The ’80s pop icon has proven herself to be a true ally of and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community over the years, as shown by her consistently outspoken political stance and her (meaningful) timeless songs…
By Christopher Turner
Cyndi Lauper burst onto the music scene back in 1983 with the release of her smash album She’s So Unusual, and helped define a new era of pop music that evolved alongside MTV. With the release of that album, she made history by becoming the first female artist in history with four top-five songs from a debut album. With a string of top 10 hits and two Grammy wins (including one for Best New Artist), and her over-the-top looks, Lauper instantly appealed to queer audiences, but it is thanks to her consistent advocacy and her long-time activism for LGBTQ+ rights that the quirky vocalist with her four-octave vocal range is still celebrated decades later.
Lauper has always asserted that she originally became involved in the fight for gay rights because her sister Ellen is a lesbian, but throughout the years she has proven herself to be one of our greatest allies… time and time again. Lauper fully embraced the gay community, and we embraced her back. She has written inspiring songs like “True Colors,” performed at hundreds of Pride events (including World Pride) around the globe, and worked tirelessly to support gay rights and raise awareness about youth homelessness. She even co-founded a non-profit organization dedicated to combatting homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth who don’t have anywhere to go. Her music career is so intertwined with activism that the recently released Allison Ellwood documentary Let the Canary Sing (now streaming on Paramount+) is just as much about Lauper’s music as it is about her activism around LGBTQ+ rights and visibility.
Most recently, Lauper was named the Lifetime Ally Icon for the 2024 WeHo Pride Parade in West Hollywood, the first person to receive that designation.
“Renowned for her groundbreaking contributions to music, activism and LGBTQ+ advocacy, Cyndi Lauper epitomizes the ethos of pride, inclusivity and resilience,” says a press release from the City of West Hollywood and WeHo Pride producer JJLA.
“With a career spanning decades, Lauper has left an indelible mark, especially within the LGBTQ+ community,” the press release notes. “From her iconic hits like ‘True Colors’ and ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun,’ Lauper’s repertoire resonates as a poignant soundtrack of the LGBTQ+ equality movement and beyond.”
Here’s a walk down memory lane with a look back at five of Lauper’s most supportive musical moments.
“True Colors”
The first single released from Lauper’s second studio album of the same name in 1986, “True Colors” went on to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 25, 1986. It was an instant mainstream hit and over the years became a popular anthem for the LGBTQ+ community. In various interviews, Lauper elaborated that the song had first resonated with her during its production because of the recent death from HIV/AIDS of her friend Gregory Natal. And, thanks to the song’s lyrics and empowering message of acceptance and authenticity in the face of prejudice, the song resonated with the LGBTQ+ community.
The song further cemented its connection to the LGBTQ+ community in 2008 when Lauper co-founded the True Colors Fund (now known as True Colors United), a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating LGBT youth homelessness.
“We each have a personal responsibility to make sure LGBTQ+ youth are treated with dignity and respect,” Lauper says on the True Colors United website.
“Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)”
Of course, you know that Lauper’s 1983 megahit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” from her debut studio album, She’s So Unusual, was hailed as a feminist anthem and ultimately transformed into a rallying cry for sexual equality – but it wasn’t the only time the song would make a statement. In 1994, Lauper released her Twelve Deadly Cyns…and Then Some compilation album, which featured a reggae-tinged arrangement of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” with an interpolation of “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone. To promote this new version, a music video was produced – directed by Cyndi Lauper herself – which featured 12 fabulous drag queens dancing by the 12-storey Unisphere in Queens from the 1964–65 World’s Fair.
Interestingly, in the summer of ’94, Lauper did a European tour with those 12 drag-queen dancers, and the experience inspired another gay anthem.
“It was me and 12 drag queens in a bus, which was kind of awesome. During the tour, I talked to the guys about the discrimination that they faced,” Lauper reflected years later. “Incidentally, after talking to them about the discrimination they face, I wrote a song about it. It’s called ‘Ballad of Cleo & Joe.’”
“Ballad of Cleo and Joe”
This ballad, the third single from her fifth studio album, Sisters of Avalon, came out in 1996. It’s a song about the double life of a drag queen, the titular ‘Joe’ (by day) and ‘Cleo’ (by night), and featured a bumping house beat. Unfortunately, the song wasn’t a huge hit on the charts and primarily received plays in gay clubs across the country…but it is a fan favourite and was a perfect match for the clubs. The music video for the song features a pregnant Lauper rotating on a platform with her stomach decorated to look like a disco ball.
“Above The Clouds”
In 2005, Lauper released her ninth studio album, The Body Acoustic, featuring new re-recorded and re-arranged acoustic versions of some of her biggest hits as well as two new songs, including “Above the Clouds.” Written by Lauper, Jeff Beck and Jed Leiner, “Above the Clouds” is a tribute song for Matthew Shepard, the openly gay student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, tied to a fence on a dirt path in Wyoming’s rugged countryside and left to die. He was discovered by a cyclist on October 7, 1998, after he had been there for 18 hours in below-freezing temperatures. Shepard was taken to hospital, where it was determined he had suffered 18 blows to the head and face. He never regained consciousness, and was pronounced dead at 12:53 am on October 12, 1998, six days after the attack. He was 21 years old.
Lauper’s “Above The Clouds” is just one of the ways the iconic vocalist has celebrated Shepard’s memory throughout her career. In 2001, she was asked for permission to use one of her songs in a documentary about Shepard, and Lauper subsequently became friends with Shepard’s mother, Judy, herself a fervent LGBT rights advocate.
“I got involved early on because of friends and family,” Lauper explained. “In 2001, I heard about Matthew Shepard and they came to me to ask if they could use ‘Shine’ (the title track and only single released from Lauper’s 2001 Shine) for a documentary. So they explained the whole thing to me. I couldn’t believe that it happened like that, but it did. Then I got involved with Judy Shepard, who I saw at a Human Rights Commission [HRC] event. I saw her sitting at an HRC concert and she looked sad. I realized that she was a mother, so I sat down and told her that she looked like she could use a drink and to come on tour with me. It went from T-shirts to getting involved with HRC and getting involved with P-Flag and Judy Shepard.”
As a member of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board, Lauper has devoted concerts to Shepard, and she works tirelessly to help promote the Foundation’s message.
Kinky Boots
Based on the non-musical 2005 British film Kinky Boots and mostly inspired by true events, the musical Kinky Boots premiered at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago in October 2012, and made its Broadway debut at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 4, 2013, following previews that began on March 3, 2013. Lauper wrote the music and lyrics while Harvey Fierstein wrote the book for the musical adaptation. Kinky Boots tells the story of Charlie Price, who has inherited a failing shoe factory from his father. He forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots and save the business.
While Fierstein was already an established Broadway player with four Tonys to his name, it was new ground for Lauper. The production earned a season-high 13 Tony nominations and six wins, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for Billy Porter (who played Lola) and Best Score for Lauper in her first outing as a Broadway songwriter, making her the first woman to win alone in that category.
CHRISTOPHER TURNER is the editor of IN Magazine. He is a Toronto-based writer, editor and lifelong fashionisto with a passion for pop culture and sneakers. Follow him on social media at @Turnstylin.
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