The Veronicas singer on sexuality backlash: ‘I was outed’

Jess and Lisa Origliasso of The Veronicas have opened up about the hate they received at the start of their career, including one of them being branded a ‘fake lesbian’.

Sexual identity has always been inextricably linked to the music of The Veronicas.

Before Katy Perry told the world she kissed a girl and liked it in her 2008 debut single, twins Jess and Lisa Origliasso had already recorded a dance-pop banger in which they insisted they wanted to kiss a girl and a boy.

But as much as The Veronicas built their canon on sexually charged songs like ‘Take Me On The Floor’, ‘4ever’ and ‘Untouched’, they never expected their music would give the world license to speculate about their love lives, or doubt the authenticity of their bond, especially when they dared to hold hands or embrace in photos and videos.

“I was out back then by default – outed by tabloids,” Jess recalls to Stellar of how the press hounded her after she was spotted locking lips with then MTV VJ and future ex-girlfriend Ruby Rose in the late noughties. “My statement [then] was that I didn’t need to make a statement. ‘I’m just going to be me, and if you all want to call me a fake lesbian,’ – which is what they called me at the time – ‘I don’t really care.’”

Lisa Origliasso and Jess Origliasso of The Veronicas. Picture: Stellar

Media attacks on the sisters, Lisa adds, were “a deliberate disconnect by people who chose not to recognise the difference between romantic affection and familial affection. They said we were attention seeking; they called it queerbaiting.”

(As for a recent social-media post in which Rose – who has been feuding with the pair for years – dubbed them “horrific”, the pair declined to comment when asked by Stellar for their response.)

Today the sisters are recognised and respected as proud, longtime advocates of the

LGBTQIA+ community, and as pioneers among a new wave of queer pop stars such as Troye Sivan, Lil Nas X, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, who have risen to command the Zeitgeist. The Origliassos, now 38, say they’re excited about performing this Saturday on the American Express float during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, the centrepiece of the international WorldPride 2023 festival being hosted in the city through March 5.

The honour isn’t lost on Jess, who shakes her head as she recalls the scrutiny of her sexuality 15 years ago. “It was weird to have it written about so publicly because you don’t really see that anymore,” she tells Stellar. “I was 20. I didn’t want to give them an answer because I didn’t know what the answer was at the time. Labels were loaded back then. But all of our fans knew I was queer; I wrote about it in so many songs.”

The Veronicas have taken their power back. Picture: Stellar

The Veronicas have seen that audience connection come through in the response to their 2007 smash hit ‘Untouched’, which has gone on to become

an LGBTQIA+ playlist staple. “The first time I said, ‘Please, stand for the gay national anthem,’ was at Pride in Los Angeles and everyone went nuts,” Jess recalls. “I think it currently sits in Australia as an official unofficial national anthem.”

As they prepare to celebrate this month with hundreds of thousands of their community and allies, the Origliassos have assumed the reins and the risks of The Veronicas as a brand.

They’re self-managing their business affairs in Australia as they finish recording a new album in Los Angeles and field offers from US festival promoters.

The sisters say they’re also in the early stages of developing a make-up line, a nod to their fashion-conscious sensibilities on full display in their shoot with Stellar.

But while they revel in the good parts of being in entertainment, they laugh about juggling the bad, like personally fielding all of the phone calls and emails about recordings, videos and shows.

Speaking to Stellar, The Veronicas have paid tribute to their late mother Colleen, who died in 2021. Picture: Stellar

“Taylor Swift is the perfect example of the business model we have now,” Jess explains. “For the first time, we’re managing the people within our team, rather than the people in our team

managing us. When everything is artist first and artist central, it means it’s also fan first. Most people don’t value longevity or the fans as much as the artist does.

“They’re in it for the quick buck, and that’s business, that’s fine; we’re not bitter about it. And I said to Lisa, ‘Why wouldn’t we be the CEOs of The Veronicas band and brand when we’ve had the best mentors in songwriting and business over 18 years?’”

Read the full interview inside Stellar this Sunday.

Among those mentors was their mother, Colleen, who died in 2021 after a long battle with Lewy body disease; her daughters say she was the first person who came to their minds when

American Express also tapped them to be ambassadors for its community initiative With You & Proud, which asked Australians to nominate people who have made a difference in the LGBTQIA+ community.

“Everyone in the family is good, but we’re still readjusting to life without Mumma,” Lisa tells Stellar. “With this campaign, we’ve been reminded of her a lot. She was the greatest ally; she raised us to be the most open-minded, open-hearted people, and she was literally the greatest person for just loving people for who they are and allowing them to express that. She was ‘Mum’ to everyone.”

Read the full story in Stellar, out on Sunday.

Originally published as The Veronicas singer on sexuality backlash: ‘I was outed’