Colton Haynes, James Scully Talk About Tyler Childers' Gay Music Video
Tyler Childers’ music video for his country song “In Your Love” has us all bawling our eyes out and believing in love. Now, the people behind it have spoken out about why they wanted to send the important message.
Rolling Stone has an interview with the music video’s writer Silas House, as well as stars Colton Haynes and James Scully, where they talk about why they think the story is so important, and why they were so proud to be a part of it.
House, who is an acclaimed author and the poet laureate of Kentucky, was approached by Childers specifically for this project.
“He said he would like to have it be a gay love story, mainly because his first cousin who’s like a brother to him is gay, and he wanted him to see himself in a country music video,” House said about the genesis for the video. “When he said that, I just thought, ‘So many other people have never seen themselves in a country music video. This would be pretty incredible, to have that kind of representation.’”
That's when he and his husband, journalist Jason Kyle Howard, came up with the idea for the story of two coal miners who fall in love and move out to the country.
“It’s very rare to see LGBT people portrayed in a rural place,” House said. “The idea is that most LGBT people escape or have to go to the city. And that is true for a lot of people: We have historically sought the safety of cities. There’s strength in numbers. But there are also lots and lots of LGBTQ people who live in rural places, and who live in the South, and who live in Appalachia.”
The video also stars two out gay actors, Colton Haynes and James Scully, who also talked about how proud they were to be involved.
“I’m from Kansas, a super-small town of 600 people,” Haynes said. “This video not only delivers on the story, but also shines a spotlight on a community that really hasn’t had a spotlight shined on it in this genre of music. If I was a kid and seeing something like that, maybe it wouldn’t have been so difficult for me, and maybe it would have made me feel a lot more accepted. That might sound a little corny or grandiose, because it’s a music video, but things like that really do matter.”
Scully, who grew up in Texas listening to country music, also understands the powerful reach the song can have.
“For those kids growing up in those places, it’s like, ‘If I’m so wrong and broken and sick, why is Tyler Childers writing a song about the endurance of my love?’” he said. “In this day and age where everything is so muddied and watered down and confused, Tyler has real, tangible power and desire to heal people and fix things. There’s only, like, six other people I can think of like that right now.”
Watch the music video for “In Your Love” right now.
Tyler Childers - In Your Love (Official Video)
