From A To MNEK: The LGBTQ+ Music Videos That Shook The World
Celebrating Pride in #20GAYTEEN with the biggest queer anthems, old and new...
Queer visibility and representation in mainstream media is, and has long been, integral to advancing the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. While culture and language often puts barriers between international media, music is arguably the one form of entertainment that transcends borders easily and is often held responsible for uniting marginalised peoples and bringing them to the forefront.
From Madonna and Prince to Janet Jackson, some of the biggest musical acts in the world were outward allies and provided representation for LGBTQ+ people at the peak of their careers via the medium of music videos. While true equality is an ongoing battle in many ways, us LGBTQ+ folk living in Britain are in a much better position in 2018 than a few decades ago, and much of the social change that pushed the political movements was undoubtedly influenced by our pop idols sparking important conversations.
The 2010s were ushered in with a number of ‘be yourself’ anthems with everyone from P!nk to Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera releasing their own tunes dedicated - in part, at least - to our community. However, the power of a visual can elevate a song to anthem status even if said song isn’t explicitly speaking to a set group of people, and have proven to be more impactful and memorable over time.
Madonna is undoubtedly one of the greatest LGBTQ+ allies to have graced this heteronormative society. A fearless warrior who spoke proudly of the community very early on in her career at a time when it wasn’t necessarily safe to do so, yet she continued to fight for what is right in everything she did. Take this, for example: the album booklet of her 1989 album Like A Prayer contained an information leaflet on HIV and AIDS, educating every buyer to eradicate myths of it being a ‘gay disease' during the height of the epidemic.
Strike a pose
Strike a pose
Vogue (vogue, vogue)
Vogue (vogue, vogue)
Look around, everywhere you turn is heartache
It's everywhere that you go (look around)
You try everything you can to escape
The pain of life that you know (life that you know)
When all else fails and you long to be
Something better than you are today
I know a place where you can get away
It's called a dance floor
And here's what it's for, so
Come on, vogue (vogue)
Let your body move to the music (move to the music)
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue (vogue)
Let your body go with the flow (go with the flow)
You know you can do it
All you need is your own imagination
So use it, that's what it's for (that's what it's for)
Go inside for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door (open up the door)
It makes no difference if you're black or white
If you're a boy or a girl
If the music's pumping it will give you new life
You're a superstar
Yes, that's what you are, you know it
Come on, vogue (vogue)
Let your body groove to the music (groove to the music)
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue (vogue, vogue)
Let your body go with the flow (go with the flow)
You know you can do it
Beauty's where you find it
Not just where you bump and grind it
Soul is in the musical
That's where I feel so beautiful
Magical, life's a ball
So get up on the dance floor
Vogue (vogue)
Let your body move to the music (move to the music)
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue (vogue, vogue)
Let your body go with the flow (go with the flow)
You know you can do it
Vogue (vogue)
Beauty's where you find it (move to the music)
Vogue (vogue)
Beauty's where you find it (go with the flow)
Greta Garbo and Monroe
Dietrich and DiMaggio
Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean
On the cover of a magazine
Grace Kelly, Harlow, Jean
Picture of a beauty queen
Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers, dance on air
They had style, they had grace
Rita Hayworth gave good face
Lauren, Katherine, Lana too
Bette Davis, we love you
Ladies with an attitude
Fellas that were in the mood
Don't just stand there, let's get to it
Strike a pose, there's nothing to it
Vogue, vogue
Vogue, vogue (move to the music)
Vogue, vogue
Vogue, vogue (go with the flow)
Ooh, you've got to
Let your body move to the music
Ooh, you've got to just
Let your body go with the flow
Ooh, you've got to just...
Vogue (vogue)
This ballsy move wasn’t a one-off either as she continued to give the LGBTQ+ community a world stage as her career progressed to even greater heights. Her 1990 greatest hits album was promoted by two brand new singles that were accompanied by groundbreaking videos. ‘Vogue’ was a celebration of the queer dance form that originated in the New York ballroom scene, however it was ‘Justify My Love’ that truly pushed the boundaries as the X-rated visual brought queer intimacy to the forefront during a time when our community's sexuality was frankly considered terrifying to the average Joe.
