Pride Artist Feature: Bronze Avery
“[The queer community] inspired me to connect with not only myself, but with all of the queer people that listen to me! I wanted to learn more about their stories and see how my art could influence or inspire their journey with their sexuality.”
Outed by a shared family computer, singer Bronze Avery – born Gabriel Brown – has been living and singing openly since his teen years. He is thankful for understanding his own sexuality from an early age.
“The first time I ever thought a guy was attractive was this boy in my class named Sebastian in first grade,” said Avery. “I dont think I ever came out to myself, I just kind of knew which is a blessing to me because I actually think the hardest person to come out to is yourself.”
As a gay man, he always knew he was gay but MTV and VH1 shows helped him through school.
“… Shows like Tila Tequila: A Shot of Love really helped everyone around me feel more comfortable with it in school,” said Avery.
His music is self-described as “dreamy, sexy pop” and is intertwined with his sexuality. Inspired by Gwen Stefani and The Pussycat Dolls, Avery is open and honest within his lyrics.
“I think my music started to enter its true form when I started to be super open about my sexuality,” said Avery. “The stories I started to share were more honest, and I felt free to express myself without worrying if being gay would turn people away from my music.”
Avery’s openness within his music has given him a warm and welcoming audience and community — something he didn’t really predict to happen.
“The queer community has really supported me with the warmest, most open arms ever,” he said. “It inspired me to connect with not only myself, but with all of the queer people that listen to me! I wanted to learn more about their stories and see how my art could influence or inspire their journey with their sexuality.”
He never wants to stop connecting with and feeling close to the community, as it resonates deeply within him. Avery echos the sentiment of community in how he feels about his identity.
“To me, it’s being able to exist in the same space with everyone else in the world and be accepted and celebrated for it,” he said. “I didn’t choose my identity, it kind of chose me.”
Avery performed at LA pride earlier this month. His most recent release Split can be streamed on Spotify.
Follow him on Facebook to keep up with what he has in store.
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25, according to their website. Click here to make a donation.