Gay anthem

A gay anthem or LGBT anthem is a song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the LGBT community; usually with gay men. The lyrics of gay anthems are often marked with hope against the odds, pride, unity, or defiance. Colloquially, gay anthems are called "gaynthems."

Themes

Although every song is individual, the criteria for what makes a gay anthem does show a pattern among the songs. In the book, "Queer" the following ten main themes were listed that are common among many, if not all gay anthems; they are: [Simon Gage, Lisa Richards, and Howard Wilmot. "Queer", pp. 26-7. June 13, 2002. ISBN 1560253770 ]
*Big voiced divas: Rather than particular song, this area of gay anthems is more akin to a cult of personality of a large gay male following for some particular diva-style pop music vocalists who are almost always female gay icons. Examples include: Patti LaBelle, Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Gloria Gaynor, Madonna, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minogue, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Donna Summer, and Cher.
*Overcoming hardship in love: Usually a narrative of a wronged lover who comes back stronger than before. Examples include, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, and "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé.
*You are not alone: Songs about coming together as a community or reassurance to the lonely that there are others like them out there. Examples include, "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge, "YMCA" by The Village People, and "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
*Throw your cares away: A carefree narrative about putting your troubles asides and partying. Examples include, "Turn the Beat Around" by Vicki Sue Robinson, "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, and "Holiday" by Madonna.
*Hard-won self esteem Here the themes involves fighting through oppression, darkness or fear to gain freedom, beauty or self esteem. Examples include, "Free" by Ultra Nate, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, and "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston.
*Celebrating unashamed sexuality: The theme here is of transcending cultural shame to celebrate one's sexual nature. Examples include, "So Many Men, So Little Time" by Miquel Brown, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester, "Supermodel" by RuPaul, and "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls.
*Search for acceptance: Songs about a welcoming promised land where the dream of acceptance and belonging and hope lives. Examples include, "Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland, "Go West" by Pet Shop Boys, and "Together Again" by Janet Jackson.
*Torch song for the world weary: A narrative about being used, abused and surviving to tell the tale of lament. Examples include: "La Vie En Rose" by Edith Piaf, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" by Dusty Springfield, and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" by Jennifer Holliday.
*Love conquers the all: Tales of not giving up on love despite seemingly insurmountable odds. Examples include "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross, "Maybe This Time" by Liza Minnelli, and "As Long as He Needs Me" by Shirley Bassey.
*No apologies: Here the theme revolves around defiantly living one's life despite what others may want. Examples include, "I Am What I Am" by Gloria Gaynor, "Don't Rain on My Parade" by Barbra Streisand, and "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross.

Some Eurovision Song Contest songs become gay anthems such as the Eurovision 1998 winning song "Diva" by transsexual Israeli Dana International, Croatian 1999 entry "Marija Magdalena" by Doris Dragović and Danish 2007 entry "Drama Queen" by drag DQ. Eurovision 2006 hopefuls drag Queentastic's "Absolutely Fabulous" is also a case in point. Claudette Pace who represented Malta in 2000 issued a gay-anthem entitled "Power of Pink". She performed it at the UK's Gay Pride in 2001.

Less common, but still notable, are gay garage rock, punk and hardcore anthems, including songs by artists such as Jayne County such as "Man Enough To be A Woman", t.A.T.u.'s "All the Things She Said", Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict", "Ti Voglio Bene" by Italian star Tiziano Ferro, a number of singles by Pansy Division and songs by Team Dresch and Tribe 8. (See also Queercore). A new gay anthem is Heather Small and her performance of "Proud", released in the Proud album in 2000, and featured in the Showtime original show "Queer As Folk". Latin examples are "¿A Quién le Importa?" by Alaska y Dinarama and "Todos Me Miran" by Gloria Trevi.

Notes

References

* [http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article1945757.ece "The pink hit parade: Sing if you're glad to be gay" // The Independent, 1 November, 2006]

Bibliography

* "Gay Anthems" (Book & CD). Music Sales Ltd. ISBN 071199742X
* Leila J. Rupp, Verta Taylor. "Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret". University Of Chicago Press, May 15, 2003. ISBN 0226731588

ee also

*Sexual minority cultures
*Gay icon

External links

* [http://cms.pridedepot.com/modules/shop/everybody.php "Everybody Has A Right!" The NEW Anthem for the Marriage Equality movement.]