AMOS MORRIS OPENS UP ABOUT STRUGGLES AND SUPPORT AS GAY ABORIGINAL-MAORI SINGER

Amos Morris. Credit: Tangiora Hinaki.

Before he came out, Indigenous singer Amos Morris was worried the country music scene would be a difficult environment to be an openly gay man. 

Mr Morris is from Kempsey, New South Wales and has both Maori and First Nations Australian heritage. 

From a young age, he dealt with the difficulties of being gay in rural Australia. Then, mid-career, he decided it was time to come out. 

Mr Morris said it was his “awesome” partner who helped him and guided him through the process of coming out, working on self-development, and dealing with trauma from past. 

“Back then, I was having quite a bit of success, I was lucky enough t0 win a couple of Golden Guitars and work with the Dusty family,” he said. 

“Behind the scenes, I was a mess. The more popular I got, the more terrified I got that people would find out I was queer. 

“The funny thing was, I thought it wouldn’t be accepted. I thought it wouldn’t be okay. I thought country music, it’s a man’s world, they don’t do that sort of stuff. And then I met my amazing partner,” he said. 

Mr Morris said he believed as long as people are not hurting each other or doing anything illegal, their sexuality should not matter. 

He also added he thought his friends would have a problem with him being gay, but when he came out, they told him they'd known for years. 

Mr Morris said he was expecting “really big rejections” from those around him but hasn’t got one yet. 

“A lot of guys, when they do come out, they lose that little bit of their own personality and try and be the stereotypical gay guy or the stereotypical lesbian lady, and it is a small part of who we are. 

“You don’t see straight people walking around saying, ‘Oh I’m a straight man!’ It’s not everything.” 

According to Mr Morris, if your family and friends have a problem with your sexuality then they are not really your family and friends.  

“The people that matter will love you for you, not for who you sleep with or how much you earn or what you drive or where you live,” he said. 

Listen to Mr Morris speak to Ngaarda Media’s Tangiora Hinaki at the 2024 Tamworth Country Music Festival: