For every song by a straight artist hailed as a “queer anthem”, there are any unknown number of songs by queer people that never had the platform to attain the same title. That seems to be the case of “Stand Up for Your Rights”, an explicit queer call to action wrapped in grooving rock ‘n’ roll.
No euphemism, no plausible deniability, just a resounding chorus of “We’ve got to stand up, gay folks/We’ve got to stand up for equal rights!”
Not too much information seems to have survived about this recording. It remains almost solely as an entry in the 2012 compilation record Strong Love: Songs of Gay Liberation 1972-1981. The album, compiled by Chapter Music, is stacked with various queer artists of the period like Lavender Country and the Tom Robinson Band.
Even the band the song is attributed to, the “International Gay Society”, comes up nearly inconclusive. According to the 45, the record was produced by Bobby Sanders, who owned and operated Soultown Records, under a spin-off label called “Equal Rights Records”.
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As simple and repetitious as the chorus becomes, the rocking sound keeps it feeling like a proper energized chant throughout. It being highly danceable is just an added bonus.
Listen to galvanizing gay banner song, “Stand Up for Your Rights”:
QJ201
I want someone to create animation for this a la School House Rock featuring moments in LGBT history, Black Cat riots, Independence Hall demonstrations, Stonewall, Gay Pride Marches, ACT UP, Marriage Equality, etc.
abfab
Does anyone remember going to Holly Near concerts? Good times.
scooterpdx
She’s playing in Portland, OR in April 2024
abfab
Sweet.
Rikki Roze
What about the Two Tons of Fun singing It’s Raining Men at the Castro Street Fairs?
abfab
Martha Wash you ROCK!
Caelestius
Well, a sweet, energetic effort, but I think an international movement that liberated tens of millions of people in just 50 years deserves something more, mmmm, well, more. If Queer folk ever grow more cohesive and able to challenge murderous governments like Syria, Uganda, Belarus, Afghanistan, Russia and Iran, we’ll need some serious anthem writer, like Patty Smith (“People Have the Power.”) First I propose we stop doing the dictionary imitation. B-her-L-they-G-him-T-why-I-yikes! Urnings, or Uranians, or Porphyreons or anything would sound more appealing and powerful than a run of letters that elicits a lot more groans than songs.
abfab
Patti Smith but I still love you.