Pride Parade Playlist

1. Lil Nas X - SUN GOES DOWN

On the last day of Pride Month in 2019, Lil Nas X came out as gay, and he's been unapologetically expressing his pride ever since. In March of this year, Nas X released the controversial video for "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)", along with this note to his teenage self:

Last month, Lil Nas X released "SUN GOES DOWN", the third single off of his debut album MONTERO. According to Genius, in it, he "portrays a younger self conflicted by his complexion and homosexuality, and dealing with loneliness... While the chorus recalls past suicidal thoughts, the rest of the song carries a strong message of hope, as the sole verse ends with Nas X finding the outlet thanks to his 2019 coming-out."

Here's a great article about the meaning and impact of Lil Nas X's music:

2. Halsey - Bad At Love

In this song, bisexual queen Halsey reminisces about her failed relationships with both men and women. I remember hearing these lyrics for the first time and feeling that little jolt of surprise at the beginning of the second verse:

Got a girl with California eyes

And I thought that she could really be the one this time

Accepting the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist in 2018, Halsey said, “I’m a young, bisexual woman, and I’ve spent a large part of my life trying to validate myself—to my friends, to my family, to myself—trying to prove that who I love and how I feel is not a phase; it’s not part of some confusion that’s going to change or could be manipulated. So I tried really hard to find the courage this year to write female pronouns into my music.”

3. Lady Gaga - Born This Way

Lady Gaga is an LGBTQIA+ icon, and her 2011 hit "Born This Way" is all about self-love. Celebrating ten years since the song was released, last month the city of West Hollywood officially named May 23 Born This Way Day and revealed a Gaga-inspired mural in honor of Pride.

"Born This Way, my song and album, were inspired by Carl Bean, a gay black religious activist who preached, sung and wrote about being 'Born This Way,'" Gaga posted on social media. "Thank you for decades of relentless love, bravery, and a reason to sing. So we can all feel joy, because we deserve joy. Because we deserve the right to inspire tolerance, acceptance, and freedom for all."

4. Sam Smith - HIM

Sam Smith came out as gay in 2014, after writing an album about a man who did not love him back. In this emotional song, Smith tells the story of a boy in Mississippi coming out to his father and explores the conflict between sexuality and religion.

The singer came out as non-binary in 2019 and later changed their pronouns to they/them, writing, "after a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out..."

5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Same Love feat. Mary Lambert

Macklemore's "Same Love" was the first song that explicitly promoted same-sex marriage to hit the Top 40 in the United States.

“Initially, I tried writing from the perspective of a gay, bullied kid, but after getting some feedback, I felt it wasn’t my story to tell,” Macklemore, who is straight, wrote of the song. “What I do know, and where I wrote from, is my own perspective growing up in a culture where ‘that’s gay’ was commonplace, with a huge stigma on those who identified and were perceived as gay.”

Attributing influence to his four “hella gay” uncles, the rapper recalled, “I think that looking at the hip-hop community, and holding myself accountable in the hip-hop community, was what I cared about. That’s my community; that’s who I see to be oppressing gay people... Homophobia is still rampant in the hip-hop community and it just gets the co-sign.”

6. Hayley Kiyoko - Chance

In honor of Pride Month, Hayley Kiyoko released her new song "Chance" this week, telling fans, "I’m always starved for hopeful queer stories onscreen, and I really wanted to direct a narrative that focused on the happier ‘honeymoon’ phase of a relationship, to show what can happen if we take a chance on ourselves and have that love reciprocated."

7. Logic - 1-800-273-8255 ft. Alessia Cara, Khalid

In this moving song, Logic offers his support to LGBTQ youth and provides a valuable resource for those contemplating self-harm; the song's title, "1-800-273-8255", is the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

According to the CDC, LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. Among youth who identify as sexual minorities, the likelihood of death by suicide is estimated to be two to seven times greater than the likelihood of death by suicide among heterosexual youth.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports that the disparate rate of suicide attempts between LGBTQ youth and their peers is "staggering," adding that these findings should "not be interpreted to suggest that LGBTQ youth are inherently prone to suicide because of their sexual orientation or gender identity." Rather, "LGBTQ youth are at a higher risk of suicide because of increased experiences of internalized stigma, discrimination, violence, and rejection from others."

8. Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl

Katy Perry tasting another girl's cherry chapstick was peak bi-curiosity in 2008.

While accepting the National Equality Award at the 2017 Human Rights Campaign Gala, Perry revealed, "When I was growing up, homosexuality was synonymous with the word 'abomination' and 'hell'. So most of my unconscious adolescence, I prayed the gay away at my Jesus camps. " She said, "I stand here as real evidence for all, that no matter where you came from, it is about where you are going—that real change, real evolution and real perception shift can happen, if we open our minds and soften our hearts.”

(Check Katy out in T-Swift's video below, as well!)

9. Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down

You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace

And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate

'Cause shade never made anybody less gay!

In June of 2019, Taylor Swift released "You Need to Calm Down," a fun, Pride-positive bop condemning bigotry and hate. The song's colorful music video stars prominent members of the LGBTQIA+ community and ends with a call for equality and petition for Swift's fans to sign.

10. Ezra Furman - I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend

In April of this year, singer Ezra Furman came out as a trans woman and announced that she's a proud mom!

She wrote, "[O]ne problem with being trans is that we have so few visions of what it can look like to have an adult life, to grow up and be happy and not die young. When our baby was born I had approximately zero examples that I had seen of trans women raising children. So here’s one for anyone who wants to see one. I’m a trans woman and a mom. This is possible. I never dreamed it was possible to be happy and self-realized and trans and uncloseted, and also become a parent. But it is and I am doing it. Because trans people deserve to pursue the lives we want, on our terms."

This video, released in 2019, shows Furman rejecting traditional notions of gender and sexuality. "In the song, I'm asking to be your girlfriend in an old-fashioned, uncomplicated way, even though I don't look the part of a cisgender girlfriend and don't fit the old-fashioned dream," Furman said, adding, "And that's part of where the yearning in the song comes from."

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed these songs, click the ❤. And check out my other stories and playlists:

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