Cyndi Lauper, Erasure and Debbie Harry will anchor a summer tour of 15 North American cities designed to raise awareness of gay-rights issues.
The True Colors trek, which begins June 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will also include the Dresden Dolls, the Gossip and the Misshapes, along with host Margaret Cho.
"This tour was created to celebrate our differences by raising awareness for liberty, fairness and dignity for everyone -- not just some of us," Lauper said in a statement. "Our fans can come out to celebrate a great cause while also hearing some great music."
You know, I love a lot of these groups. Some of them are pioneers. But do they really have any kind of fanbase which needs their awareness of gay-rights issues raised? And as if that weren't enough to winnow out the ranks of those who still have some residual homophobia in their veins, check this out:
Rufus Wainwright, the Indigo Girls and Rosie O'Donnell will make special appearances throughout the tour, which is sponsored by gay/lesbian TV network Logo.
My feelings on the Indigo Girls and Rosie O'Donnell (and Margaret Cho) range from not really seeing the appeal, not to my taste, to absolute hate. But I think I can feel safe in saying none of them has a single fan who needs their awareness raised.
If you're a fan of any and/or all of those artists...and in at least one case I use the word loosely...you're probably overconcerned with gay-rights issues, if possible.
The Human Rights Campaign, for which this tour will be in benefit, is a worthy charity, I hope it raises lots of money and I'm sure it will. But let's not pretend anyone is going to leave feeling any more pro-gay than they were when they walked in.
If they wanted to impress me, and more importantly have a chance to raise the awareness of those who need it, they'd get someone like Justin Timberlake who actually has fans outside the pro-gay population.
2 comments:
You're right and I'd take it a step further and say that it's at best pandering to and at worst taking advantage of the fan base. The tickets are out of sight expensive. Only 1$ of each ticket price goes to the HRC.
Only $1? That is a shock. Though I don't know why I didn't expect that when I learned the tour was sponsored by Logo.
This being, of course, the (nominally) gay and lesbian network that wouldn't run an ad by the UCC promoting their message of acceptance.
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