00:00 Talk about celebrating Pride. It's June. LGBTQ awareness is on an all-time high in general,
00:05 particularly in the country world. You have a big part in that representation. Tell me what
00:09 that means to you and just kind of like the state of affairs in country music when it comes to that.
00:13 Yeah, well, I mean, Pride Month, you know, I remember growing up, I grew up in a very
00:18 Christian conservative household and I remember being like, "Well, there's not a straight month."
00:23 Like I was that person, you know, until I was like, you know, 14 and like met my first gay friend
00:30 and was like, "Oh, you have had to go through so much to have pride in who you are." And I
00:38 understand it so much more now. And I understand also the other side of like, why does it matter?
00:45 It matters because there has been such little representation for such a long time,
00:49 especially in country music. And there hasn't been able to be visibility because, you know,
00:56 when people started to come out, they were told that you would lose your career. And I mean,
01:02 I was told I would lose my career in the beginning. And my wife and I stayed in the
01:05 closet for five years. So for me, Pride Month is so important to just for to explain to straight
01:16 people why it's important to have pride in who you are. Because when you're born straight,
01:22 you already have pride intrinsically and you're told that, you know, God loves you.
01:27 And then all of a sudden you realize, "Oh, I might not be straight." And then all of a sudden,
01:33 you're going to hell and all these things. And there's a whole journey that you have to go
01:37 through in order to love yourself and accept yourself. And when you get there, there's a lot
01:44 of pride that comes with that. So that's what Pride Month is all about. And I just think, you
01:48 know, for for me, country music is about the truth. And for so long, you know, we haven't been able to
01:55 tell our truth. And there's so many people that haven't felt represented here. So to be able to
01:59 tell our truth in country music and to just have that inclusivity that is country music. That's
02:05 what it's all about for me.
