As more and more people voice their once concealed sexual orientations, they are exploring new methods of announcement. A popular way of doing so now is through music. As we have read in Praveena’s post a while back, pop artists are including messages of sexual equality within their party-engrossed lyrics (i.e., Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R” and Katy Perry’s “Firework”). Although it may not be distinguishable during the first listen, the catchy beats and rhymes gain popularity quite easily, and the message effectively spreads in consequence.
Deepa Soul
A vocal artist that you may not be aware of it Diedra “Deepa Soul” Meredith. In 2005, she was offered a major-label deal after performing her club hit “As I Am”. Shockingly, she turned it down, commenting: “Part of the criteria was to market myself as straight. [My music] is about my freedom of expression, and not buying into the stigma of homophobia and the ignorance of it.”
This general “requirement” is deteriorating, however. Meredith is now executive director of OUTMusic, a non-profit organization founded in 1990 in order to support and acknowledge queer artists and their contributions to the creative world. Like a mother living vicariously through her children, Meredith hopes to provide other openly-LGBT musicians with both the freedom and success that she was not able to harness.
The recording artist continues to work here in the New York area. Since the recent spike in gay-youth suicides, more and more musicians are joining Meredith in the battle for acceptance. Together, they personify and carry out OUTMusic’s mission statement: “We’re not going to fight for our equality; we’re going to create our own equality.”
Visit OUTMUSIC’s homepage here.
The article can be read here.
To quote Paul Muldoon, (quoting his favorite “Americanism”): “it is what it is.” One would think this bespeaks an acceptance among Americans, when, in fact, we are historically far more conservative as a nation than most of Europe. The difference is that we are far less consistent, which is why the extreme views on any subject tend to always be at odds with one another.