Representing gay men, lesbians and bisexuality all in one video, it was later banned by MTV (hiya!) to which Madonna responded: “Why is it that people are willing to go and watch a movie about someone getting blown to bits for no reason at all, and nobody wants to see two girls kissing and two men snuggling?” Bow down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfK5QhZ9u7o
Just a few years later, the legendary Janet Jackson turned tragedy into a unifying global hit with ‘Together Again’. Written as a tribute to a friend who had died of AIDS, the transformative disco-house anthem is a joyous celebration of the lives cut too short by the condition, which (unfortunately) resonated with many queer people and their families worldwide. While the song was adopted as an LGBTQ+ anthem, its dance-heavy video was set in a futuristic African paradise, adding another dimension to its meaning.
Thanks to superstars like Janet and Madonna, female pop stars have become some of the most vocal allies of the LGBTQ+ community, yet in the '90s being an openly queer pop star was still considered taboo by the mainstream media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwZAYdHcDtU
George Michael’s outing by the media was one of the most controversial and dehumanising scandals of the ‘90s, although the late singer’s response was an epic power move that saw him regain control of his narrative.
‘Outside’ was the first song to be released after a sting operation that found him arrested for cruising and it is an unabashedly queer club anthem that makes light of going al fresco. The accompanying visual is raunchy AF as Michael unapologetically owns his sexuality while showing people of every kind getting rather close everywhere from club toilets to open elevators and rooftop swimming pools.
George Michael switched the focus from his own coming out to the beauty and freedom of sexuality in all of its forms, and for that he will always be an LGBTQ+ icon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAfyFTzZDMM
Years before it became a pop music trend to support the queer community, Christina Aguilera - aged just 21, may I add - made a very brave move to position herself as an ally with her timeless song ‘Beautiful’. While its predecessor was a Number 1 hit here in the UK, ‘Dirrty' didn’t fare so well in the US, making her decision to feature a gay couple kissing and a transgender woman getting dressed in the music video for ‘Beautiful’ so greatly respectable.
This move may not seem so monumental now - in the year of #20GAYTEEN - however Christina was the first of her generation to align herself with the LGBTQ+ community, and it was also the first time many saw themselves represented on daytime television in a positive light, or any light at all. For myself, this was the first time I ever saw a same-sex kiss, and while I didn’t know what that meant to me as a child, it sure has stayed with me.
Or capital H-I-M
Just put your paws up
'Cause you were born this way baby
My mama told me when I was young
"We are all born superstars"
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir
"There's nothing wrong with loving who you are"
She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe
So hold your head up, girl, and you'll go far
"Listen to me when I say"
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
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 (born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Right track, baby, I was born this way
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be (don't be, don't be)
Give yourself prudence and love your friends
Subway kid, rejoice your truth
In the religion of the insecure
I must be myself, respect my youth
A different lover is not a sin
Believe capital H-I-M, hey, hey, hey
I love my life, I love this record, and
Mi amore vole fe, yah (same DNA)
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
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
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, chola descent
You're Lebanese, you're Orient
Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause, baby, you were born this way
No matter gay, straight, or bi
Lesbian, transgender life
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive
No matter black, white, or beige
Chola or orient made
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to be brave
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
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, yeah
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way (born this way)
Ooh, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, hey
Same DNA, but born this way (hey, hey, hey)
Same DNA, but born this way (hey, hey, hey)
Lady Gaga was on top of the world when she released ‘Born This Way’, a song dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community that reached Number 1 in 25 countries, however it wasn’t exactly safe to make such an audacious move. Same-sex marriage was not yet legal in the UK, US, Australia or many other countries, and yet she name-checked all four letters of the LGBT and delivered a tailor-made anthem of acceptance and pride.
The song has become one of Gaga’s signature tracks and she became the first performer to say the word ‘transgender’ at the Super Bowl when she performed it during her halftime show performance in 2017. Iconic.
I must behave
I must keep fighting
Don't give it up
I want to keep us compromising (Oh-uh)
Open your arms and pray
To the truth that you're denying
Give into the game
To the sense that you've been hiding
Where are you taking me?
I can't be blamed
I want you to want me again
Is it desire?
Or is it love that I'm feeling for you?
I want desire
'Cause your love only gets me abused
Give me that rush
I want to show you what you've been missing
Am I enough?
To keep your other lovers hidden?
Where are you taking me?
I can't be blamed
I want you to want me again
Is it desire?
