Hayley Kiyoko spent many of her teenage summers feeling restless and yearning, often waiting at her computer for a message from her crush on AOL Instant Messenger. Similar to Coley, the 17-year-old lead character in her film Girls Like Girls, which Kiyoko co-wrote and directed, she experienced intense feelings for a girl who, as she puts it, “put me through my own heartbreak and haunted me for a long time.”
Since the release of her hit single Girls Like Girls in 2015, Kiyoko has been affectionately dubbed “lesbian Jesus” by her fans. However, she admits that true comfort with her sexual identity came only after the song’s release. At that time, writing about her sexuality was daunting for her, and the song’s empowering line, “Girls like girls like boys do, nothing new,” stemmed from her desire to “manifest feeling confident.”
Upon releasing both the song and its music video, Kiyoko was overwhelmed by the realization that many others shared her feelings, which encouraged her to embrace love for who she truly is. Following the music video, which depicts the romantic feelings that develop between two teenage girls, one of whom is in a relationship with a boy, Kiyoko became “very fixated” on expanding this narrative into a feature film.
It took more than ten years for her vision to materialize, including a significant shift that occurred with the publication of the young adult romance novel Girls Like Girls in 2023, which paved the way for the film. Kiyoko describes the movie as a “love letter to my younger self, who was desperately seeking that kind of love.” She shared this during a Zoom conversation from Bangkok, where she was celebrating the film’s release in Thailand. The excitement in her voice was palpable as she discussed meeting her Thai fans for the first time.
Kiyoko emphasized that the Bangkok screening was particularly meaningful because one of the film’s stars, Myra Molloy, who plays Coley’s love interest Sonya, hails from the city. The actress who portrays Coley, Maya da Costa, has Vietnamese roots, highlighting Kiyoko’s commitment to creating a queer love story that also reflects her Asian heritage. Growing up in Los Angeles, Kiyoko felt a lack of representation in cinema, stating, “I never believed that my stories really mattered, because I never got to see them.”
Born Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft, she was raised in an environment close to show business, with her father, Jamie Alcroft, being an actor and comedian, and her mother, Sarah Kawahara, an Emmy-winning choreographer and figure skater. Kiyoko began her performance career at the age of five, acting in commercials and later appearing in Disney Channel and Nickelodeon productions. She learned to play the drums at six and composed her first song by the age of eight. In her late teens, she was a member of the girl group The Stunners, which toured with Justin Bieber in 2010 before disbanding a year later without releasing an album.
Kiyoko’s solo career gained momentum following the release of Girls Like Girls, which coincided with the historic legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. in June 2015, making it a fitting anthem for the LGBTQ+ community during a hopeful time. However, the current landscape has shifted dramatically, with a significant rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the U.S. in recent years. The American Civil Liberties Union has reported that over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are under consideration in 2026.
Kiyoko describes the political situation as “heartbreaking.” While she clarifies that she does not see herself as a spokesperson for the entire LGBTQ+ community, she acknowledges that “it’s not safe for our community,” stressing the ongoing struggle to secure funding for pride events and festivals. Reflecting on her 2016 music video for “One Bad Night,” which addressed the violence faced by transgender women, she expresses a desire to approach such topics differently today.
She believes it is crucial to highlight the experiences of transgender individuals while advocating for the creation of art that celebrates queer joy instead of solely focusing on the struggles faced by the community. “How radical is it that right now, in this awful political climate, we get to release a movie called Girls Like Girls in cinemas and remind the world that our stories and our love matter?” she states passionately.
While the central couple in Girls Like Girls encounters challenges, with Sonya referring to her relationship with Coley as “wrong” at one point, the film predominantly presents a positive perspective on self-discovery. Notably, Coley enjoys unconditional acceptance from her father, a portrayal that Kiyoko felt was significant to include, especially given her own experiences with family acceptance. “We watch movies to dream and fantasize, seeing representations we often lack in our lives,” she explains.
Kiyoko finds it “really healing” to promote Girls Like Girls right after getting engaged earlier this summer, describing it as a celebration of her teenage traumas while also showcasing her happiness with a partner who truly understands and cherishes her.
