The 100 Greatest LGBTQ+ Anthems of All Time

"Born This Way" is a ripoff of "Express Yourself" and a desperate attempt by The Ga to pander to gays. "Look at me! I'm signing a song about you gays! Don't you love me for it? Make lots of sales for me, okay?"

It doesn't deserve to be on the list at all.

"Firework?"

Barf-O-Rama

"Singing," that is. I'll "Oh, dear" myself.

Of course a straight woman would top the list.

I don’t love born this way but I would t call it pandering. More than any artist except maybe Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga writes for a gay audience first.

I agree with R5.

Born This Way is probably my least favorite of Gaga's big hits, but I think she genuinely meant every lyric in that song. And the fact she put it out at the peak of her fame? It was ballsy as fuck.

Love Cher, love her. And Cher loves the gays. And I love If I Could Turn Back Time, but it's no more a gay anthem than Tina Turner's The Best.

R7 the video was hella hella hella hella gay

[quote]28 George Michael, “Freedom! ’90” (1990) While it was widely speculated that this was his version of coming out (“I think it’s time I told you so / there’s something deep inside of me / there’s someone else I’ve got to be”), Michael explained that the song was actually about liberating himself from his former image with the band Wham!. Nearly a decade later, Michael came out publicly. “Freedom” reached No. 8 on the Hot 100 in December 1990.

What absolutely shite journalism! NO ONE EVER speculated that line was about him being gay - everyone knew it was about his transition from boy band pop star to serious musician!

And of course Outside is far more appropriate "LGBTQ" anthem, an amazing pop song, a defiant and funny fuck you to the attempted public shaming of him after the cottaging incident.

And Shania Twain isn't there with her tranny anthem Man! (I Feel Like A Woman)

Did " Pop You in the Pooper" make the cut?

Random opinion here: One song that, according to me, should be some sort of gay anthem is "Nobody Wants to be Lonely" by Ricky Martin featuring Christina Aguilera.

That song is definitely a love statement from one man to another. Of course, back in 2001 there was no way Ricky would've made it into a duet with another dude.

Fuck Gaga. No way any straight person should be listed as the top gay pride song ever.

Unless she is Madonna

I am sure Madonna takes exception with "Vogue" being all the way down at No. 8.

CUNNNNNT

#7!!!’

[quote] And Cher loves the gays.

Not really.

Nonsensical list.

quite laughable, prissy, woke, ridiculous list.

A mostly arcane and irrelevant list seemingly compiled by heterosexual academics. “Nonbinary” songs? Ridiculous.

Where are the asexual songs? There’s always room for Lawrence Welk.

Was the white professor who coined “Latinx” involved in this? It has the same forced “authenticity” and air of bullshit.

Here's my top 10 list of LGBTQ+ Anthems I made up on the spot.

1. Memory by Elaine Paige

2. Downtown by Petula Clark

3. Theme from Sex And The City by the person who wrote the theme to Sex And The City

4. Defying Gravity by Cynthia Erivo

5. Vibeology by Paula Abdul

6. Jesus Take The Wheel by Carrie Underwood

7. Heartbreaker by Dionne Warwick

8. Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) by Spiller & Sophie Ellis Bextor

9. Unbreak My Heart (Frankie Knuckles remix) by Toni Braxton

10. Deeper And Deeper by Madonna

girls, I just wanna dance

Cue that queue

[quote] 5. Vibeology by Paula Abdul

🙄

Lists are the lowest form of journalism.

Strangers in the night…Frank Sinatra

Gay anthem when I was shagging bello ragazzi.

R6 There was nothing ballsy about Gaga recording "Born This Way."

From the start, her fan base was largely gay, so it was a given her "I love the gays!" song would be a monster hit.

R13 But remember when I told you I was bisexual so I could sell more records? It worked! And now I'm with a guy. Convenient, huh?

I'd have included "Young Guns" by Wham. Even when it came out back in '83, I thought it was a helluva gay song and video.

"I remember when we had such fun and everything was fine

I remember when we used to have a good time, partners in crime

Tell me that's all in the past and I will gladly walk away

Tell me that you're happy now, turning my back, nothing to say."

