Chely Wright Names Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood + More as Supporters When She Came Out

Only a few country stars publicly supported Chely Wright when she announced she was a lesbian in 2010. Others, like Faith Hill, chose to privately congratulate her, while a third group won’t talk to her. Wright spoke to the SiriusXM’s Michelangelo Signorile about how her decision was received by her friends in Nashville.

LeAnn Rimes, SHeDAISY and Mary Chapin Carpenter were the only ones willing to publicly support Wright, but she said received emails and letters from a number of friends. “Privately — Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood and Naomi Judd,” she says (via the Huffington Post).

No male artists offered an encouraging word. “I think some of the artists really have a fundamental belief that there’s something wrong with me,” the ‘Single White Female’ singer said. “But I think most of the artists don’t want their fans to know that they’re supportive of me because they don’t want to lose a record sale. Because, look, there’s a reason I’m the first artist to come out in commercial country music.”

She added, “There’s a reason we hide in country music. Because we know who buys our records by and large. It’s a Christian conservative fan base who doesn’t approve or thinks we’re going to hell. You know, I receive a lot of letters from people who say, ‘I won’t support that sick behavior.’ it’s not pretty.”

During the interview, Wright talked about some of the emails and letters fans have written her, including one from a woman who was considering suicide before hand-writing a 10-page letter, because she was afraid her mom would find it on the computer. In August, Wright married longtime girlfriend Lauren Blitzer in Connecticut.

Recently, the singer has been working as an LGBT advocate. Just last week she cut the ribbon at the Like Me Lighthouse, an LGBT center in her hometown of Kansas City, Mo. The interview was for Signorile’s show on SirusXM’s LGBT channel OutQ.