--- title: Katy Perry Covers Vogue May 2017 description: Katy Perry, who is the cover star for the May issue of Vogue, opens up about Donald Trump's victory and her religious upbringing. canonical: https://time.com/4739997/katy-perry-vogue-cover-may-2017/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-14T19:12:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:27.202Z og:title: Katy Perry Says the 2016 Election Brought Up 'A Lot of Trauma' For Her og:description: 'Misogyny and sexism were in my childhood’ og:url: https://time.com/4739997/katy-perry-vogue-cover-may-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b2655c200f860e/6988c2e7a988cabf966bbbf0/katy-perry-trump-trauma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Caroline De Maigret And Pharrell Williams Host A Dinner In Celebration Of Chanel's Gabrielle Bag og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Katy Perry Says the 2016 Election Brought Up 'A Lot of Trauma' For Her twitter:description: 'Misogyny and sexism were in my childhood’ twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b2655c200f860e/6988c2e7a988cabf966bbbf0/katy-perry-trump-trauma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Katy Perry Says the 2016 Election Brought Up 'A Lot of Trauma' For Her > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 14, 2017 7:12 PM UTC  SANTA MONICA, CA - APRIL 06: Singer Katy Perry attends the celebration of Chanel's Gabrielle Bag hosted by Caroline De Maigret and Pharrell Williams at Giorgio Baldi on April 6, 2017 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) SANTA MONICA, CA - APRIL 06: Singer Katy Perry attends the celebration of Chanel's Gabrielle Bag hosted by Caroline De Maigret and Pharrell Williams at Giorgio Baldi on April 6, 2017 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Frazer Harrison—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 14, 2017 7:12 PM UTC Pop sensation and [Hillary Clinton superfan](http://motto.time.com/4736012/hillary-clinton-wears-katy-perry-shoes/) Katy Perry wasn’t always the “California Gurls” colorfully clad star known in Hollywood today. As _Vogue_‘s May [cover star](http://www.vogue.com/article/katy-perry-interview-religion-childhood-may-vogue-cover), Perry shares how growing up in a sheltered, [religious household](http://motto.time.com/4706480/katy-perry-sexuality-religion-hrc-gala/) shaped who she is today and how the 2016 presidential election generated “a lot of trauma” for her. Born Katheryn Hudson, Perry says she grew up in a “bubble beyond the bubble” as the daughter of evangelical pastors and wasn’t even “allowed to interact with gay people.” Dubbing herself as the family’s “black sheep” daughter, the singer moved to Los Angeles when she was 17-years-old to pursue music. Perry’s road to musical stardom relates back to her religious roots. She recorded a gospel album in Nashville when she was thirteen, but she experienced a symphonic epiphany upon hearing Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury when she was fifteen. “I had never heard such an imaginative explanation of how to live,” she recalled. “That was my first perspective on that world, and I just loved it. I felt so free and accepted.” Perry’s journey to becoming one of the most popular musicians, however, wasn’t easy. After a choppy start in Hollywood, Perry’s career trajectory took off when she was 25, thanks to her _Teenage Dream_ album. She explained how she stayed motivated throughout the turbulent times: “I had so much ambition and determination, and that’s what kept me going. The rocket was riding me for a bit, but now I am riding the rocket.” Perry also doesn’t hide her political beliefs and encourages others to take action. “I think you have to stand for something… If you have a voice you have a responsibility to use it now, more than ever,” she said. Donald Trump’s victory over Clinton brought up dark memories for the singer because it hit so close to home. She explained, “Misogyny and [sexism](http://motto.time.com/4714476/united-leggings-ban-shannon-watts-why-it-was-sexist/) were in my childhood: I have an issue with suppressive males and not being seen as equal. I felt like a little kid again being faced with a scary, controlling guy.” Perry praised [young women and activists](http://motto.time.com/4635012/active-feminist-advice-donald-trump/) for their work: “I think teenage girls are going to save the world! That age group just seems to be holding people accountable. They have a really strong voice — and a loud one.” Read the rest of her _Vogue_ cover story [here](http://www.vogue.com/article/katy-perry-interview-religion-childhood-may-vogue-cover). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4739997/katy-perry-vogue-cover-may-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4739997/katy-perry-vogue-cover-may-2017/"},"headline":"Katy Perry Says the 2016 Election Brought Up 'A Lot of Trauma' For Her","datePublished":"2017-04-14T19:12:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:27.202Z","description":"'Misogyny and sexism were in my childhood’","url":"https://time.com/4739997/katy-perry-vogue-cover-may-2017/","keywords":["motto","Katy Perry","Vogue","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b2655c200f860e/6988c2e7a988cabf966bbbf0/katy-perry-trump-trauma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42b2655c200f860e/6988c2e7a988cabf966bbbf0/katy-perry-trump-trauma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Caroline De Maigret And Pharrell Williams Host A Dinner In Celebration Of Chanel's Gabrielle Bag","caption":"Caroline De Maigret And Pharrell Williams Host A Dinner In Celebration Of Chanel's Gabrielle Bag","creditText":"Frazer Harrison—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4739997/katy-perry-vogue-cover-may-2017/","name":"Katy Perry Says the 2016 Election Brought Up 'A Lot of Trauma' For Her"}}]}] ```