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LGBTQ music
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LGBTQ music
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement.
LGBTQ music spans the entire spectrum of popular music. Lyricism and song content typically express the frustration, anxiety, and hope associated with non-normative sexual and gender identities, offering marginalized groups a vital platform for expression. Recently, popular music has "provided an arena where marginalized voices can be heard and sexual identities shaped, challenged, and renegotiated". Mainstream music has begun to reflect acceptance of LGBTQ musicianship. Some queer icons are openly queer-identifying and have made impactful changes in the world for LGBTQ people. Others are straight allies that have expressed their support for the community.
LGBTQ music can also refer to music that does not necessarily engage with queer themes, or is created by queer composers/producers, but is enjoyed by members of the LGBTQ community regardless. Much of the music created by straight queer icons is enjoyed in LGBTQ spaces, with artists such as Judy Garland, Céline Dion, Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, or Cher, among others. Some performers, like Elton John and Lady Gaga, are prominent activists for the LGBTQ community, winning the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2019, and publicly thanked the LGBTQ community for their development of the house music genre at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Queer music can be recognized through many areas of history. This article covers sections pertaining to the 1920-30s, 1960s-70s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, along with also covering brief history, broadway and theater, LGBTQ artists, LGBTQ-oriented music, and gay anthems.
German sexologists around the turn of the 20th century indirectly revealed that homosexuals were abundant in the music field and profession. The associated taboos regarding homosexuality and the large amount of homosexuals in music at this time led to the development of the idea of music being a method for expression, transcending ordinary life.
Early Black queer artists included Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, who recorded overtly lesbian songs in the 1920s, as well as Little Richard in the late 1950s, with the hit song "Tutti Frutti" as a homosexual reference, but one that was covert enough to be plausibly denied.
Regarding classical music, American composer Leonard Bernstein had many homosexual relations, often with other musicians and composers, despite being in a heterosexual marriage. Many artists like Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, Dimitri Mitropoulos were subject to hiding their sexual identities from the public.[citation needed] American pianist Liberace was famously closeted and vehemently denied allegations of homosexuality until his death in 1987, suing a Daily Mirror columnist for insinuating his sexuality. While the entertainment industry now more openly discusses the role of gender identity both in the press and within music compositions, there is still reticence for many in the business to advocate for LGBTQ acceptance.
Broadway and musical theater have been ways for groups of people to express themselves through music, dance, and drama. As Philip Brett and Elizabeth Wood state, "the musical theater has been a special place for gay identification and expression". Many queer people, but particularly gay men, are not only enjoyers of Broadway, but often have a hand in the production and creation of it. Notable gay men involved in the production of Broadway shows include Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Noël Coward, Marc Blitzstein, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, and Stephen Sondheim, to name a few. Lesbians also have a hand in contributing to the production of Broadway and theater, like lesbian producer Cheryl Crawford. With this impact from homosexual producers, musical theater was rife with coded messages for homosexual artists early on, moving on to having openly gay themes with musicals such as Cabaret and A Chorus Line in the 1960s and 1970s. Musicals began to focus on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1990s, most popularly with Falsettoland and RENT. Other musicals with openly trans characters were also popular, including The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Musicals focused on drag or drag queens are also popular still today, such as Kinky Boots.
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LGBTQ music
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement.
LGBTQ music spans the entire spectrum of popular music. Lyricism and song content typically express the frustration, anxiety, and hope associated with non-normative sexual and gender identities, offering marginalized groups a vital platform for expression. Recently, popular music has "provided an arena where marginalized voices can be heard and sexual identities shaped, challenged, and renegotiated". Mainstream music has begun to reflect acceptance of LGBTQ musicianship. Some queer icons are openly queer-identifying and have made impactful changes in the world for LGBTQ people. Others are straight allies that have expressed their support for the community.
LGBTQ music can also refer to music that does not necessarily engage with queer themes, or is created by queer composers/producers, but is enjoyed by members of the LGBTQ community regardless. Much of the music created by straight queer icons is enjoyed in LGBTQ spaces, with artists such as Judy Garland, Céline Dion, Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, or Cher, among others. Some performers, like Elton John and Lady Gaga, are prominent activists for the LGBTQ community, winning the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2019, and publicly thanked the LGBTQ community for their development of the house music genre at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Queer music can be recognized through many areas of history. This article covers sections pertaining to the 1920-30s, 1960s-70s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, along with also covering brief history, broadway and theater, LGBTQ artists, LGBTQ-oriented music, and gay anthems.
German sexologists around the turn of the 20th century indirectly revealed that homosexuals were abundant in the music field and profession. The associated taboos regarding homosexuality and the large amount of homosexuals in music at this time led to the development of the idea of music being a method for expression, transcending ordinary life.
Early Black queer artists included Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, who recorded overtly lesbian songs in the 1920s, as well as Little Richard in the late 1950s, with the hit song "Tutti Frutti" as a homosexual reference, but one that was covert enough to be plausibly denied.
Regarding classical music, American composer Leonard Bernstein had many homosexual relations, often with other musicians and composers, despite being in a heterosexual marriage. Many artists like Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, Dimitri Mitropoulos were subject to hiding their sexual identities from the public.[citation needed] American pianist Liberace was famously closeted and vehemently denied allegations of homosexuality until his death in 1987, suing a Daily Mirror columnist for insinuating his sexuality. While the entertainment industry now more openly discusses the role of gender identity both in the press and within music compositions, there is still reticence for many in the business to advocate for LGBTQ acceptance.
Broadway and musical theater have been ways for groups of people to express themselves through music, dance, and drama. As Philip Brett and Elizabeth Wood state, "the musical theater has been a special place for gay identification and expression". Many queer people, but particularly gay men, are not only enjoyers of Broadway, but often have a hand in the production and creation of it. Notable gay men involved in the production of Broadway shows include Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Noël Coward, Marc Blitzstein, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, and Stephen Sondheim, to name a few. Lesbians also have a hand in contributing to the production of Broadway and theater, like lesbian producer Cheryl Crawford. With this impact from homosexual producers, musical theater was rife with coded messages for homosexual artists early on, moving on to having openly gay themes with musicals such as Cabaret and A Chorus Line in the 1960s and 1970s. Musicals began to focus on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1990s, most popularly with Falsettoland and RENT. Other musicals with openly trans characters were also popular, including The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Musicals focused on drag or drag queens are also popular still today, such as Kinky Boots.