"In 2019, we're still doing 'fuck you straight' and calling female queerness a 'phase?"

Last week, The Weeknd returned with ‘Lost in the fire’, a collaboration with French producer Gesaffelstein. And almost instantly, listeners began to call out the song’s lyrics as homophobic.

In the song’s second verse, The Weeknd — Abel Tesfaye — sings about dating a girl who said she “might be into girls” and be “going through a phase”. In response, he tells her she should “bring a friend” for a threesome, and that he’ll “fuck [her] straight”.

“Well, baby, you can bring a friend/she can ride on top your face/While I fuck you straight,” he sings.

On Twitter, Nylon and Them writer Jill Gutowitz first pointed out the lyrics, calling them “fucking vile”. “In 2019, we’re still doing ‘fuck you straight’ and calling female queerness a ‘phase?’,” she Tweeted.

i used to joke that listening to The Weeknd was homophobic but the lyrics from his new song "lost in the fire" are actually fucking vile. in 2019 we're still doing "fuck you straight" and calling female queerness a "phase?" pic.twitter.com/xDH3fnNrZv — Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) January 11, 2019

Musicians Marika Hackman and Amber Bain of The Japanese House added to the criticism, with Hackman tweeting: “Well done to @theweeknd for managing to deride, fetishise and dismiss lesbianism all in one verse”.

Bain kept it simple, writing: “You can seriously fuck off with these lyrics.”

Well done to @theweeknd for managing to deride, fetishise and dismiss lesbianism all in one verse. pic.twitter.com/iefdhs8ACw — Marika Hackman (@MarikaHackman) January 11, 2019

As her original Tweet caught more traction, Gutowitz clarified she wasn’t trying to “cancel” The Weeknd, but call out the harmful effect of portraying female queerness as a switch men can flick on and off.

“These are the kinds of lyrics that fucked me up when i was younger & subconsciously kept me in the closet,” she wrote. “So it’s important to talk about and say “this is isn’t ok.””

Neither The Weeknd nor Gesaffelstein have responded to the criticism, though the former has been on Twitter since, tweeting that his upcoming music won’t be “daytime” appropriate.