Well, [bold]THAT[/bold] was a whole lot of bullshit.

A little heavy on the TQIA+. More erasure of the L&G.

Any Liza tunes on that list ?

Nothing geigh or lesbetarian. Certainly no anthems.

[quote] Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” TOPS them all

Bullshit.

Never put Britney above Kate Ryan, she actually performs at pride festivals.

what is a kateryan?

[quote][R6] There was nothing ballsy about Gaga recording "Born This Way." From the start, her fan base was largely gay, so it was a given her "I love the gays!" song would be a monster hit.

Absolutely.

Madonna's Vogue was far more radical - a celebration of gay life with a video full of unapologetic and overtly gay men at a time when "queer culture" wasn't mainstream and a lot of huge selling gay artists (George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Michael Stipe) were wither ambiguous or in a glass closet.

I think that Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" should be No. 1, because it was the first and is STILL the best. And because the guy who co-wrote it and sang it was actually, you know, GAY.

I think Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out" should top the list. It was a rather progressive song for 1980, and still as popular today as it was 45 years ago.

[quote]And Cher loves the gays.

[quote]Not really.

[quote]—Chaz

Chaz Bono is TRANS and is in no way now, nor ever was at any time GAY....or at least that's what we're told to BELIEVE.

Given the current state of public opinion it’s pretty clear that Born this Way was a lot braver than we might have believed at the time

Pink had a number one with Raise Your Glass, then Katy Perry had a number one with Firework in December 2010.

Both were self empowerment WE LOVE YOU anthems with explicit references of support for gay people.

By this point Glee was a huge success, and Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer were winning Golden Globes. Teenage Dream, refashioned as a school boy romance, was a huge hit.

2 months later Gaga had a number one with Born This Way.

Pish. Gloria Gaynor should have another one that list: "I Am What I Am."

What is an " LGBTQ+ Anthem"?

"Smalltown Boy" should have been top 10.

[quote] Chaz Bono is TRANS and is in no way now, nor ever was at any time GAY....or at least that's what we're told to BELIEVE.

When Chaz first came out as a lesbian, Cher lost her shit. Republican Sony was far more understanding.

This lionization of Cher as some gay angel is and has always been bullshit. She likes homo cash and attention; that’s it,

Cher first and foremost was, is and always will be a prostitute.

Club Tropicana by Wham should be top of this list.

I’m glad that Pansy Division made the list. I think a Judas Priest song should be on there somewhere, speaking of punk/metal fags like me. Breaking the Law, Jawbreaker, Before the Dawn, Raw Deal (which literally mentions Fire Island).

I'm old, and the makers of this list are not. A lot of missed songs imho. for instance, 'Strangers in the night' yeah, that Sinatra song -was always rumored to be a coded gay song about two men cruising after dark. At least they added a few oldies to the list.

I've always liked "Ricky, Don't Lose That Number"

This list is shit

R39 There's nothing "brave" about Gaga's song. It was a different time when the song was released. It was about as safe as could be.

Jesus Take the Wheel? What drugs are you on?

R51, did you read the line "Here's my top 10 list of LGBTQ+ Anthems I made up on the spot"?

I have to agree with Sylvester’s “ Mighty Real”. I was 12 when it came out, and it blew my mind at a time when I was becoming acutely aware of my sexuality.

My family was deeply homophobic, and I lived in a place where any non- conformity was stamped on. I had no way of expressing myself and was constantly on my guard not to give myself away.

This beautiful, flamboyant, confident queen was like a secret weapon for me. The song still gives me a feeling of freedom.

For Gloria Gaynor's "I am What I Am" to have been left off the list is criminal.

Another (earlier) Gloria Gaynor song that was pretty epic and might belong on this list, is "I Will Survive."

"I Will Survive" is on the list at #11 R55. Obviously it's a fantastic song.

However, "I Am What I Am" is from La Cage aux Folles. It was written by an openly gay man - Jerry Herman - about gay men. It was written in the early eighties (Gaynor released it in 1983) at the onset of the AIDS epidemic.

A lot of the songs on this list posing as LGBT anthems are very dubious at best - but "I Am What I Am" is really a [bold]PROPER[/bold] gay anthem.

