ECQIPS

Educational Contexts and Queer Identity Psychology Study (ECQIPS) is an ongoing series of psychological studies being conducted at the University of Michigan by Ben Blankenship, a doctoral student in the Personality and Social Contexts area of the psychology department at UM. Our team is interested in studying the effects of educational contexts on individuals’ identity development, as well as the effect of identity on academic outcomes within these contexts. Our studies are specifically interested in Queer identities and positionalities, but we are also interested in the effects of intersecting identities (race, social class, gender, etc.) on similar outcomes and in similar contexts.

“Keiynan Lonsdale has followed up his already acclaimed performance in the movie “Love, Simon” by releasing a new song with a similarly queer-inclusive theme.

Lonsdale told Billboard that “Kiss the Boy” ― which debuted Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify and other streaming platforms ― was inspired by “Kiss the Girl” from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” as well as his role in “Love, Simon.”

The 26-year-old actor-singer plays Bram, a high school soccer jock and one of several possible love interests for the movie’s closeted gay protagonist, Simon (Nick Robinson). The film has earned near-universal praise from critics and fans as Hollywood’s first mainstream coming-of-age comedy to center on a gay teen.

“I had so much to draw off,” Lonsdale said, “with the movie, my own personal life and every relationship I’d been in, and other people’s stories that they’d told me.”

The lyrics are reflective of Lonsdale’s experience as an openly bisexual man.”