For some people,
Cyndi Lauper's classic "True Colors" is just another
love song. But as Lauper learned from reading fans' letters,
for others the song's lyrics about letting "your true
colors shine through" had a much deeper meaning.
"A lot of people
were saying that when it came out [in 1986] they were
teenagers and they were coming out," says Lauper, a longtime
gay rights supporter. "They were disowned by their
family and their friends, and their jobs got all
messed up, and they were totally alone, and suicidal,
and then they heard `True Colors' and it made them feel
hopeful."
So it's fitting
that Lauper, 53, is one of the headliners on the new
"True Colors" tour, which will hit major cities nationwide
to promote gay rights. Other performers for the
15-city event, which kicks off in Las Vegas on June 8
and ends in Los Angeles on June 30, are Deborah Harry,
Erasure, and Margaret Cho.
"This tour is
basically gonna be five hours of some of my favorite
bands and me, and Margaret Cho making us laugh, and while
we're touring, we're going to be raising awareness,"
Lauper told the Associated Press on Friday. "I think
people don't know what's going on, that's all."
Besides
headliners like Lauper and Harry, the show will have guest
artists such as Rufus Wainwright in the various cities it
hits. "Every time I talk to a band they're like, `I
want to go!' " says Lauper with a laugh.
The tour,
sponsored by the gay TV cable network Logo, will provide
information to fans who attend as well as purple wristbands
with the slogan "Erase Hate" from the Matthew Shepard
Foundation, named for the Wyoming college student
murdered in 1998. A dollar from every ticket sold will
be earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign, which
advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender people.
Lauper believes
more Americans would be supportive of equal rights for
gays if they knew the discrimination they faced. "You
shouldn't have to be treated badly because of your
sexual orientation. Come on, we don't live in a
dictatorship. This is supposed to be America, the home of
the free and the brave," she says. "It can't be free
for some and not for others."
Other stops on
the tour are Salt Lake City; Denver; Chicago; Atlantic
City, N.J.; Boston; Washington; New York City; Toronto;
Atlanta; Dallas; Houston; San Diego; and San
Francisco. (Nekesa Mumbi Moody, AP)