Kim Petras wants to be "taken seriously as an artist" not as a "transgender artist".
The 27-year-old pop star – who underwent a gender transition when she was 16 – writes songs that are "relatable to anybody" and she doesn’t want her career to be centred on her gender identity.
She said: "I don’t ever want that to be in my songs much.
"I feel like my songs are good because they’re relatable to anybody. I feel like that is a big part of the equality that I want: for people to realise that everybody’s just equal and the same and have the same issues and go through the same things emotionally.
"I just want to be taken seriously as an artist — not as a transgender artist.
"I don’t want my career to be about my gender identity.
"I’ve written too many songs and worked too hard for that."
However, that doesn’t mean that the ‘Heart to Break’ singer won’t stop being a voice for her community.
She added to PEOPLE: "I love being a voice for transgender rights and fighting for what I think is right and making the world a better place.
"Maybe the next generations will have it easier than me.
"I care so much, but at the same time I don’t want it to become about [my gender], because I’m really proud of my music.
"I work really hard on my music. It has nothing to do with me being transgender."
Kim recently applauded Taylor Swift for flying the flag for the LGBTQ+ community in her music video for ‘You Need To Calm Down’.
The 29-year-old singer featured a number of stars from the community – including singer Hayley Kiyoko, YouTuber Hannah Hart, Olympic figure skater Adam Ripper, and ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ star Todrick Hall – in her promo for the song on her LP ‘Lover’, and said her decision to do so came as she wanted to be more vocal about her support for the community.
Kim said she was "thankful" to the pop superstar for being "brave" enough to use her huge platform to speak out to the large percentage of her fans who are straight.
She said: "Taylor Swift’s fan base is so mainstream and so middle America, where it’s not as progressive as some other parts.
"It’s great that she is spreading that message to her fans who maybe don’t have gay friends.
"I am thankful to her for doing that as part of the LGBTQ community."
Kim Petras doesn’t want to be known as a transgender artist
