Lance Bass Says it’s Time for an Openly Gay Boy Band: WATCH

Lance Bass thinks it’s time to shake things up in pop music.

Bass who rose to fame as a member of the boy band N’SYNC, said in a video for Yahoo Entertainment , he dropped this morning, that:

“We are definitely in a time where we can have an openly gay boy band member and complete band. Times have completely changed.”

Bass’ comment coincides with a recent photo opp backstage at New Kids on the Block’s Mixtape tour at Los Angeles’s Hollywood Bowl with NKTOB’s openly gay Jonathan Knight — who came out in 2011, 27 years after NKTOB’s formation. Bass’s Instagram post of the moment was amusingly captioned, “Co-chairs of G.A.B.A. The Gay American BoyBand Association. Desperately seeking new members!”

Bass came out as gay in a People cover story in 2006. Bass said at the time, “The thing is, I’m not ashamed — that’s the one thing I want to say. I don’t think it’s wrong, I’m not devastated going through this. I’m more liberated and happy than I’ve been my whole life. I’m just happy.”

Bass maintained that, “The main reason I wanted to speak my mind was that (the rumors) really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it’s on my terms. I’m at peace with my family, my friends, myself and God so there’s really nothing else that I worry about.”

Bass seems committed to speak out now.

Since Bass’ came out, there has been a steady stream of successful out LGBT artists including Sam Smith, Janelle Monáe, Troye Sivan, and Frank Ocean among others. They are now regular chart toppers and are often out before they’ve become successful.

“I mean, the music industry is still very homophobic; you still have a lot of those record heads that just are dinosaurs, and they’re just going to really have this homophobic look at us,” Bass says in the video. “But times are definitely changing. Just look at the last five years, all these LGBT artists that are out and proud — and not coming out after they’re famous, but before they’re famous. That never would’ve happened 10 years ago.”

Watch Bass discuss below.