Playlist: Being An Ally
- jamesgeraghty
- Apr 27
- 10 min read
Disclaimer: If you are likely to be triggered by anything being said by a person who proudly views themselves, to use current parlance, as a 'woke, snowflake, liberal' - now might be a good time to click away from this article!
I have been wondering for a while now, whatever happened to those human traits of compassion, empathy and good old fashioned humanity? Has the pervasive influence of social media washed them away? Maybe society has always been lacking them, but we just didn't realise it until people started spreading their intolerance loudly and electronically?
This playlist is dedicated to everyone who is a part of the LGBTQ+ family, or one of their allies. No one should have to justify who they are, who they are in love with, or what person they feel like they want to be, to anyone else. Politicians, parts of the media and certain celebrities have used this modern ease of message spreading to propel their soundbites of intolerance around the world. It is always worth remembering a few things:
Pushing hate onto marginalised groups is easy - and is generally done by people (or organisations) to deflect your attention away from other, more urgent, issues that they don't want you to see (e.g. fraud, corruption and exploitation).
Blaming marginalised groups is also an easy way for someone (a politician, say) to get around the fact they don't have actually have any answers to the problems we face (unemployment, cost of living etc.).
Everyone you think you might 'hate' is in actual fact, a real person!
We tend to fear things we don't fully understand - or that don't fit the 'norm'.
Always remember we are talking about people who, just like us, are trying to find some happiness for themselves and those around them.
If you don't understand something - instead of leaping straight into hate mode, try and find out more about it.
This is a much more fulfilling than automatically assuming there is something wrong - do some reading, ask some questions - you may just find out all these other people want the same things out of life that you do!
(I have learnt so much more recently through reading stories by the people who actually walk in these shoes, than from those spreading the bile from a distance).
As it says in Danny Nedelko (Idles) - although about immigration, the refrain works here too.
"Fear leads to panic, panic leads to pain, pain leads to anger, anger leads to hate."
I know this is the longest intro to a playlist yet, but it is important to set some context. The UK Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that may make life harder for transgender people in this country. Scenes of so-called feminists, crowing in delight over a decision that seems to aid transphobia, also masks many problems this ruling will likely create. The debate around whether biological sex and gender identity is a straightforward as a binary decision, is more nuanced than some would like you to believe....
The concept of being transgender, broadly including anyone non-binary or third gender, was only given current definitions fifty years or so ago - but it is in fact a concept that has been around as long as humans have. Hundreds of cultures around the world have acknowledged that there are more than two genders for centuries.
Ancient Phrygia - Galli eunuch priests (recorded as far back as the third century BCE)
Hindi - communities have transgenderism in their culture for at least 3,000 years
The Rivegda (3,500 years ago) says, "Before creation the world lacked all distinctions, including of sex and gender."
The Mahabhrata (2,000+ years ago) tells the tale of a trans man called Shikhandhi
Third gender Hirja's - sometimes male at birth, some are intersex, some are female at birth.
Many indigenous tribes of North America recognise multiple genders
Ihamana (Zuni)
Winkte (Lakota)
Alyhaa / Hwamee (Mohave)
Nadleehi (Navajo) to name a few.
Africa:
The Ashtime of Maale culture (Ethiopia)
Mashoga (Kenya / Tanzania), Igbo (West Africa).
The Khanish of Arabia - recorded since at least the seventh century CE
Japan - accounts of transgender people going back to the Edo era of the early 1600's.
As stigmatisation of transgender people has spread (often with zealous missionaries), so, people that had once been a valued part of their community, often with revered status, found themselves outcast, persecuted, or worse. Homosexuality too, is considered by some to be 'not normal', and yet at least 1,500 species across the animal kingdom (including fish, amphibians, reptiles and over 250 mammalian species) display same-sex behaviour - including sex, courtship and parenting. That doesn't sound abnormal to me - and yet only one species seems to display homophobia...
But on with the music - ten banging tracks by LGBTQ+ allies here for you....
