Leslie Gore - "You Don't Own Me"

In June we will be featuring all LGBTQ+ artists in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month

As a teen, Lesley Gore became the powerfully ubiquitous and feminist voice of Sixties pop. She spent the following decades outside of the teen idol spotlight, going to Sarah Lawrence for college and getting an Oscar nomination for the score to Fame, which she composed with her brother Michael. Forty years after launching empowering hits such as “It’s My Party” and “You Don’t Own Me,” she became a LGBT rights activist, serving as one of the many guest hosts for the PBS series In the Life. It wasn’t until after hosting various episodes of the show for a couple years – which all centered on LGBT issues – that she spoke openly about her partner of over two decades and the struggles of being gay in the music industry. “I think the record industry – by and large what’s left of it – is still totally homophobic,” she said, noting that she came out in her twenties and never went to “lengths” to conceal it. “I just kind of lived my life naturally and did what I wanted to do.”

So today, with strings cut, I choose Leslie Gore’s iconic "You Don't Own Me" as my, I am my own, these are the only tools I need, like bending a spoon with your will, song for a, break down the walls, jump into flight, take the time to resonate with the brightest frequencies, Friday.