Hozier Slams the Pope, Demanding LGBT Equality in the Catholic Church

In his first long-form American interview, music phenom Hozier sits down with guest host Kelly Osbourne on the Emmy-nominated series Larry King Now for a rare, in-depth discussion about the Catholic Church’s infamous impact on his single, Take Me To Church, his support for the LGBT community, and his next album.

Hozier openly talks about what he calls Pope Francis’ “lip service” regarding LGBT issues and the Catholic Church’s “institutional” discrimination. “The pope came here last year and said, ‘who am I to judge with regards to somebody’s sexual orientation?’ I think it is important to differentiate between lip service towards something and actually making change. I think it is hopeful, but saying this in 2015, ‘who am I to judge,’ is something that should have been said 100 years ago.”

Adding, “[The Catholic Church] is undeniably an organization that has institutionalized an aversion to homosexuality and an irrational one, too. It’s one that has institutionalized gender inequality, dangerous policies over contraception, and in this case it still harbors an irrational aversion to homosexuality.”

Hozier speaks on the importance of supporting the LGBT community saying, “I saw it as a human rights thing, a very kind of cut and dry human issue.” The music video for Take Me To Church looks to shine a light on discrimination against the LGBT community in Russia. “For me it just didn’t sit right increasingly so and after following what was going on in Russia. I had an opportunity to shed some light on that. What’s frightening about Russia is that it’s not that far from home.”

But Hozier says progress has been slow while discussing the recent legalization of gay marriage in his native country of Ireland. “I’m very proud that the nation stood up. It was a landslide last year, 70% in favor of legalizing gay marriage but it is true divorce, contraception, even down to homosexual acts were illegal up until, I think maybe the seventies or eighties. How quickly that turned around, I think, was the difference between the Ireland that my generation grew up in and the Ireland that my parents grew up in.”

Having never envisioned the success of his debut album that featured the Grammy-nominated song Take Me To Church, Hozier answers whether or not he feels pressure to meet expectations when writing new music. “I didn’t think that I would have commercial success. All I did first time around was trust my gut. I would like to do that again with the next album. I think if I were to start making music with the sole intent of being a commercial success, I think that drifts away from why I started to make music in the first place.”

Hozier: LGBT Acceptance Still Lacking In Russia

The music video for ‘Take Me To Church’ looked to shine a light on discrimination against the LGBT community in Russia but Hozier says progress has been slow while discussing the recent legalization of gay marriage in his native country of Ireland.