Or is it love that I'm feeling for you?
I want desire
'Cause your love only gets me abused
Is it desire
Or is it love that I'm feeling for you?
I want desire
I wanna see what you're willing to lose
You know that you've got me
You've locked me down
You tell me you want me
You need it now
You know that you've got me
You've locked me down
You tell me you want me now
Is it desire
Or is it love that I'm feeling for you?
I want desire
'Cause your love only gets me abused
Is it desire
Or is it love that I'm feeling for you?
I want desire
I wanna see what you're willing to lose
Oh, what you're willing to lose
We have, thankfully, seen a rise in out-and-proud pop stars in recent years, with a new generation of artists being able to begin their careers without the shackles of being forced to hide their identity. From Years & Years’ Olly Alexander and Hayley Kiyoko to Kehlani and MNEK, mainstream pop is here, queer-er and more diverse than ever before.
Mutual attraction
We both know there is something going on
There is something going on
Didn't wanna start this verse with those three little words
'Cause we both know there is something going on
But I don't wanna play it wrong
So I'm not gonna say it
No, I don't wanna say it
I don't know how you'll take it
So I'mma try not to say it
'Cause when I said it in the past
Each time it didn't last
So I'mma try not to say it
But it feels like I might say it
So I'm putting both hands over my mouth
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
I'm putting both hands over my mouth
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
No big deal explaining how I feel
I don't know why it has taken us so long
Why it's taking us so long
So much hestiation for that kinda conversation
We both know there is something going on now
But we don't wanna play it wrong
So I'm not gonna say it
So that's not to say it
I don't know how to take it
So I'mma try not to say it
'Cause when i said it in the past
Each time it didn't last
So I'mma try not to say it
But it feels like I might say it
So I'm putting both hands over my mouth
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
I'm putting both hands over my mouth
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
I'm putting both hands over my
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
I'm putting both hands over my mouth
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
Tippy two, tippy tea, tippy ta-ta-tongue
(I think I love you)
Tip of my tongue
Licky you, licky me, licky luh-luh-love
(I think I love you)
Love's on your tongue
Tippy two, tippy tea, tippy ta-ta-tongue
(I think I love you)
I should bite my tongue
Licky you, licky me, licky luh-luh-love
(I think I love you)
You might be the one
You might be the one
(I think I love ya)
No, I'm not trying to say it
No, I don't wanna say it
I'mma try not to say it
But it feels like I might say it
So I'm putting both hands over my mouth
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you
I think you're the one)
Now I'm putting both hands over my
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
I'm putting both hands over my mouth
I can only hope nothing's gonna come out, baby
But there it is on the tip of my tongue
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
Tippy two, tippy tea, tippy ta-ta-tongue
(I think I love you)
Tip of my tongue
Licky you, licky me, licky luh-luh-love
(I think I love you)
Love's on your tongue
Tippy two, tippy tea, tippy ta-ta-tongue
(I think I love you)
I should bite my tongue
Licky you, licky me, licky luh-luh-love
(I think I love you)
I think you're the one
Whether it’s exploring polyamory, proudly displaying black gay romance, navigating casual dating as a queer person, celebrating bisexuality, identifying as pansexual or even rejecting specific labels, today’s generation has an incredibly exciting array of artists who are releasing brilliant music and visuals that is relevant to the entirety of our community, not just straight audiences. The Gay Kiss is still a statement, although it's not the only one being made.
