Out and Proud: Music for Pride Month

To say there’s been a lot going on this month would be an understatement. However, I can’t let June end without sharing some of my favorite songs by some amazing LGBTQ+ artists.


Against Me! – “True Trans Soul Rebel”

Back when I was in high school, and first discovering new music on my own (not just via Pandora stations), a friend recommended that I listen to Against Me! The first album of theirs that I listened to was New Wave, which I borrowed from the library (yes, on CD). I quickly became a fan, but didn’t get to see them live until my first semester of college. Since then, I’ve gotten to see them play 5 of their albums in full live, including Transgeder Dysphoria Blues live twice. I highly recommend checking out Against Me! if you haven’t yet, as well as Laura Jane Grace’s solo music and book.


Shea Diamond – “I am Her”

When looking for new music recently, I came across Shea Diamond. Her debut EP Seen It All was released in 2018, and she has since released 2 additional singles. The lead single from the EP, “I Am Her,” is what sparked her career. She wrote the song while incarcerated for armed robbery, which was committed in a desperate attempt to fund her transition. After her 2009 release at the end of her 10 year sentence, Diamond moved to New York City and dedicated her life to transgender acitivism. Producer Justin Tranter saw a video of Diamond performing her song “I Am Her” at a Trans Lives Matter event, and flew her out to LA to record her EP. 


LP – “Free to Love”

In 2017, I went to Radio 104.5 (now Alt 104.5)’s Winter Jawn, where I spent all day running back and forth between the two stages. From there, I discovered the singer-songwriter LP, who I instantly fell in love with. Before launching a singing career of her own, LP was a professional songwriter, writing hits for artists such as Rihanna, Cher, and the Backstreet Boys. LP is currently engaged to fellow musician Lauren Ruth Ward. 


Insignificant Other – “real date”

Although Insignificant Other’s debut album I’m So Glad I Feel This Way About You came out last year, it wasn’t until lockdown started that I listened to the full album. And let me tell you, I was missing out! They were scheduled to play a tour up north with Harmony Woods, and a few dates of the Southern-most dates on Origami Angel’s tour with Mover Shaker, and are currently writing LP2, so hopefully we hear more from them soon!


girl in red – “girls”

Another recent discovery of mine is girl in red, a 21 year old artist from Norway, who writes, records, and produces everything in her bedroom. girl in red has toured both the US and Europe since her start in 2017. She was scheduled to appear at Mo Pop, Reading and Leeds, and Coachella this year, which have all been cancelled or postponed 🙁


Ezra Furman – “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend”

If Ezra Furman’s music sounds familiar, it might be because 19 of Furman’s songs were featured in the first two seasons of the Netflix series Sex Education. Furman uses both he/him and she/her pronouns, and came out as bisexual in a 2015 Guardian op-ed. Furman’s European tour, originally scheduled for May, was rescheduled to November and December of this year.


Cover photo of Laura Jane Grace licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Need more music for Pride Month? Check out this playlist I made! You can also check out this list of 100+ LGBT artists from r/indieheads.

Any tunes I forgot? Let me know in the comments, as I’ll be updating the playlist with new songs as they come to my attention!

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