It must be remembered that lists like this Billboard list and any of the trolling Rolling Stone lists are specifically designed to get clicks and crafted in the hope that a social media war will break out and they will get even more clicks.

I don't know how I screwed that up. Sorry. Nothing against "I Am What I Am"; I just fumbled and missed "I Will Survive" on the list.

Jerry Herman gave it to us.

I think it would be better, if they're doing this for Pride month, to do a top 100 of songs by actual lesbians and gay men. Call me old fashioned.

Here's an oddball choice: "Last Christmas" which is a very clearly gay, gendered man-to-man song for George Michael.

"A Face on a lover with a fire in his heart/a man undercover but you tore me apart"

Somebody needs to turn in their gay card. Or at least do some fucking research.

Regarding #45 "It's Not Right But It's Okay (Thunderpuss Mix)" the author writes: "And if there’s even a shred of doubt left of its enduring place in the queer canon, just look to Sasha Velour’s winning lip sync performance of the song on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 9, which officially earned her the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar nearly two decades after Houston’s revered remix topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart."

Um, bitch, that was "So Emotional."

That's a big OH DEAR R61! Mostly likely none of the people who compiled this list are even LGBT.

This was created in less than an hour but two woke queers and AI. Neither of the queers has ever sucked a cock.

Some of the people missing just off the stop of my head:

Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side should be there, Make Up should be there

Boy George - No Clause 28 should be in there, unless it's too parochial / British for Billboard

Village People - any of their early work like Fire Island, San Francisco (You Got Me) etc

Holly Johnson - Legendary Children

Magnetic Fields - When My Boy Walks Down The Street

John Grant, Little Richard, The B-52's, Klaus Nomi...the list of people not on this list is exhausting.

Anthems R64. Not barely known songs.

Barely known by whom?

People that think the world didn't exist before they were born?

Barely known by most R66. Walk on the Wild Side is a famous song but nothing really to do with LGBT people and the rest are unknown songs R66.

Village People - yes but would need to be YMCA and the man who owns the band name and song has made it clear that it's not a gay song and that he's a homophobe. Also - Trump claimed it.

Holly Johnson - it should be Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Relax. That's a gay anthem.

Magnetic Fields - never heard of them.

Boy George/Culture Club - can't think of anything he/they did which would qualify as a gay anthem.

Look I'm sorry but an LGBT anthem means a well known and well loved song which represents LGBT people.

Boy George doesn't feature on the list because he is a convicted sex offender.

Frankie's Relax is a ridiculously low 35 on the list. The song is scandalous, infamous and timeless, and actually performed by gay men. The Power Of Love is probably better known than Relax in the UK, on account of it being a Christmas number one and on all the festive playlists.

Well as the list includes such well known smash hits as these R65 I don't see what's wrong with my suggestions. Maybe you can tell us what makes these anthems then, all from the Billboard list.

Le Tigre, “Keep on Livin’” (2001)

Gloria Trevi, “Todos Me Miran” (2006)

Tegan and Sara, “Closer” (2013)

Bikini Kill, “Rebel Girl” (1993)

Shamir, “On the Regular” (2014)

Alaska y Dinarama, “A Quién Le Importa” (1986)

Ezra Furman, “Body Was Made” (2015)

Zebra Katz (feat. Njena Reddd Foxxx), “Ima Read” (2012)

etc, etc...

It's Raining Men is only #91. Given the songs even ten places higher, that's ridiculously low placement.

Same for We Are Family at #79, Dancing Queen at #76

Also, there was a time when you couldn't go to a Sunday Tea without hearing Wonderwall, Sky High, and Let Me Love You Tonight.

R69 - I totally agree with you. Absolutely none of those songs you've listed at R69 should even be on the list.

It's a stupid list made up of mostly filler garbage. Someone above already pointed out the error with them naming the wrong Whitney Houston song.

Frankly - there aren't really 100 gay anthems to even put on a list. A list of 20 would be more realistic.

Remember that this Billboard list is designed to get us arguing about it. It's probably made by straight people.

I’m glad “Go West” by the Pet Shop Boys made the list finally (at #98), but that one is in my top 5 for sure.

“Go West” was everywhere in the nineties. It should definitely be on the list R72.