Lil Nas X locks lips in a passionate kiss at BET Awards

Lil Nas X took the stage at Sunday’s BET Awards to perform his hit single “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).”

After riding into the music industry on a country-trap horse, the rapper and social media whiz — whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill — made his mark on the pop charts with the record-breaking “Old Town Road,” which he performed with Billy Ray Cyrus at the 2019 BET Awards. Two years later, now out and proud, Lil Nas X performed the song he wrote in hopes of ”[opening] doors for many other queer people to simply exist.”

When the 2021 BET Awards nominees were announced in May — minus any nods for Lil Nas X — fans sounded off online, alleging that the show was homophobic for not nominating him. In previous years, Twitter users including “Pose” star Angelica Ross have called out the network’s programming for LGBTQ exclusion.

However, Lil Nas X took to Twitter and declared, “I wanna perform call me by your name at the bet awards” — and he did.

Dressed in ancient-Egyptian-style attire, the rapper gave a show-stopping performance. During the number, fans pointed out that he paid tribute to and incorporated Michael Jackson’s iconic “Remember the Time” choreography.

Lil Nas X ended his appearance with a steamy, passionate kiss with a backup dancer onstage — something viewers typically wouldn’t see on the network. Fans weren’t the only ones to see the kiss as a major moment; Diddy applauded it as well.

To echo the words of Queen Latifah, who won the BET Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday: “Happy Pride.”