ALGBTICAL

The San Francisco folk rocker, Matt Nathanson, comes out with Modern Love to promote marriage equality. Matt Nathanson, the folk rock singer-songwriter who went platinum with his song "Come On Get Higher" is back with "Modern Love," a new video supporting marriage equality that has already had nearly 200,000 views in just a week. "People deserve to be free to love who they choose, without prejudice," says Nathanson, who toured with Kelly Clarkson earlier this year. "The right to marry is an extension of this love. Until the time comes when this is no longer an issue in our culture, modern love will never be enough."

Chely Wright is an American country music artist and gay rights activist and is the first country music star to come out as openly gay.

On the strength of her debut album in 1994, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) named her Top New Female Vocalist in 1995. Wright's first Top 40 country hit came in 1997 with "Shut Up and Drive". Two years later, her fourth album yielded her first number one single, the title track, "Single White Female". Overall, Wright has released seven studio albums on various labels, and has charted more than fifteen singles on the country charts. As of May 2010, Wright's previous eight albums had sold over 1,000,000 copies in the United States.

In May 2010, Wright became the first major country music performer to publicly come out as gay. In television appearances and an autobiography, she cited among her reasons for publicizing her homosexuality a concern with bullying and hate crimes toward gays, particularly gay teenagers, and the damage to her life caused by "lying and hiding".

As a songwriter she has written songs that have been recorded by Brad Paisley, Richard Marx, Indigo Girls, Mindy Smith and Clay Walker, among them Walker's top ten hit, "I Can't Sleep" that won her a BMI award. On May 4, 2010, Wright released both her memoir of being a closeted lesbian, Like Me, and her first album of new songs since 2005, Lifted Off the Ground.

In 2010, Chely Wright published a book entitled, Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer, in which she candidly discusses being a lesbian.

On August 20, 2011, Chely Wright married her partner Lauren Blitzer in a private ceremony on a country estate in Connecticut. Wright and Blitzer were married by both a rabbi and a reverend.

A documentary film, entitled Wish Me Away, about Wright's extended coming out, was released in 2011.

OUT MUSIC AWARDS
Honoring Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge, Chely Wright

November 20, 2010

Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge and Chely Wright were among the artists honored during the 20th annual LGBT Academy of Recording Arts' (LARA) 2010 OUTMUSIC Awards. The annual show is held each year in the heart of Times Square at Town Hall NYC on December 1, also World AIDS Day.

Singer and gay ally Cyndi Lauper received the OUTMUSIC Icon Award, openly lesbian rocker Etheridge received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and country music star Wright, who came out gay in 2010, will be honored with the Vanguard Award, which will be presented by country singer-actress Dolly Parton via video.

The event was hosted by comedians Julie Goldman and Jonny McGovern (the Gay Pimp), stars of Logo's The Big Gay Sketch Show. Comedian Tammy Peay, known as Ms Peay, co-hosted the event. And Broadway legend Carol Channing and musical great Melba Moore put in special appearances.

The OUTMUSIC Awards celebrates, honors and documents the contributions of openly gay recording artists and performers.

We are a gentle angry people, and we are singing, singing for our lives. We are a justice seeking people, and we are singing, singing for our lives. We are young and old together, and we are singing, singing for our lives. We are a land of many colors, and we are singing, singing for our lives. We are gay and straight together, And we are singing, singing for our lives. We are a gentle, loving people, And we are singing, singing for our lives. I Want to be Free to be Me By Lucie Blue Tremblay So many people in the world, alone in their own way, tired of hiding, silence is dying. I want you to know who I really am, I want to be free to be me with you, and if you love me as much as I love you, then you`ll love me even if I`m not like you. So many people are so afraid, there`s so much to understand, so I take a chance now, it`s important to me that I tell you, so please sit down. I`m not saying we should agree on everything,

I am What I am From La Cage Aux Folles I am what I am, I don`t need praise, I don`t need pity, I bang my own drum, Some call it noise, I call it pretty. And so what if I love each bauble and each bangle, Why not try to see things from a different angle? Your life is a sham 'till you can shout out, "I am what I am!" I am what I am, and what I am needs no excuses. I deal my own deck, sometimes the ace, sometimes the deuces. And there's no return and no deposit, so it's time to open up your closet! Life's not worth a damn, 'till you can say, "Hey, world, "I am what I am!"

That gays are marching on Glory, glory I`m a lesbian Glory, glory I`m a gay man Glory, glory I`m a homosexual I am truth marching on In our homes and on street corners we have been condemned to die We were murdered in the Holocaust by Hitler and his lies AIDS is killing all our people whom the government denies But gays are marching on In the beauty of our loving we have let ourselves be free We will heal our wounds through justice for all humanity We will deny not our freedom or our sexuality We will keep marching on

Innocence Maintained (Excerpt)
By Jewel

We've made houses for hatred. It's time we made a place where people's souls may be seen and made safe.
Be careful with each other. These fragile flames.
For innocence can't be lost. It just needs to be maintained.
I want to live bravely and love without fear.
I want always to feel the wings of grace near.

We Shall Be Free
By Garth Brooks

When the last child cries for a crust of bread,
When the last man dies just for words that he's said,
When there's shelter over the poorest head,
Then we shall be free

When we're free to love anyone we choose,
When this world's big enough for all different views,
When we all can worship from our own kind of pews,
Then we shall be free

When the last thing we see is the color of skin,
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within,
When the skies above are clear again,
Then we shall be free

When money talks for the very last time,
And nobody walks a step behind,
When there's only one race and that's mankind,
Then we shall be free