Kim Petras Makes a Plea for Body Autonomy and ‘True Equality’ at Women in Music

Recent Grammy winner Kim Petras took the stage at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday (March 1) to accept the Chartbreaker Award at the 2023 Women in Music event.

The German-born dance-pop queen brought a hot yet chilly opening to the show by performing her latest single “brrr.” An understated, sultry and insistent dark-pop banger, “brrr” allowed Petras to show off her incredible vocal range while surrounded by rolling fog.

Following the performance, Republic co-president Wendy Goldstein, who signed Petras to the label in 2021, hailed the star as the first transgender woman to be honored at the Billboard Women in Music Awards.

Thanking Goldstein for “changing my life,” Petras took the stage once again. “Growing up I would question what rooms I would be put into and what boxes I would be put into — and I’m grateful it’s this one,” she said. The singer-songwriter also took a moment to make a sadly relevant statement: “People should be able to decide what to do with their bodies to reach true equality.”

In her interview in the latest issue of Billboard, Petras tipped her hat to many of the pioneers who came before her – several of whom have been honored at previous Women in Music Awards (including this year’s Visionary Award honoree, Lana Del Rey).

“Cher. Nicki Minaj. Madonna. Lana Del Rey. Marina. Kylie [Minogue]. The list goes on. Women in pop music were my only friends in high school — they were everything I wanted to be and [gave me] the strength I [needed] to transition and live my life authentically. They gave me the strength to be myself,” she told us.