Cyndi Lauper Fights for LGBT Rights

Throughout her career, Cyndi Lauper has supported lesbian and gay rights. When Lauper's sister, Ellen, came out as a lesbian, Cyndi considered her to be a true role model. Ellen worked with several charities for the gay community and also worked in a clinic helping people suffering from AIDS. Inspired by her sister's work, Cyndi Lauper began doing some of her own. Lauper began performing at gay pride events as a featured artist in places around the world. In 1994 she even performed in New York City at the closing ceremonies for the fourth annual Gay Games, the world's largest sporting and cultural event organized by and specifically for LGBT athletes, artists, and musicians.

In June of 2007, Lauper headlined the True Colors Tour for Human Rights through the United States and Canada. Logo, the MTV Networks channel targeting gay audiences, sponsored the tour. Information concerning gay rights was provided to fans who attended, as well as purple wristbands with the slogan "Erase Hate" from The Matthew Shepard Foundation. A dollar from every ticket sold was given to the Human Rights Campaign, a national civil rights organization which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Recently Cyndi Lauper launched the Give a Damn campaign through her True Colors Fund. The new campaign is meant to encourage everyone of ANY sexuality to get informed about and involved with LGBT issues and causes. The Give a Damn website provides lots of useful information intended to engage, surprise, and move any reader. There is also information on a bunch of ways to get involved and show your support.

Now, Lauper is taking the next step in her fight for equality. In 2011, Lauper is planning to open a shelter for homeless LGBT youths in Harlem. The shelter, which will be called the True Colors Residence, will be a safe place for LGBT youths between the ages of 18 to 24 who need a place to stay while they get back on their feet. The $11 million worth of funding for the six-story building that will contain 30 studio apartments, communal space, a library and a computer room, will come from Lauper's True Colors Fund, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development and some additional sources. In mainstream shelters already available to the homeless, many LGBT youth face violence. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reports that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 homeless youths in New York City, and, of that number, roughly 3,000 to 8,000 of them identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Lauper has said that this is one of the reasons she feels a LGBT shelter is necessary.

When asked what inspired her to open the True Colors Residence, Lauper responded that, "Kids are coming out in greater numbers as they see themselves accepted and represented on TV and in movies, but they’re still being kicked out of their homes or running away and living on the streets. We need to make sure we’re taking care of them. This is the next generation of the LGBT community."


Visit Cyndi Lauper's websites to learn more about her cause.

Give a Damn

True Colors Fund






EDIT:

Immediately after finishing this post, my mom called me into her room because Cyndi Lauper was on The Apprentice. The whole episode was the men versus the women giving makeovers to new artists Emily West and Luke Bryan. I only caught the end when everyone was going over the work that had been done, and Donald Trump decided which team did better and who would be fired. What I thought was cool was that at the end when they announced the women won, Trump also announced that all proceeds from Luke Bryan's song "Rain is a Good Thing," and Emily West's song "Blue Sky," would benefit Cyndi's True Colors fund for the next month. I just thought it was a funny coincidence that right after I posted this I happened to catch the new episode and Cyndi's True Colors fund was mentioned, and that music was going to benefit it.