Music/Society Modern Wrld (W7)
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PopMusicLGBTQ.pptxGay Rights and Contemporary Pop Music
LGBTQ Pop Music, 1980s -
Other pop music gay icons (1980s - )
Prince; Boy George / Culture Club “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”, George Michael “Freedom”
Madonna; Cher; Dianna Ross “I’m Coming Out”, RuPaul “Supermodel” (drag)
Melissa Etheridge (openly lesbian) “Come to My Window” (1993)
Lady Gaga (b. NYC 1986)
Openly bi-sexual
2008 breakthrough album The Fame
2011 – “Born This Way” became LGBTQ anthem
Frank Ocean – openly gay R&B artist “Channel Orange” (2012)
Pop stars offer reference points for audiences; comfort and confidence for others struggling with identity expression; make it more acceptable in society for a diversity of expressions of sexuality
Kehrer reading
Macklemore “Same Love” (2012), first Top 40 pop song to openly promote gay marriage
Reflects and impacts change in attitudes and laws (same year: Defense of Marriage Act, struck down; California same-sex marriage ban struck down; song said to have influenced these votes)
But, song Criticized bc Macklemore is heterosexual, cisgender, white rapper targeting (and financially benefitting from) homophobia without ever being a target himself; cultural appropriation of Black culture; Erasure/overshadowing of Black queer voices
Macklemore’s white privilege perpetuates stereotypes of homophobia in hip-hop and Black communities – comes off as “white savior” pointing out others’ faults from a higher, holier-than-thou (sanctimonious), privileged position (Kehrer)
[White privilege – advantages given to (lack of discrimination of) white people based on their race; it’s possible to be economically poor and still have white privilege; while white people experience challenges in life, systemic race discrimination has not been one of them]
Kehrer reading cont.
“If I was gay I would think hip-hop hates me” (lyric in “Same Love”)
Kehrer’s argument is that “Same Love” and Macklemore, by being critical of homophobia in hip-hop, reinforces stereotype of Black homophobia more broadly
There are old stereotypes of Black Americans being more homophobic than other racial groups; these are false narratives that media often plays into
Mackelmore implies that hip-hop hurts gay people, and while some (often mainstream) hip-hop may have anti-gay sentiments, much of underground hip-hop does not; and, Mackelmore’s song also ignores the work of openly queer (black) rappers (Cakes da Killa, Mykki Blanco, Zebra Katz, etc.)
