlightened and more hopeful than when you sat down to watch it. My hope is that Wish Me Away will spark organic conversations between people who may be avoiding the topic, hiding their sexuality, or unsure of how to start the conversation in the first place. I am grateful to the filmmakers and producers for bringing this story to fruition and of course I am grateful to Chely Wright for choosing to live her life openly and honestly. You have all made an impact on OUR lives.
*Wish Me Away is currently available on iTunes and available on DVD October 16, 2012. http://www.wishmeawaydoc.com/pre-order-chely-wright-wish-me-away-on-dvd-now.html
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