Lady Gaga Gets What the LGBT Movement Doesn't Yet Realize

by Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano · 2010-08-02 06:36:00 UTC
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Lady Gaga is no stranger to political controversy. So far, the pop star's Monster Ball Tour has been trailed not only by adoring fans, but by outrage and backlash. In St. Louis, for example, Lady Gaga's fervently pro-LGBT stance prompted Fred Phelps to declare that “God Hates Lady Gaga.” Meanwhile, members of Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church also gathered to protest the singer's views on sexuality. (Gaga responded with a post on her website urging her fans to “ignore their ignorant message.”)

Now, in Phoenix AZ, Lady Gaga's latest show is again attracting controversy — but for another reason. As the Phoenix concert date approached, groups urged the singer to cancel her show as part of the boycott of Arizona over SB 1070. Gaga, though, refused to cancel the show. She had a different way to send a political message in mind.

Rather than follow the footsteps of Elton John and simply blowing off the boycott, Lady Gaga decided to educate her sold-out Arizona audience by speaking out against the anti-immigrant law. With the words “STOP SB 1070” written on her forearm, Gaga went on to explain her rationale for not cancelling the show. According to the artist, joining the boycott would be ineffective, as pop stars do not have the power to bring down the Arizona economy.

However, in her speech, Lady Gaga urged her fans to protest SB 1070, declaring that they should “reject any person or any thing or any law that have ever made you feel like you don’t belong.” She went on to say that “if it wasn’t for all of you immigrants, this country wouldn’t have s---t.”

Regardless of what you think of Lady Gaga, there's no denying the potential of her words' impact. And not just in the fight for immigrant rights, either.

As I've blogged here at Change.org before, LGBT people of color still struggle to make the LGBT movement more accepting of an agenda that's inclusive of issues faced by people of color. It's true that some LGBT groups — like GetEqual — have been vocal about SB 1070. Yet artists who are seen as allies to the LGBT community have mostly focused on issues like marriage equality, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Gaga broke that mold.

By using the hyper-queer space that is her Monster Ball tour, Lady Gaga made no distinction between LGBT rights and immigrant rights. Those of us sitting at the intersections of identities have long insisted that issues affecting people of color (such as immigration, poverty and prisons) are also LGBT issues. And by speaking out against Arizona's harmful legislation, Gaga is breaking new ground and defining what it means to be a pro-LGBT, pro-immigrant and pro-LGBT people of color artist.

Photo Credit: petercruise

Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano is the Associate Director of Justice Matters and has previously worked in queer communities of color in the South and Southwest.
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