The Parenting Playlist: Songs that are LGBTQIA+ Positive
To close out Pride Month, this weeks list contains 10 songs that are LGBTQIA+ positive. Not every artist on this list identifies as LGBTQIA+ and not everyone is a parent. These are songs that encourage those to be who they are. As we all know, music and the arts are powerful tools and these songs offer love and acceptance to those who don’t feel they have it.
Lady Gaga - “Born This Way”
This song is about loving who you are, that God doesn’t make mistakes. She sings about race and sexuality in this pop hit, but what stand out is the line “Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself, and you're set/I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way”
2. K.D. Lang - “Constant Craving”
While K.D. Lang may not have meant for this song to be about a yearning for someone you “shouldn’t” yearn for, “Constant Craving” depicts an unrequited love for another woman. She has used this song to advocate for Gay Rights, making this song a staple of the movement.
3. Cyndi Lauper - “True Colors”
Cyndi Lauper is a big ally and she decided to record “True Colors” after her close friend had died on AIDS. The lyricist, Billy Steinberg, wrote this song with his mother in mind, that people will try and fit you in a box, but I see your true colors. The video features LGBTQ couples since it became a gay rights anthem after it’s release.
4. Mary Lambert - “She Keeps Me Warm”
This song was actually featured in Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love,” which is another song that boasts of self love and LGBTQ rights/joy/love, etc. “She Keeps Me Warm” was written long before Macklemore made it popular. It’s a love song, about falling in love with a girl and wanting to be with her. It’s absolutely beautiful and one of those songs that makes you smile.
5. Hayley Kioko - “Girls Like Girls”
Coined as the Lesbian Jesus, “Girls Like Girls” boasts of acceptance and finding who you are. She sings “Girls like girls like boys do” to a catchy pop beat. It’s about being ok with being gay. It’s a powerful song about how gay love is one of the most beautiful things there is.
6. Demi Levato - “I Really Don’t Care”
Demi Levato’s “I Really Don’t Care” is a rally song about being who you are opening and not caring what other think about it or what they have to say. You are beautiful and that’s enough. Part of the video was actually filmed at a Pride Parade back in 2014. It’s a song of strength and beauty.
7. Janelle Monae - “Make Me Feel”
Janelle makes some of the best R&B tunes there are. The video for “Make Me Feel” says it all. It’s very much about empowerment and a celebration of who you are. It’s about their own personal freedom with their sexuality and gender identity. In the video, they’re seen dancing with actress Tessa Thompson and men, showing their pansexuality.
8. Sara Barielles - “Brave”
While this song is the anthem of empowerment, “Brave” was actually penned from the perspective of friend encouraging another to come out as gay. Sara Barielles gives a strong voice to an important issue.
9. George Michael - “Outside”
“Outside” was George Michael’s response to his publicly coming out. The song is about freedom and you can sense this in his video. The “Outside” video depicts many different couples of different sexual orientations participating in “lewd acts,” being caught by the police, and being arrested for it. It mirrors George’s own experience as he was arrested for lewd behavior, prompting him to come out.
10. Christina Aguilera - “Beautiful”
This is actually a song about self-acceptance during the time of rampant online bullying in the early 2000’s. Christiana herself connects with the song as she has had to overcome her own insecurities and doubts. What made this an LGBTQ song about self acceptance was it’s performance on Glee, when Nya Rivera’s character came out as gay. Since then, this has been a song of love and positivity in the LGBTQ community.