10 Songs to Make You Proud
For millennia, LGBTQ people, our culture and our issues have been represented in the arts. From ancient Asian paintings to early Greek frescoes to antiquities found in all corners of the globe, the Sexual Self has been proudly expressed to the larger society. And music, dear reader, is no exception. Here are 10 songs that will inspire you to celebrate your authentic Self, without fear, anxiety or hesitation. Ready? Let’s dance!
#1 - I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross
Released in 1980, this song quickly became THE anthem for the American gay community, played in nightclubs across the country, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 radio charts, and charting in countries around the world. Songwriters Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards say they wrote the song after going one night to The Gilded Grape, a famed New York city drag bar. Rodgers said “There were at least 6 or 7 Diana Ross impersonators there, so I went outside to call Bernard and said “you know, Diana Ross is revered by the gay community. If we wrote a song called “I’m Coming Out” for Diana Ross it would have the same power as James Brown’s “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud”” and next day we met in the studio […] and then from that we built the song.”
And, oh, those horns…!
#2 Everyone is Gay - A Great Big World
#3 True Colors - Cyndi Lauper*
Long an icon in the LGBTQ community, Ms. Lauper sings this piece softly and gently, as if trying to nurture, comfort and inspire. “I see your true colors shining through / I see your true colors and that’s why I love you / So don’t be afraid to let them show / your true colors are beautiful like a rainbow.”
#4 Tom Robinson - Glad to Be Gay (1977)
In the 1970s, Britain was having its own “Stonewall moment“, when police were routinely raiding bars and private parties, rounding participants up, arresting them and printing their names in the newspaper. This song was written for the 1976 London Pride Parade, was recorded and released in 1977, and was shortly thereafter adopted as Britain’s Gay National Anthem(!). It’s not just socio-politically important, it’s a fun pub-type sing-along, so pour a pint and have a listen! Cheers!
#5 Brave - Sara Bareilles
Brave – Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles says she wrote this song for a friend struggling with the decision to come out. After opening with the words “You can be the outcast, be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love … or you can start speaking up” this relentless earworm goes on to encourage you to, “Say what you wanna say / And let the words fall out / Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.” Give it a listen and see if you don’t sing it for the rest of the day!
#6 Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
A true song of self-empowerment and inner beauty and strength, this video received a GLAAD Media Award for its positive representation of gay and transgender people. The UK LGBT rights organization Stonewall named “Beautiful” the most empowering song of the decade for LGBTQ people, and Rolling Stone magazine listed it as one of the best songs of the 2000s.
#7 I Am What I Am - John Barrowman (in La Cage Aux Folles)
In this torch song is from the musical La Cage aux Folles, the lead sings “ It’s my world that I want to take a little pride in / My world, and it’s not a place I have to hide in / Life’s not worth a damn / ‘Til you can say, “Hey world, I am what I am.” This song has deep personal meaning for us, as Mun Wye sang it as a solo with the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida at a sold-out show at the Parker Theater in Fort Lauderdale. Prior to singing it, he told a short story about coming out, meeting me and falling in love. He got a standing ovation (and a partner for life) as a result!
#8 Him - Sam Smith
A very clever song, sung as confessional and vocally arranged as gospel testimonial, Smith acknowledges confusion between what nature has made him and how society and religion can condemn that. “Don’t you try and tell me that God doesn’t care for us / It is him I love, it is him I love.”
#9 Born This Way - Lady Gaga
I’m beautiful in my way ’cause God makes no mistakes / I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way / Don’t hide yourself in regret, just love yourself, and you’re set / I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way. Enough said.
#10 YMCA - The Village People
Because, you know, gay is sometimes camp. And what could be campier than a bunch of singers dressed in costumes of stereotypical gay roles/fantasies? Long before bars, clubs and dating apps, one could go to the YMCA, a men’s only club/hotel/boarding house (ironically run by Christians) and workout, then swim, bathe and steam naked, then retire to your inexpensive room to “sleep.” Indeed, it was fun to stay at the YMCA. . .
Honorable Mention: Constant Craving - k.d. lang
We’re throwing this in as an honorable mention because k.d. lang was always out and proud, because John loves this song, and because most of us can relate to “Constant Craving” and know “it’s always been.”