Her breakthrough hit was a song called 'I Kissed a Girl' - and pop singer Katy Perry has revealed she used that very track to take a swipe at the homophobic religious community she grew up in.
The 'Roar' hitmaker, who was speaking at the Human Rights Campaign's annual gala after accepting this year's National Equality Award, told of the fiercely anti-homosexual beliefs instilled in her during her upbringing.
Perry was famously raised by pastors in Los Angeles, and has previously spoken about her lack of exposure to the secular world. She used her acceptance speech to address her bubble-like early life.
"When I was growing up, 'homosexuality' was synonymous with 'abomination', and with 'hell', a place of gnashing of teeth, continuous burning of skin and, probably, [US Vice-President] Mike Pence's ultimate guest list for a barbecue," she joked.
"No way, no way - I wanted the pearly gates and the unlimited Froyo toppings. So, for most of my unconscious adolescence I prayed the gay away at my Jesus camps.
"But then in the middle of it all, in a twist of events, I found my gift - and my gift introduced me to people outside my bubble, and that bubble started to burst."
Earlier, the 32-year-old had spoken about her hit song 'I Kissed a Girl' and talked about the true story that had inspired the track that kick-started her music career nine years ago.
"I'm just a singer and songwriter, honestly," she said. "I speak my truths and I paint my fantasies into these little bite-sized pop songs. For instance, 'I kissed a girl and I liked it'.
"Truth be told I did more than [kiss] - but how was I going to reconcile that with a gospel-singing girl raised in youth groups that were pro-conversion camps? What I did know was I was curious and even then I knew sexuality wasn't as black and white as this dress.
"And honestly, I haven't always gotten it right. But in 2008, when that song came out, I knew that I started a conversation that a lot of the world seemed curious enough to sing along to."
Perry finished her speech by way of a rousing discourse about how she was refusing to stay the "whipped cream-tit-spraying" girl who was "basically neutral in her stance", and would now commit herself to standing up for "equality and justice for all, period".
Newshub.
