A friend of mine asked me over dinner earlier this week what I meant when I said "straight allies." I went into this blah, blah, blah explanation and now realize I could have just said two words: Cyndi Lauper. God bless this ultimate straight ally.In the upcoming music issue of The Advocate, Cyndi talks to writer Brantley Barin about her True Colors tour, which aims to be an annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Month concert (think Cyndipalooza) that will travel to 15 cities and offer five hours of music! Cyndi will be joined on the bill by Erasure, Debbie Harry, the Dresden Dolls, the Gossip, and the Misshapes. MTV's Logo network is the presenting sponsor and will give $1 made from every concert ticket directly to the Human Rights Campaign.
You should run out and buy The Advocate to read the full Lauper interview (plus, I wrote the cover story called "American Idol's Big Gay Closet") but here are a few excerpts of what Lauper says about the tour and her reasons behind organizing it:
"It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. And this way, you get to get AND give. That's why when they said, 'We'll make it the True colors tour,' I said, 'Well, then we should include the Human Rights Campaign.' - because the song "True Colors" means so much to the LGBT community and you can't ignore that. I've read letters on the Internet and when when people say a song made them feel like they could get through it after they'd been disenfranchised by their friends, their family, their jobs - and they're suicidal- well...
You shouldn't be made to feel badly about who you are. You're born that way. For God's sake, come ON already! That's why our grandparents came here, just to get a fair shake. I have every right and you have every right to be who you are."