This song and the film gained such a following that gay men would use the phrase "friends of Dorothy" to refer to themselves. īillie Holiday, Teddy Wilson and His Orchestraįeatured in the film The Wizard of Oz. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. List of historically significant gay anthems UK LGBT rights charity Stonewall named Christina Aguilera's " Beautiful" the most empowering song of the 2000s decade for LGBT people. Even before its single release, Lady Gaga's " Born This Way" was predicted by Elton John to replace Gloria Gaynor's classic gay anthem " I Will Survive". Through the first decade of the 21st century, chart-topping popular songs became a "refuge of unambiguous support for gay rights" in a time when legal support for LGBT rights in the US was lagging ( Don't Ask, Don't Tell would be repealed in 2011, and same-sex marriage would only be fully legalized in 2015). Madonna's " Vogue", Mariah Carey's " Hero", Ultra Naté's " Free", Janet Jackson's " Together Again", Cher's " Believe", Jessica Simpson's " I Think I'm in Love with You" and " A Public Affair", Kylie Minogue's " Spinning Around" and " Can't Get You Out of My Head", Geri Halliwell's " It's Raining Men", Dannii Minogue's " I Begin to Wonder", Melanie C's " Never Be the Same Again" and " Think About It", Tamar Braxton's " Hot Sugar" and " My Man", Lady Gaga's " Born This Way", and Ariana Grande's " Break Free" are considered as gay anthems for the new generation.
" The Greatest Love of All" as sung by Whitney Houston. Hard-won self-esteem: The theme involves fighting through oppression, darkness, or fear to gain freedom, beauty, or self-esteem.Throw your cares away: A carefree narrative about putting your troubles aside and partying.You are not alone: Songs about coming together as a community or reassurance to the lonely that there are others like them out there.
Overcoming hardship in love: Usually a narrative of a wronged lover who comes back stronger than before.Big-voiced divas: Rather than particular to the songs, 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 black, female gay icons.In the 2002 book Queer, the following ten main themes were listed that are common among many, if not all gay anthems: Melanie Brown was shown kissing another woman in her " For Once in My Life" video, making this song a hymn of the gay community.Īlthough every song is individual, the criteria for what makes a gay anthem has shown a trend among the years.