Maren Morris shocked and delighted many of her die-hard fans on Sunday when she came out as bisexual.
The 34-year-old country singer–songwriter gushed that she was ‘Happy to be the B in LGBTQ+’ as part of a coming-out post on Instagram that also celebrated Pride Month.
But even though she’s newly out, the hitmaker has long been an advocate for the LGBTQ community.
Maren, who filed for divorce from her husband Ryan Hurd eight months before coming out, famously delivered an emotional apology on behalf of country music when she appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul‘s Drag Race in January of 2023.
Later that year, she seemed to gloat about her feud with right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson after he called her a ‘lunatic’ for beefing with fellow country singer Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany over statements she made that many considered transphobic.
Following her appearance early last year as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Maren appeared on the aftershow Untucked to have a heart-to-heart with some of the competing drag queens.
‘Coming from country music and its relationship with LGBTQ+ members, I just want to say I’m sorry,’ she said during an emotional moment.
‘I love you guys for making me feel like a brave voice in country music. So I just thank you guys so much for inspiring me,’ Maren added.
Several of the queens joining her nodded along in approval as she worried aloud that she was going to start crying.
The Drag Race stars were quick to thank the songstress for the sentiments.
‘Just you being here shows you’re an ally,’ said Mistress Isabelle Brooks.
In a follow-up confessional interview, Spice added: ‘I love hearing Maren share her story because a lot of times with country artists, they can’t really express their more progressive ideals. Just her being here shows she’s down to roll with the LGBT.’
Back in 2022, Maren found herself standing up for the LGBTQ community again when she got into an online feud with Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany.
In a getting-ready video, Brittany said — seemingly out of nowhere — ‘I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life.’
Maren and fellow singer Cassadee Pope expressed outrage at her comments, which suggested that parents were forcing their children to transition and seemed to imply that transgender people were only going through a phase.
Cassadee, 32, took to Twitter and responded: ‘You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their “tomboy phase” to someone wanting to transition. Real nice.’
Maren, 32, snapped back: ‘It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.’
Maren’s then-husband and collaborator Ryan Hurd also added in a tweet: ‘Scoring quick points by picking on trans kids isn’t something that is brave at all.’
Brittany later doubled down, comparing gender-affirming care to genital mutilation on social media.
‘Some parents want to be accepted by society so badly that they’re willing to make life-altering decisions for their children who aren’t old enough to fully comprehend the consequences of their actions,’ she wrote.
Another of her posts questioned when children under 18 should be able to take puberty blockers — which are believed to be reversible, though they may have a negative effect on bone density — or to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Another questioned whether children younger than 18 should be able to choose to take puberty blockers, or undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Brittany’s husband Jason expressed support for her throughout the back-and-forth, which eventually led his publicity firm to drop him as a client.
Later in 2022, Brittany sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson in which they spoke about the controversy.
Tucker went on to call Maren a ‘lunatic’ and a ‘fake country music singer,’ which led the singer to post a photo of herself at the Grammy Awards with a fake Fox News chyron reading ‘Lunatic Country Music Person.’
She also began selling T-shirts mocking the controversy.
Later in May of 2023, Maren made history when she became the first country music star to be awarded with GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award.
Afterward, she gushed that she felt ‘a little bada** taking on Tucker Carlson for calling me a lunatic for standing up to transphobia.’
‘Maybe I did feel a little cool. But I don’t want to gloat. I would never insult the recently unemployed,’ she joked, referencing Carlson’s ouster from Fox News, which led the crowd to burst into cheers and laughter.
During her acceptance speech earlier in the evening, Maren urged fellow country musicians to ‘understand the power of inclusivity’ and to ‘open up yourself and your sound to a much larger audience even if you lose some along the way.’
‘The crowds at my shows are a sea of diversity, from race, identity to age. It is a loving, safe space for my band, crew, venue staff and most notably, my fans,’ she said. ‘This community stood up for me and made me feel safe when I felt alone and I’ll never be able to repay them, but I hope I get to spend the rest of my life and career settling up.’
Maren also took time to perform in 2023 at the Love Rising benefit in Nashville, which protested a then-new law in Tennessee that became the first in the nation to ban drag performances on public property, allegedly to protect children.
However, a federal judge later struck down the law, writing that it was ‘unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad,’ while determining that it would lead to ‘discriminatory enforcement.’
And now Maren has made her connection to the LGBTQ community even more explicit by coming out as bisexual.
‘Happy to be the B in LGBTQ+, happy pride!’ she gushed while including a rainbow emoji.
The post came around eight months after she announced her split from her husband-of-five-years, Ryan Hurd, with whom she shares her four-year-old son Hayes.
The former lovebirds met in 2013 when they both worked as co-writers on Tim McGraw’s song Last Turn Home.
She finalized her divorce from Hurd four months ago, and the agreement requires her to pay him $2,100 per month in child support payments.
