Queer artists are reclaiming religion for the kids they used to be—and the ones still left
CBSN
At 31 years old, Grace Semler Baldridge is still a preacher's kid.
The musician, who spent her childhood growing up in a rectory, didn't ever think she would write an entire album about her religious upbringing. But when the pandemic left her with nothing but time to focus on her music, the end result was an album Baldridge couldn't have predicted.
"Preacher's Kid" is a musical exploration about growing up in the Christian faith and how that life impacted how she embraced her queer identity. Recorded with her laptop and small microphone, she never expected the songs to go very far. But in February 2021, under her stage name Semler, the album hit No. 1 on the iTunes Christian Music charts, a first for an openly queer and firmly Christian artist.