1. Diana Ross: I'm Coming Out
We'll start with a bone fide dance classic! Written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic, this was the second single from Diana Ross's eleventh solo album. Rodgers said that it was inspired by seeing drag queens who were dressed up as Ross at a New York club - "One particular night I went to a club, The Gilded Grape, and I happened to notice that there were at least 6 or 7 Diana Ross impersonators, 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 the next day we met in the studio... and then from that we built this song." Perhaps somewhat naively, Ross hadn't fully understood the implication of the title until the DJ Frankie Crocker told her that everyone would believe she was gay, and that might damage her career. Luckily, Rodgers and Edwards convinced her this would not happen and she should release it.
Diana Ross: I'm Coming Out (Audio only - original Chic mix)
2. Pink: Raise Your Glass
This was one of several new tracks written for Pink's first Greatest Hits album. Digital Spy described the tune as "a full throttle pop/rock stomper with a chorus as subtle as a porn star's cleavage." Pink said the song was "a celebration for people who feel left out from the popular crowd." The video was based on a real life event, the celebration of her friend's gay wedding - "I threw my best friend's wedding in my backyard - she is lesbian and she married her wife, and it was absolutely beautiful. At the end of it, he mom said, 'Why can't this be legal?' and started crying. It was just the most heart-breaking thing I've ever seen, so that's why I'm doing it in my video."
Pink: Raise Your Glass (Official music video)
3. Cyndi Lauper: True Colors
The significance of True Colors has grown and evolved over time. It was first written by Billy Steinburg about his mother, with some alterations later made by his songwriting partner Tom Kelly (they also wrote Like A Virgin and Eternal Flame). When Cyndi Lauper got hold of the tune, she turned the arrangement from a gospel-ish piano ballad into something much starker. Its legacy in the gay community came later, although the song resonated with Lauper at the time, as her friend Gregory Natal had recently died of HIV/AIDS. She would later establish the True Colors Fund, a non-profit organisation aiming to eradicate LGBT youth homelessness. She also sung the song at the ceremony when Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law in 2022. There were also several True Colors Tours along the way (2007 and 2008) to promote LGBT rights in the US and beyond, with acts including Eddie Money, Debbie Harry and Erasure.
Cyndi Lauper: True Colors (Live at The White House, Dec 2022)
4. The Kinks: Lola
I wasn't sure whether to include this - it is not an ally song, as such, more Ray Davies displaying his usual knack of turning a minor event into a story for a song. However, it must be one of the first chart hits to openly reference a transgender person (and without any seeming negativity), and for that I added it in. The inspiration seems to have come to Davies after The Kinks manager, Robert Wace, spent an evening dancing with a black cross-dressing man. Although drummer Mick Avory cites a slightly different source of inspiration: "We used to know this character called Michael McGrath. He used to hound the group a bit, because being called The Kinks did attract these sorts of people.... He used to have this place in Earl's Court, and he used to invite me to all these drag queen acts and transsexual pubs. They were like secret clubs. And that's where Ray got the idea for Lola." The lyrics caused some controversy and discomfort at the time (1970), with many stations fading the track out before Lola's sex is revealed (although perversely, the BBC's bigger issue was because it name-checked Coca Cola - which they had to change to cherry cola to avoid breaching the no brand name rules). Ultimately Davies said, "It really doesn't matter what sex Lola is, I think she's alright!"
The Kinks: Lola (Audio only)
5. Kacey Musgraves: Follow Your Arrow
Follow Your Arrow was the Song of the Year at the 2014 CMA's and also Rolling Stone's 39th Best Country Song of all time. The song encourages the listener to love who they love and be who they want to be - because you will be criticised no matter what you do, so the best course of action is to always remain true to yourself. There is overt support of the LGBTQ community - "Kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls, if that's something you're into." This song of acceptance and self-expression was important, as it was seen as being something of a departure from the usual country music fare.
