Sam Smith: 'I Want to Be a Figure in the Gay Community'

Sam Smith tells NME in a cover story this week that “there’s nothing in [his] life that [he’s] prouder of” than being a gay man and he hopes to be a voice for acceptance internationally:

“I want to be a spokesperson. I want to be a figure in the gay community, who speaks for gay men. I sell records in countries where gay men get killed and that’s a big thing for me, because maybe one person in that country will pick up my album, realise it’s by a gay artist, and it might change their opinion.”

In 2014, Smith’s position on that was a bit different. He said he was not interested in being a spokesman for the gay community.

He explains:

“What I was trying to say was that I didn’t want the album to appeal to just one community, I wanted it to appeal to all of them. I wanted anyone, gay or straight, to be able to relate to me singing about men, like I was able to relate to Stevie Wonder or John Legend singing about girls.”