Singer Cyndi Lauper reflects on her gay
advocacy, saying that she wanted to help her gay fans.
Lauper, whose Broadway musical Kinky
Boots recently won six Tony Awards, told Michigan gay weekly
Pride
Source that she was “really touched” to “have the [theater]
community welcome me in like that.”
The 59-year-old Lauper also explained
how she became involved in advocating for gay rights.
“Well, I always saw people being
discriminated against – my friends and people that I work with. At
first, I was going to just take refuge and sing in the clubs at
night. I thought, 'Hey, that's a lot of fun.' But when I couldn't
take the conservative straight community, I would run home kind of,
and then I started seeing a lot of disparity going on, things that
were wrong. I just felt like, 'These are my fans. You gotta help
them have more love for themselves.' As they were taking civil
rights away, I thought, 'Somebody better say something. And in two
seconds, I will.' And I did.”
“I had seen Harvey Fierstein speak
and he said something once, that happy people don't self-destruct -
and I thought, 'That's right.' That's all you want. People are
different, but as long as they're all happy, healthy-minded people
then we're all doing good, and how can I kind of change the image for
them?”
“And then one thing led to another.
First it was just some T-shirts. It was talking at Cher's concert.
It was doing stuff with [my sister] Ellen for PFLAG. One thing led
to another till I saw more opportunities.”
“I think everybody coming from all
sides breaks down the walls a little bit. Things are changing. You
have to just get your foot in the door so it doesn't close, and then
keep widening that door till it opens.”