I wanted to do a Pride post, but my relationship to Pride is a bit jaded and not at all jolly. Like if Pride had a Grinch who dressed in baggy Kohl's clothes and told the Gay-Whos to turn down their EDM, it might be me.
As an alternative, I thought I'd list some of the bangers that shaped my own coming out. I have notoriously bad taste in music, so you may want to turn away if you consider yourself musically cultured.
Mean, T Swift. We all knew there'd be at least one of her songs on here. I think all Swifties have THEIR Taylor song, and this is mine. I was on the verge of coming out and heard this on my way to St. Louis. I may have bought the album in transit then listened to it an hour straight singing at the top of my lungs. Somehow this twangy toe-tapper about a jerk boyfriend becomes transcendent, speaking to all of us who have been pigeonholed into an identity we don't want.
Shine, Years & Years. My husband, Ernesto, and I bonded over this track when we first started dating and it became our song. I even made us cheap necklaces with some of the lyrics on them. If that's not gay, I don't know what is.
Standing Outside the Fire, Garth Brooks. As a kid, this song about living differently and facing the rejection of the world was something I liked to dance to. Reflecting on it, the high-energy chorus and euphoric bridge are the perfect musical expression of striving to be more than the world wants you to be.
I Touch Myself, The Divinyls. Had YouTube or Spotify existed when I first heard this song in 1999, my play count may have hit 5 digits. This song about female pleasure is fun, dancy, and somehow inherently gay.
Lucky, Britney Spears. I taped the Making the Video off of MTV and watched it dozens of times. I didn’t have a portable CD player as a kid, but I remember mowing our lawn and singing it to myself over and over (and over and over). Bonus Gay Factor: I joined in one Market Days weekend when everyone in the North End sang along to this as one big happy family.
Nobody to Love, Alex Newell. I heard this song once and was OBSESSED. It's an amazing mix of early 2010's pop and fun 90s-ish beats. I dare a gay not to bop their head to this one.
I'm the Best, Nicki Minaj. I bought Nicki's album Pink Friday because I thought it had "Superbass" on it. Even though this was not true, I have not regretted that album purchase once in my life. This song is peak campy pop Nicki and it makes me laugh and dance every time I hear it.
We Found Love, Rihanna. The first summer I was fully out (yeah, I came out when I was ancient), this song was EVERYWHERE. And, honestly, I couldn't really ask for a better anthem for that time. I still imagine myself in the back of Roscoe's sweating and jumping when this comes on.
Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America, The 1975. There had to be one sad one on here. This song about gay church kids just hits home. My foray into Boystown was through a gay Christian group that I met with every week in the late 2000's. It's the kind of song that makes me sad, nostalgic, and hopeful all at once.
It's All Coming Back to Me Now, Celine Dion. This song is everything gay: campy, dramatic, and over-the-top. When I first came out, my friends and I sang this in a circle, then they all chanted for me to make out with a guy, just to show their support. You really can't ask for anything better.
I capped this list at 10 because it could have gone on forever. I didn’t even get around to Kelly Clarkson, Fall Out Boy, Carly Rae Jepsen, or Silk City and Dua Lipa’s Electricity. (I also tried to make this a Spotify playlist… unsure if that’s a thing.)
And, after writing this, I would have to say I'm at least 10% less jaded about Pride. Somewhere, there is a kid finding his or her first boyfriend or girlfriend and listening to some really bad pop music, and that's actually worth having a month-long celebration about.