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Singer Mary Lambert is taking over the world. In addition to her poetry, musical collabs, a recently released debut LP (Heart On My Sleeve), blogs, videos, and plans to one day conquer Broadway, the 25-year-old Massachusetts resident is still planning more.
Which is a feat, considering she's already done so much. A GLAAD award nominee for her work in the LGBT community (like her performance of "Same Love" alongside Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at the 2014 Grammys, or her speech at the U.N. for International Human Rights Day in support of LGBT children in December), Lambert has been fighting for equality since she came out at age 17.
But, her way of fighting is through sharing, and encouraging others to do the same. Her single, "Secrets" was written about bipolar disorder (which she was diagnosed with at age 15, and talks about freely), and she's declared her live shows "Safe Spaces" (a concept taken from the spoken word community, where participants can share their poems and feelings without being judged). It's an approach Lambert herself thinks people crave.
"My inclination is that we're not expecting celebrities to do much, and I think a lot of what my peers do and in my sphere, is to entertain," she remarks. "So we entertain. We don't want to talk about things that are uncomfortable, but I think the public is hungry for it."
According to the response she's gotten from fans, friends, and organizations like GLAAD, she's right. And, fortunately, she shows no signs of slowing down her brand of activism: championing strength through vulnerability, Lambert uses her own experiences to encourage fans to tap into and share theirs. Whether through Feelings Friday (a weekly series where Lambert and her readers exchange everything from poetry to straight-up emotions), or her recent piece for Who What Wear about plus-size fashion, Lambert lives with her heart on her sleeve, all while proving that good things come from it.
We were lucky enough to speak with Mary on the phone last week, where, after we compared how much snow our respective cities had, we talked about everything from the importance of vulnerability to plans for record number two. (Yes, already.)
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