Photo:Trevor Flores
Trevor Flores
Hayley Kiyokois ready to expand her “Girls Like Girls” universe.
Speaking to PEOPLE in this week’s issue about her upcoming debut novelGirls Like Girls, the singer opened up about why it’s important for her to spread a message of hope among LGTBQ+ youth.
Kiyoko’s novel, out May 30, expands the lives and stories of Coley and Sonya — two fictional characters she created for the music video of her confessional 2015 song “Girls Like Girls.”
“As a queer person and also just navigating life and trying to understand who we are and what we like and what we want, there’s a growing period,” Kiyoko, 32, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
“I hope that this book resonates with many people who’ve either experienced similar feelings or are going through those feelings. [Also those] who are also trying to heal those moments and experiences they had in the past that they needed more strength or more healing for in their own personal growth,” she adds.
Kiyoko came out in 2015 with “Girls Like Girls,” where she recounted the first time she fell in love.
“I fell in love with this girl in high school and it was a pivotal moment in my life,” she says, noting that it was also her first heartbreak.
“I kind of built this grudge or felt like if someone is not willing to be with me right now in this moment and parade me around, then they don’t really love me. And I don’t think that that’s true,” says Kiyoko, who is now in a happy relationship withBacheloralumBecca Tilley. “I don’t think that that’s a fair statement to make. And I think that because of the experiences I had and because of the heartbreak that I had, I carried that with me.”
“I’ve always felt different. I think society teaches all of us that there’s only A, B and C ways of acting and loving and being,” the singer says. “I felt like an outcast. I felt like I didn’t belong. I didn’t feel like there was space for me in this industry, or that people would be accepting of me as a musical artist if I were to be very openly gay.”
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She adds, “I’ve struggled a lot with that growing up and there was a lot of shame and self-hate. And trying to navigate where I belong and if I was worthy to be loved. I think that that was one of the hardest things for me to learn and recognize is that I am worthy of being loved.”
Since the release of “Girls Like Girls,” Kiyoko has found acceptance and community.
“I am very grateful that I was able to share my truth at early stages of my career. And Girls Like Girls was obviously the catalyst for that. And helped me find my community and people that made me feel seen and heard,” she says. “When I wrote that song I was terrified to express my feelings and to be able to do so has given me such purpose in life.”
Though “queer representation was never hopeful” for Kiyoko growing up, she hopes thatGirls Like Girlscan fulfill that missing piece: “My story is only my story. It’s not everyone’s story, but it’s a story that also ends in hope. And I think that that’s very important to share with people, so people have hope for their future.”
“I want someone to be able to have this book as a shield, as support, to be a reminder that what they’re feeling is real. [Also,] that they absolutely deserve to find love that is where two people meet each other in the middle, and it’s not toxic,” she concludes. “It’s not someone taking advantage of the other person emotionally. You deserve to have a healthy, loving relationship.”
source: people.com