Kacey Musgraves: Follow Your Arrow (Official music video)
6. Split Single: Nothing You Can Do (To End This Love)
I always welcome an opportunity to roll this one out. Split Single main man Jason Narducy said of the song, "The chords and melody for this song sounded like defiance to me." He added that, "The chorus came first: 'She loves her and he loves him, there's nothing you can do to end this love.' That was all I needed to get started on my first LGBTQ+ ally song….. We are all humans and we all deserve equal rights and protections." Mike Mills (R.E.M.) provides, as ever, great call and response backing vocals and Jon Wurster (Superchunk) adds the rocket propulsion to this, perhaps my favourite single of the 2020s so far!
Split Single: Nothing You Can Do (To End This Love) (Official music video)
7. Kylie Minogue: All The Lovers
While Kylie Minogue has long been considered a gay icon, Them said that it was All The Lovers "that seemed to finally speak to us directly. The song calls for open expressions for love from everyone and the singer has gone on record stating that her LGBTQ+ fans were the main source of inspiration for this track.... Minogue even famously demanded that her record label not censor the gay kisses she featured in the song's music video, making the song all the more powerful." That video, directed by Joseph Kahn, reimagined the famous nude installations by the artist Spencer Tunick, with Minogue saying of it, "He [Kahn] came up with a brilliant, simple ideas and executed it so sensitively, I thought. It's still cutting edge, it still gets you a little hot under the collar, but I think there's a real sensitivity."
Kylie Minogue: All The Lovers (Official music video)
8. Madonna: Vogue
Madonna wrote this classic with Shep Pettibone (music) and got her inspiration by voguing, a dance popular on the underground New York City gay scene. She saw people doing the dance at The Sound Factory, one of the centres of the city's house music scene - then mixed that with a touch of Vegas showgirl, and Vogue was born. Pettibone was somewhat surprised when he saw her lyrics, as the vogue was already considered somewhat passe by this point. That didn't seem to impact the song's performance though - it has sold more than six million copies worldwide. The video for it matched the mood of the song, with USA Today calling it "camp, glamour, sensuality and dress-you-up finery." The song is considered to be one of the first to widely champion elements of the Black and Latino ballroom scene.
Madonna: Vogue (Official music video)
9. Lady Gaga: Born This Way
The song was inspired by Carl Bean's I Was Born This Way - he was a gay, black, religious activist and singer, who founded the liberal Unity Fellowship Church Movement. It inspired Lady Gaga, who describes Born This Way as being her 'freedom' song, taking inspiration from music of the 1990's that empowered women and minority groups like the LGBT community. Rolling Stone went as far as calling it the Most Inspirational LGBT Song of All Time. It reached number one in more than 25 countries and was her third US top spot - and with over eight million copies sold, it is one of the biggest selling singles of all time. She described it as "Harkening back to the early '90's, when Madonna, En Vogue, Whitney Houston and TLC were making very empowering music for women and the gay community and kind of disenfranchised communities." She had always felt supported by these minority groups, but had never directly addressed them in her music. Bill Werde, in Billboard, said, "Born This Way was her chance to create something that not only supported her political and social beliefs, but also empowered her to artistically say, I'm not being safe with this record. I'm not trying to gain new fans. I love the fans I already have and this is for them."
Lady Gaga: Born This Way (Official music video)
10. Beyonce: Cozy
The whole of Beyonce's album Renaissance sought inspiration from the Black ball culture, the LGBTQ+ subculture that sought inspiration from the drag balls of the mid-nineteenth century. Beyonce had been introduced to this by her gay cousin 'Uncle' Johnny, who had helped raise her, up until his death as a result of the AIDS epidemic. She called him her "godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and the culture that serve as inspiration for this album." The track Cozy was co-written and produced by transgender DJ Honey Dijon - in the song she is saying that she is "comfortable in my skin, cozy with who I am." It is all about self-acceptance and identity, and each colour of the Progress Pride flag is referenced in the lyrics.
Comments