Pynk behind all of the doors, crazy
Pynk like the tongue that goes down, maybe
Pynk like the paradise found
Pynk when you're blushing inside, baby
Pynk is the truth you can't hide, maybe
Pynk like the folds of your brain, crazy
Pynk as we all go insane
So, here we are in the car
Leaving traces of us down the boulevard
I wanna fall through the stars
Getting lost in the dark is my favourite part
Let's count the ways we could make this last forever
Sunny, money, keep it funky
Touch your top and let it down
Yeah, somethin' like that, uh
Ah, somethin' like that, uh
Yeah, somethin' like that
'Cause boy it's cool
If you got blue
We got the pynk
Pynk like the lips around your, maybe
Pynk like the skin that's under, baby
Pynk where it's deepest inside, crazy
Pynk beyond forest and thighs
Pynk like the secrets you hide, maybe
Pynk like the lid of your eye, baby
Pynk is where all of it starts, crazy
Pynk like the halls of your heart
So, here we are in the car
Leaving traces of us down the boulevard
I wanna fall through the stars
Getting lost in the dark is my favourite part
Let's count the ways we could make this last forever
Sunny, money, keep it funky
Touch your top and let it down
Yeah, somethin' like that, uh
Ah, somethin' like that, ooh
Yeah, somethin' like that
'Cause boy it's cool
If you got blue
We got the pynk
Yeah, somethin' like that, uh
Ah, somethin' like that, uh
Yeah, somethin' like that
'Cause boy it's cool
If you got blue
We got the pynk
Pynk like the inside of your, baby
(We're all just pynk)
Pynk like the walls and the doors, maybe
(Deep inside, we're all just pynk)
Pynk like your fingers in my, maybe
Pynk is the truth you can't hide
Pynk like your tongue going 'round, baby
Pynk like the sun going down, maybe
Pynk like the holes in your heart, baby
Pynk is my favourite part
Also, beyond sexuality, the intersectionalities of the LGBTQ+ community are also better represented as queer artists of colour such as MNEK and Janelle Monáe have taken full ownership of their identity with their wonderful releases 'Tongue' and 'Pynk'. Full equality will never be achieved until the minorities within our community are better represented and respected, which seems to finally be happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wVB6pfWwnE
It’s important and incredibly exciting to watch as younger acts refuse to dilute their identity for the sake of a wider appeal. Instead we are seeing them break down barriers and forcing the industry to make room as their talent demands attention, especially when wrapped up in its queer glory. As a result, the LGBTQ+ anthems that paved the way for better equality are now being joined by modern-day tunes that are so bold and fearless that they are immediately being put in the same category as the greats.
I need a drink
Whiskey ain't my thing
But shit is all good
I can handle things
Like I wish that you would
You've been out of reach, could you explain
I think that you should
What you been up to?
Whose been loving you good?
I'm just on the floor, I'm like a model
Been looking through the texts and all the photos
But don't you worry I can handle it
No, don't you worry I can handle it
If you let him touch ya, touch ya
Touch ya, touch ya, touch ya, touch ya (Yeah)
The way I used to, used to, used to, used to, used to, used to (Yeah)
Did you take him to the pier in Santa Monica
Forget to bring a jacket, wrapped up in him 'cause you wanted to
I'm just curious, is it serious?
I'm just curious, is it serious?
Calling me up so late at night
Are we just friends?
You say you wanted me, but you're sleeping with him
You think of me, I'm what you see
When you look at the sky
I don't believe you
You ain't been loving me right
I'm just on the floor, I'm like a model
Been looking through the texts and all the photos
But don't you worry I can handle it
No, don't you worry I can handle it
If you let him touch ya, touch ya
Touch ya, touch ya, touch ya, touch ya (Yeah)
The way I used to, used to, used to, used to, used to, used to (Yeah)
Did you take him to the pier in Santa Monica
Forget to bring a jacket, wrapped up in him 'cause you wanted to
I'm just curious, is it serious?
If you let him touch ya, touch ya
Touch ya, touch ya, touch ya, touch ya (Yeah)
The way I used to, used to, used to, used to, used to, used to (Yeah)
Did you take him to the pier in Santa Monica
Forget to bring a jacket, wrapped up in him 'cause you wanted to
I'm just curious, is it serious?
I'm just on the floor, I'm like a model
Been looking through the texts and all the photos
But don't you worry I can handle it
No, don't you worry I can handle it
If you let him, if you let him
If you let him touch ya, touch ya
Touch ya, touch ya, touch ya, touch ya (Yeah)
The way I used to, used to, used to, used to, used to, used to (Yeah)
Did you take him to the pier in Santa Monica
Forget to bring a jacket, wrapped up in him 'cause you wanted to
I'm just curious, is it serious?
I'm just curious, is it serious?
Music - particularly pop - and the magic of music video spectacles have changed the lives of the LGBTQ+ community for decades as we’ve found solace, comfort and strength in certain moments. It will continue to do so until the end of time, yet with the current musical landscape there is promise that our anthems will be less infrequent and perhaps just a weekly occurrence.
A new addition to the #20GAYTEEN playlist every New Music Friday? Yes please, the list never needs to end.
Words: Ross McNeilage