From the 2003 VMA kiss with Madonna to the #FreeBritney campaign, Britney Spears’ journey of freedom and control has always resonated with queer women
BY ANFAL SHEYX, IMAGE BY JEN FROM USA, CC BY 2.0 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
For most of us growing up in the early 2000s, there is one image that comes to mind when thinking about Britney Spears. It’s not the I’m A Slave 4 U performance where she had an actual python on her shoulders, or the criticism she got for the euphemisms in the If You Seek Amy song, but the absolute media storm that occurred when she shaved her head in 2007. Now in 2026, looking back on that era, here’s why many queer women may identify with Britney’s journey.
There are certain pop icons that begin to transcend their own narratives and morph into something larger across the cultural spectrum. Britney’s “pop princess” persona was almost always intertwined with her advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights, revolutionary in the late 1990s and early 2000s during a time in our society where being an advocate for the queer community wasn’t the norm among Hollywood stars. While conversations surrounding Britney’s advocacy for the queer community have long centred on men, she was there for queer women, too.
For many queer women, Britney’s journey of sexuality and control reflects their own. In the 1990s and early 00s Britney’s career was born out of a carefully controlled image: she wasn’t sexual, she was sexualised, and so the media adored her. It was only when Britney grew and had more agency over her sexuality that she was vilified, but even in these times, she defended herself. Throughout her career, Britney has struggled against a public perception of what she should be, fighting to express her own identity and sexuality at a time when the media heavily criticised her every move. Suddenly, Britney went from being a wholesome pop star to a poster child for everything wrong with youth: your daughter starts to express her sexuality? She must be listening to Britney Bitch.
There is something so deeply resonant about Britney’s vulnerability. From her rise to stardom, to her scandals, to the more recent #FreeBritney campaign. Her public struggles have struck a chord with women who know what it is to be controlled, dismissed or spoken over. For sapphic women, Britney has been a huge pop icon who openly welcomed the queer community, including them in her music, her videos and her stage performances. For the 2003 VMAs, when Britney leaned over and kissed Madonna, queer women witnessed – on a massive platform – a type of acceptance of their sexuality. The kiss, no doubt planned out of shock factor on live TV, had an effect all the same at a time when queer relationships on screen were rare and treated with little respect.
Britney didn’t just verbally accept the queer community, she consistently stood up for their rights, performing in gay clubs and partaking in projects that raised awareness for the issues faced by the queer community – she didn’t just say she supported queer people – she proved it, over decades. As Britney became more and more vilified in the media, it’s possible she saw the queer community as a space free of judgment where she could be herself, too.
In many ways, Britney modelled a form of resistance for queer women, against the media, against the patriarchy, against public perceptions of who people wanted her to be, staying true to herself, especially in times of public scrutiny and shame. There was a lot of debate in the early 2000s about the kind of impact Britney has on young girls, but for sapphic women looking up to Britney, they saw a woman unafraid of her own sexuality and identity, who refused to be controlled – and that is a hell of a good example to have set.
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