Janelle Mona's sensuous new album fights back at anti-LGBTQ laws
BBC By Mark Savage
BBC Music Correspondent
Janelle Mona says her sensuous, hedonistic new album is a riposte to conservatives who want to suppress expressions of black, queer pleasure.
The record arrives amidst a spate of US bills targeting LGBTQ rights, and others that outlaw the teaching of African American history.
"They want us to not enjoy life, they want us to be miserable, to feel like we don't belong," Mona, who identifies as non-binary, told BBC 6 Music.
"We have to fight this every way."
The 37-year-old says her latest album, The Age Of Pleasure, is just one way to resist the tide of anti-LGBTQ sentiment.
"With this project I am making it very known that, even in the midst of these heavy times, we're going to celebrate ourselves, we're going to create a safe space for ourselves and we're going to enjoy this life."
The star is also taking practical action with her Fem The Future charity, which provides grants to under-resourced girls and non-binary youth in music, the arts, and education.
