For gay people, Beyoncé represents a light at the end of the tunnel. She may not be gay, but like Cher and Madonna she’s a gay ally and icon in the community because she knows what it means to not be like everybody else and to be unafraid of that truth. There are people all over the world — gay, straight, trans, Black, white — that she speaks to because she can cross all barriers. In that way she’s descended from Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. They were proud African Americans who continued to speak to Black audiences, but they couldn’t help but bleed over to other audiences because there was some- thing so pure and special about them. Plus there’s the specificity of Beyoncé’s work—her music and her heart—that’s propelled her. As a writer who writes about my life, I know firsthand it’s specificity that brings you a broader audience. The more specific you are, the more willing you are to bare your soul, the more audiences endear themselves to you, feel like they know you and cheer for you. That’s when things shift in your career. She’s done that multiple times.