October 19 2025, 08:15 
Gay pop star Chappell Roan recently opened up during a live show about how she struggles with fame, but that it’s all worth it to be able to spread queer joy.
“I wasn’t gonna do a US tour until the very last minute,” she told a Pasadena crowd last weekend during the final U.S. performance of her Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things tour. “I decided to do one, and I’m so glad I did. It’s so fun.”
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She said she has questioned why she continues in her career when it makes her feel so “left out in public” and “so awkward all the time,” but that the tour helped her realize exactly why she keeps going.
“I always felt, actually, ‘Why am I putting myself through this? If this is taking so much away from me, what is this for?’ Then I started doing shows again and it all made sense, it was to literally bring queer people joy.”
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“There [are] so many things in the world that are so ‘f**k you’,” she continued, “and then there is this. It’s the only thing that matters is joy anymore to me, and protecting that, and peace and safety. So, I hope you know that when you are here, you are safe, and I want you here. You can be whoever you are tonight. You’re cherished for everything that you are.”
She said protecting that joy is one of the most important things, and “even if you’re not queer, I hope you know that I include you.”
@tomasmier Chappell Roan gives emotional speech about queer joy during night 2 in LA #chappellroan #chappellroanconcert #chapellroanfans @chappell roan #rosebowl
♬ original sound – tomás mier
During a red-carpet interview at the Grammy Awards in early February, Roan acknowledged the state of transgender rights in the U.S. in just the first month of the current presidential administration.
“It’s brutal right now,” Roan said, “but trans people have always existed, and they will forever exist, and they will never, no matter what happens, take trans joy away, and that has to be protected more than anything.”
“I would not be here without trans girls,” she added. “So, just know that pop music is thinking about you and cares about you. And I’m trying my best to stand up for you in every way that I can.”
In July, Roan announced that she’d donate a portion of the short tour’s ticket sales to trans organizations.
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