Hayley Kiyoko was born on April 3,1991 in Los Angeles, California, and identifies as a lesbian woman.   She is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has appeared in a variety of films such as the Scooby-Doo series and XOXO, and also had a recurring role in the TV series The Fosters and a lead role on CSI: Cyber.

Hayley came out to her parents when she was in sixth grade. At first, when she realized she was attracted to girls, she started struggling with those feelings. She began to feel like she would be rejected and/or judged if she came out.

Hayley wanted to inspire confidence in young people dealing with the same struggles. Her music is focused on her story and emotions she’s experienced while coming to terms with her identity. In an interview, Kiyoko was asked if she could say something about herself that no one knew and she was afraid to sing about. She wanted to sing about the fact that she likes girls, but was struggling to be out about that. Later on, when she heard Tegan and Sara and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” Hayley was inspired to finally come out and be proud.

Kiyoko has been an advocate for LGBT rights and is widely considered to be a gay icon. Her music videos highlight her own experiences and various LGBT-related issues.  The music video for “One Bad Night” raised awareness of violence against transgender women.  In her acceptance speech for Push Artist of the Year at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, Kiyoko dedicated her win to queer women of color.

Through her music, Kiyoko works to normalize lesbian relationships in a society and music industry. She once said, “If you see two girls falling in love and normalizing that, then [people] can go, ‘I can fall in love, too. I can be that person. I can look like that. I can get a girl that looks like that.’ If they see that, then they can believe it. It’s just how we are.” After seeing the impact her music has on her fans, she regretted not being open about her sexuality sooner.