What Madonna's Said About Gay Rights, Her Sexuality as TikTok Goes Viral

Pop icon Madonna may have recently just come out as gay, but that might not come as a surprise to some as the star has always been a trailblazer when it comes sexuality and LGBTQ issues.

Madonna, 64, posted a TikTok that has since gone viral in which she seemingly announced her sexuality in a playful video.

Posing in a dressing room at her home in a cream corset reminiscent of her iconic Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra and wide leg tracksuit pants, Madonna began the video holding up a pair of pink lace briefs.

The caption on the video reads, "if I miss I'm gay," as the singer stared intently into the camera and began scrunching up the briefs.

She then tosses them across the room as the camera cut to the briefs landing on the floor next to a waste bin.

The TikTok ends with Madonna leaning into the camera before flicking her hand above her head and walking away.

Fans flooded her comments asking whether she'd officially come out as gay with other pundits on social media pointing out her long history of progressive views on sexuality.

Here are just some of the many things Madonna has said on the matter.

Bisexuality

Most fans have always assumed Madonna to be bisexual after years of her apparently lusting after women and there was her notorious smooch with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

After her the raunchy video for "Justify My Love" was released in the 1990s, Madonna addressed speculation about her sexuality.

"I think everybody has a bisexual nature. That's my theory. I could be wrong," she said in a TV interview.

In another interview, she explained, "I won't say I have never slept with a woman but…I love men."

Masturbation

The singer opened up about her experiences with self-pleasure when she gave her fans an excerpt from her long-awaited biopic.

Madonna read a part of the screenplay out loud to her Instagram fans last year, detailing her awakening.

"I discovered masturbation when I was 19," the star read.

"This dancer girl brought it up to me. She said, 'Do you have a boyfriend?' I looked at her like she was speaking Arabic. 'I don't blame you. Masturbation is so much more enjoyable,' she said. The concept of masturbation had not even occurred to me."

Madonna then told how the dancer gave her some tips for self love: "She described it to me and I went home and I tried it that night... and I went, 'OK, now I get it. That's what people are supposed to feel during sex.' That girl that told me about masturbation, she was a lifesaver.

"It's the little things that you take for granted in life."

LGBTQ Rights

Madonna has always been a leader on LGBTQ rights, beginning with advocating for the gay community at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic to fighting for marriage equality.

"No single ally has been a better friend or had a bigger impact on acceptance for the LGBTQ community than Madonna," said CNN anchor Anderson Cooper as he introduced Madonna at the 30th GLAAD awards in 2019 where she won the Advocate for Change Award.

Accepting her award Madonna explained her passion for the LGBTQ community: "Fighting for all marginalized people is a duty and an honor I could not turn my back on nor will I ever.

"The AIDS epidemic, the plague that moved in like a black cloud in New York City, and in the blink of an eye," she snapped her fingers, "took out all of my friends."

"I remember the pandemonium and the fear, and people trying all kinds of drugs that didn't work," she continued. "And doing my own drug runs to Mexico for my friends to buy experimental medicines that were supposed help cure, but ended up only killing them faster."

She added: "As soon as you really understand what it means to love, you understand what it takes to become a human being, and that it is every human's duty to fight, to advocate, to do whatever we can and whatever it takes. MADAME X is a FREEDOM FIGHTER."

She spoke out after two men were jailed for marrying in Malawi, the African country from where she has adopted four children.

"As a matter of principle, I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. This week, Malawi took a giant step backward. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved," she wrote in a statement.

Nude Photo Leak

Madonna refused to be ashamed after magazines released nude photos of the star in 1985.

Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione described the photos as "of Madonna alone, fully nude, very explicit…with everything in full view."

The photos were taken in 1978 before she became famous, but Madonna refused to apologize or show embarrassment over the nudes.

"I'm not ashamed of anything," she said in a statement in 1985.

She set the tone for how women would go on to respond to similar incidents to this day.

Free the Nipple

In 2021, Madonna slammed Instagram after it deleted some of her photos a "small portion of her nipple was exposed."

"It is still astounding to me that we live in a culture that allows every inch of a woman's body to be shown except a nipple. As if that is the only part of a woman's anatomy that could be sexualized. The nipple that nourishes the baby!" she wrote to her millions of followers.

"Can't a mans nipple be experienced as erotic ??!! And what about a woman's ass which is never censored anywhere."

She added: "Giving thanks that I have managed to maintain my sanity through four decades of censorship...... sexism......ageism and misogyny.

Ageism

Madonna spoke about the ageism she has faced over claims she was "too old" to be sexy.

"It's an outdated, patriarchal idea that a woman has to stop being fun, curious, adventurous, beautiful, or sexy past the age of 40. It's ridiculous," she told The Cut in 2018.

"Why should only men be allowed to be adventurous, sexual, curious, and get to have all the fun until the day they leave this earth? Why should that only be the domain of men? How do we fight this?

"By standing up to men and by standing up to social mores or standards that say we cannot. The more women that do it, it will just be a matter of time."

Madonna reflected on her career being described as a "sexual provocateur" because she was "using sexuality as part of my creativity" and how she was slammed for it.

"Now, all the challenges that I had to face 20 years ago seem ludicrous," she said. "What I am going through now is ageism, with people putting me down or giving me a hard time because I date younger men or do things that are considered to be only the domain of younger women.

"I mean, who made those rules? Who says? I'm going to keep fighting it. Ten to 20 years from now, it's going to be normal. People are going to shut up."