LGBT Pride Songs & Films

The Huffington Post had two articles in their Gay Voices section; the first was for songs and the other one was for films. As usual the list was heavily weighted in favor of the Ls & Gs. These are the songs and movies that I think pertain to trans.

LGBT Pride Songs: 34 Gay, Transgender, Lesbian And Bisexual Anthems 2013
The Huffington Post
By Christopher Rudolph
Posted: 06/25/2013

'I'm Coming Out,' Diana Ross (1980)
Nile Rodgers, who also produced smash hits for David Bowie and Madonna among other artists, is said to have come up with the idea for the song after noticing three different drag queens dressed as Diana Ross at a New York club.

'Believe,' Cher (1999)
Named by Billboard magazine as "the best darn thing that Cher has recorded in years," the song -- which sold over 10 million copies worldwide -- breathed new life into the diva's music career, re-inventing her as a disco queen and making her the only recording artist to hit No. 1 on the pop charts

'Over The Rainbow,' Judy Garland (1939)
It's shocking to think now, but Judy Garland's signature tune was initially deleted from "The Wizard of Oz" because MGM executives thought it slowed down the action of the film. Ranked by the American Film Institute as the "greatest movie song of all time," it has since been recorded by Eva Cassidy, Patti LaBelle, Kylie Minogue, Matthew Morrison and others.

'Supermodel (You Better Work)' - RuPaul
The 1992 single that shot RuPaul to stardom. A song sung by a drag queen, about supermodels and "sashaying" was an unexpected hit in the early 90s.

'I Am What I Am' From 'La Cage Aux Folles,' Gloria Gaynor (1983)
Arguably the best-known song from the 1983 musical "La Cage aux Folles," "I Am What I Am" didn't quite repeat the chart success of "I Will Survive" for Gaynor, but nonetheless went on to become the second of her singles to achieve gay anthem status.

'I Want To Break Free,' Queen (1984)
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury remains an LGBT icon for many reasons -- as one of rock music's first performers to not only acknowledge his bisexuality, but also embrace it in his flamboyant stage presence. Mercury's openness was certainly envelope-pushing in the world of 1970s and '80s arena rock, and it only seemed to further his band's popularity among the masses.

The video for the song, which featured Freddie and other band members in full drag, was considered controversial in the U.S. and initially banned by MTV.

The other article was

LGBT Pride Films 2013: The Best Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual And Transgender Movies To Celebrate
The Huffington Post
By Christopher Rudolph
Posted: 06/27/2013

'Paris Is Burning'
Shot in the mid-to-late 1980s, this 1990 documentary chronicles the "Golden Age" of ball culture of New York City, and the black, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it.

The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert'
This 1994 comedy-drama follows two drag queens and a trans woman as they travel across the Australian Outback in a tour bus that they have dubbed "Priscilla."

'Ma Vie En Rose'
This 1997 Belgian film tells the story of Ludovic, a child who, though born male, believes she is a girl on the inside, and acts as such. The family initially humors her identity, believing it's a phase, but increasingly struggles with Lodovic's gender-nonconformity in an unaccepting society.

'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'
The eccentric 1975 rock musical stars Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the self-proclaimed "Sweet Transvestite" from Transsexual, Transylvania. "Rocky Horror" is the longest-running theatrical release in film history, so, if you haven't seen it, you must prepare to do the Time Warp. If you have seen it, prepare to do the Time Warp again.

'To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar'
Starring Wesley Snypes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo as three New York drag queens stranded in a small conservative town, this campy 1995 comedy is a lesson in how to spread fabulousness.

'Transamerica'
A transgender woman (played by Felicity Huffman) takes her long-lost son on a road-trip across America in this portrayal of a personal journey toward self-acceptance.

'Hedwig And the Angry Inch'
This 2001 American musical comedy-drama film paints a portrait of a transgender punk rock girl from East Berlin who tours the U.S. with her rock band as she tells her life story.

'The Birdcage'
This 1996 comedy features Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple who agree to pretend to be straight so that their son can introduce them to his fiancé's conservative parents.

'Flawless'
Phillip Seymour Hoffman stars as a drag queen and Robert De Niro as the tough cop in this 90s critically acclaimed film.

I think he should have definitely have included Lola and he should have included such movies as “Different for Girls”, “My Life in Pink”, “The Crying Game” and “Soldier's Girl” and also one of my favorites “The World According to Garp.” But what do expect from a young gay man, he probably never heard of any of these.

The lists remind me of a documentary in 2006 that I attended at the University of Hartford called “Further Off the Straight and Narrow: A Decade of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Visibility, 1995-2005” and all the associate professor talked about in her documentary was gays and lesbians. When my friends and I called her to task about not included any trans TV shows, her reply was that she hadn’t found any shows that included trans-people. My friends and I rattled off a half a dozen shows and she stood there dumb-foundered. I commented that if I was grading her that I would have giving her an F and send it back to her to do more research (I just Goolged her and found out that she changed the name of her video to just Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals… typical of gays and lesbians to write out trans-history).

What are your favorite songs and movies?