“Let’s Go Gay Agenda!”: Lil Nas X, Black Queer Studies, and Speculative Fiction

This thesis utilizes Black queer studies and speculative fiction as an analytical framework for examining issues of racialized homophobia and the policing of sexuality, specifically in the context of Lil Nas X and his music videos. By contrasting the evolution first of Lil Nas X himself and second of the reception to his "Old Town Road" and "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" music videos, this thesis reveals the intricacies of the relationship between predominant white, cisheteronormative, patriarchal, capitalist society and representations of Black queer sexuality. Through his music videos, Lil Nas X performs elements of Black queer worldmaking, futurity, and imagination in ways that actively disrupt normative notions of gender, identity, and sexuality in mainstream popular culture. Analyzing Lil Nas X’s music videos through the framework of Black queer studies and speculative fiction reveals how these elements function to subvert limited notions of humanism and freedom while cultivating the potential for alternative ways of being.