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Semler (musician)

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Grace Semler Baldridge
Born (1990-11-12) November 12, 1990 (age 33)
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, United States
EducationElon University
Occupations
  • Musician
  • Media host
SpouseElizabeth Capel

Grace Semler Baldridge (born 12 November 1990) is an American musician and media host, who releases music as Semler.

Biography

Baldridge is the daughter of an Episcopal Church priest.[1] She spent her early life in Delaware, but when she was in third grade her family moved to Waterloo, Belgium.[2] She returned to the US to attend Elon University, where she met her future wife.[3]

Baldridge is a lesbian, and married her girlfriend Elizabeth Capel in August 2018, in an Episcopalian ceremony which was featured in an episode of the Refinery29 series World Wide Wed.[3][2][4] Her Twitter post giving coming out advice to her teenaged self attracted national attention.[2]

As of 2021, Grace and Lizzie Baldridge live in Los Angeles, California.[2][5] She describes herself as "a faithfully skeptical Christian".[5]

Baldridge identifies herself as genderqueer and non-binary, and has stated that "all pronouns are totally fine".[6]

Music

Baldridge writes and records music as Semler, chosen both because of the name's links to her maternal family history and because she prefers her music to be experienced from a gender-neutral viewpoint.[7][8]

In February 2021 she released an EP, Preacher's Kid, about being a queer Christian, which she recorded at home and promoted herself.[9] She chose to categorise it as a Christian album, and shortly after release it reached the top of the iTunes Christian chart, supplanting Lauren Daigle's Look Up Child.[7][10][9][5]

Michel Martin interviewed Baldridge about Preacher's Kid for NPR in March 2021, discussing her faith and music and playing single 'Jesus from Texas'.[11]

The album earned support from some figures in the Christian music industry including Kevin Max, Trey Pearson, Derek Webb, Josh Lovelace and Lecrae.[8]

Media presenting

Baldridge has been a regular guest host of The Young Turks, and co-hosted the former TYT Network show Pop Trigger.[12] She created and hosts the TYT-associated YouTube series Murder with Friends,[13] which was nominated for Best Non-Fiction Series in the 7th Streamy Awards in 2017.[14]

In 2020, Baldridge hosted a documentary series entitled 'State of Grace' on being LGBTQ and Christian, produced by Refinery29. The first episode, "The Life Threatening Dangers Of Gay Conversion Therapy", was nominated at the 31st GLAAD Media Awards for the Outstanding Digital Journalism - Multimedia award.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Masters, Jeffrey (20 February 2020). "A New Docuseries Explores What It Means to Be Queer and Christian". Advocate.
  2. ^ a b c d Pelletiere, Nicole (22 August 2018). "This woman's coming-out advice to her younger self will have you in tears". ABC News.
  3. ^ a b Wong, Curtis M. (8 October 2017). "Beautiful Surprise Road Trip Proposal Has Extra Special Meaning For This Couple". Huffington Post.
  4. ^ Rojas Weiss, Sabrina (20 December 2018). "This Lesbian Couple's Wedding Revolved Around Religion". Refinery29.
  5. ^ a b c McFarlan Miller, Emily (12 February 2021). "An openly queer artist just had the No. 1 Christian album on iTunes". Washington Post.
  6. ^ Grace & Elizabeth Baldridge (November 18, 2020). "Episode 8: Pronouns & Coming Out". Under Our Roof (Podcast). Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Huckabee, Tyler (9 February 2021). "Semler's 'Preacher's Kid' Has Hit The Top Spot On The ITunes Christian And Gospel Charts". Relevant.
  8. ^ a b Atencio, Mitchell (22 February 2021). "Grace Semler Baldridge is bringing queer stories to Christian music". Sojourners.
  9. ^ a b Kuruvilla, Carol (11 February 2021). "This Queer Christian's Album Challenges The Contemporary Christian Music Industry". HuffPost.
  10. ^ "Semler gives Queer Christianity a voice with Preacher's Kid". The Brock Press. 9 February 2021.
  11. ^ Martin, Michel; Watters, Gemma. "Semler, With 'Preacher's Kid,' Writes Music Of Faith For A Real World".
  12. ^ "Grace Baldridge". TYT Network.
  13. ^ "Murder With Friends". IMDB.
  14. ^ "7th Annual Nominees & Winners". Streamys.
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