"The moral of the story is that no matter where you are in life, you can come a long way, and you can grow immensely within a short amount of time or a long amount of time, and to never give up because if I had given up, I wouldn't be here." ~ Haley Kiyoko
Haley Kiyoko is a 29-year-old Japanese American singer, songwriter, and actress who started her career as a child. Growing up, Kiyoko struggled heavily with expressing and accepting her sexual identity. Overcoming her inner conflicts and feelings of hopelessness, she now openly advocates for the LGBTQ+ community through her music and envelopes her message into her work. For example, Kiyoko's hit song "Girls Like Girls" (2015) share her experience to normalize LGBTQ+ relationships. Nicknames "Lesbian Jesus" by her fans, Kiyoko inspires her audience to love and appreciate themselves for who they are, no matter their sexuality, gender, or race.
Besides using her music and music videos to promote LGBTQ+ rights and raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues, she also partnered and donated to various organizations to showcase her advocacy. For Pride Month in 2017, Haley Kiyoko collaborated with MeUndies to donate a portion of the campaign profits to the Los Angeles LGBT Center. After her Expectations tour, she donated 78 bras that were thrown on her stage to support homeless women and homeless LGTQ+ youth. In 2018, Kiyoko dedicated her acceptance speech for Push Artist of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards to queer women of color. In 2019, Kiyoko marched in the Word Pride Parade in NYC. More recently, she protested for the Black Lives Matter movement with a sign reading "Girls Like Girls Who Are Not Racist." Kiyoko was also named the Most- Added to LGBTQ+ Playlists Artist by Spotify Awards in 2020.
"Never in my wildest, wildest dreams did I think I would be open with my sexuality. Not only that, but lead people to also feel comfortable with their sexuality. That was just not a part of the equation. At all. So, it's been a surprise in life, and a blessing... My purpose [is] to just continue to share stories and connect with people." ~ Haley Kiyoko
Some of Haley Kiyoko's notable work include: Stella Yamada in Lemonade Mouth, "Girls Like Girls" Single (2015), "Expectations" Album (2018), and Queen Eleza Beth in RuPaul's Secret Celeb Drag Race (2020).
"I've always wanted my lyrics to say something meaningful and, you know, you always want to tell a message with your art, so yes, as I continue to write music, I will write about things that are real and things that I feel aren't written about a lot." ~ Haley Kiyoko
Haley Kiyoko represents the message of Creatively Asian because she is a young, empowering Asian American Woman who unapologetically shares her story to address LGBTQ+ issues through music. From her experiences, Kiyoko understands exactly how isolating it can be to struggle with sexual identity, but she uses those experiences and the creative arts to take that first step in embracing who she is and motivates her audience to do the same. She is an important icon for the LGBTQ+ community as she helped many of its members find hope and self-love to express their sexual identity. Kiyoko is powerful, inspiring, talented, and most definitely Creatively Asian.
Originally created and posted on Instagram (@creativelyasian) by Joey Chen and Angela Nguyen. Click to go to the original post!