Singer Katy Perry, whose summer hit I Kissed a Girl flirts with bisexuality. (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Katy Perry’s parents will likely be spending this Sunday evening bowed in prayer, beseeching their Lord and creator to lead their daughter back on the path of righteousness. If you believe the rumours, the young pop star is planning to stage a girl-on-girl make-out session while millions watch on the MTV Music Video Awards on Sept. 7. According to reports, Perry has been trying to corral a fellow nubile starlet to fondle.

Perry’s bi-curiosity should come as no surprise to anyone who has turned on a radio in the past three months. Perry (born Katheryn Hudson) is behind this summer’s ubiquitous single I Kissed a Girl, a song that her evangelical preacher dad and devout mom have flat-out condemned. In interviews, mother Mary Hudson has claimed she hates the song and its “shameful” and “disgusting” message. (Both parents resort to prayer whenever I Kissed a Girl plays in their presence.)

For all that commotion, I Kissed a Girl is hardly a giant leap forward for the queer cause. Perry is no out-and-proud diva, or even a gay activist. One of her previous singles, Ur So Gay, is a loathsome jab at vain, overly PC metrosexuals. (The chorus, which goes “You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys,” is one step up from a schoolyard taunt.) Perry is a former Christian devotional singer who has exchanged promise rings with boyfriend Travis McCoy. I Kissed a Girl is an in-your-face gimmick, a sexually charged act along the same lines as Girls Gone Wild.

Perry isn’t the first girl to try on lesbianism — to become a so-called fauxbian — in song. Canada’s Skye Sweetnam released the similarly titled Kiss a Girl (sample lyric: “Maybe I should kiss a girl / Maybe I should change my world”) on last year’s Sound Soldier album. Russian bubble gum duo T.A.T.U. founded their act on the pretence (purely fictional) that they were a queer couple. And lest we forget, Britney Spears smooched Madonna on live television; their kiss at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards is the obvious inspiration for Perry’s stunt.

Singers Britney Spears, left, and Madonna kiss during the opening performance of the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards in New York. (Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)

On the surface, the mainstream’s acceptance of these acts might seem progressive. But these flirtations with bisexuality are indeed just flirtations, meant to gain publicity (and listeners) with cheap voyeurism. The fact is, it’s rare to see a genuinely gay or lesbian musician sing so brazenly about his or her kissing practices; and if they did, it’s doubtful that their confessions would win them the popularity of Perry.

K.d. lang was touted as a pioneer when she came out as a lesbian in 1992, but you’d be hard-pressed to tease out an explicit nod to same-sex desire in her songs. Same goes for Melissa Etheridge and Elton John. (Granted, the latter doesn’t write his own lyrics.) Even edgy Canadian indie pop duo Tegan and Sara avoid referring to their homosexuality in their lyrics. A few openly LGBT performers are forthcoming: the Gossip’s Beth Ditto, for example, occasionally wails about women who have broken her heart and in the ‘80s, Rough Trade’s Carole Pope sang about lusting after girls. But these artists often have a hard time breaking out of the gay music ghetto to which they’ve been consigned.

There’s a history of playing gay in pop. In a famous 1972 interview with the British music magazine Melody Maker, David Bowie proudly proclaimed that he was gay and had always been that way. At the time, Bowie was married (to first wife, Angela) and had a kid, so his bold statement felt like more bluster than fact. Still, he helped pioneer the gender bending that defined glam rock. Along with Bowie, Mick Jagger and Lou Reed flirted with queerness; Reed, the frontman for the Velvet Underground and a fixture in Andy Warhol’s bohemian Factory, populated his songs with drag queens and hustlers. But both Reed and Jagger eventually married women.

There’s a difference between seeming fruity in underground circles and pushing the envelope in the world of mainstream pop. In the ‘80s, a few obviously out male acts found pop success, including British synth-pop act the Bronski Beat, they of the hit Smalltown Boy; their song Need a Man Blues claims that “the sweetest thing of all / is men loving men loving men loving men.” Soft Cell were slightly more coy, but still wrote songs that celebrated sex in squalid porno theatres (Seedy Films) and transvestite divas (L’Esqualita).

Openly gay artists like Rufus Wainwright and Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons) wrap their operatic voices and ornate arrangements around LGBT-themed lyrics, but neither makes music that is accessible enough to break into the mainstream market. Recently, London-based pop singer Mika scored a No. 1 hit in the U.K. with the campy Grace Kelly. He has recorded a song about a married man who engages in a covert gay tryst, but Mika remains reticent when it comes to discussing his sexuality.

Gay blogger Perez Hilton recently reported a homosexual encounter with musician John Mayer, above. (Jo Hale/Getty Images)

At the same time, a handful of presumed hetero male stars have dared to convey their homosexual longings. Singer-songwriter John Mayer had the tabloids in a tizzy early this year after gay blogger Perez Hilton alleged they kinda-sorta made out at a swank bash. (Mayer’s reps denied it, but the singer has nevertheless voiced his support for Hilton.) In an interview with the gay publication The Advocate, well-coiffed Maroon 5 crooner Adam Levine was secure enough to suggest that Antonio Banderas is “gorgeous,” and that “every male secretly wants to have sex with Brad Pitt.” Even so, Levine (crudely) insisted that he’s “not into dick.”

Mayer and Levine’s willingness to air gay feelings is perhaps an acknowledgement of their metrosexuality, as well as an awareness of a gay fanbase. Katy Perry’s intent is more nefarious: Girl-on-girl action is a favourite fantasy of many heterosexual males. When Perry quips, “I kissed a girl just to try it / I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it,” you can’t help but wonder whether that imaginary dude was the one who encouraged the kiss in the first place.

An article in this month’s Radar magazine explores the current “bisexual chic” amongst young girls, a trend that includes MySpace sensation-turned-reality-star Tila Tequila and tabloid fixture Lindsay Lohan (whose refusal to comment on her romantic relationship with Samantha Ronson has been taken as tacit confirmation of it). A sociologist quoted in the Radar piece argues that “Celebs and non-celebs alike are being guided by this kind of Maxim culture where it’s all a performance. It’s like, ‘I’m being transgressive because I want men to want me more.’”

Perry and her peers may be suggesting that you can kiss a girl if you want to try it — with the understanding that you’ll grow out of your experimental phase. Many actual queer artists, on the other hand, worry they’ll compromise their chances of reaching a larger demographic. Katy Perry isn’t doing any real damage, but I’m loath to applaud a fauxbian while other pop stars stay in the closet for fear of being shunned for their true gay feelings.

Sarah Liss writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.