Country Stars Support LGBT Rights

I used to make my living as a guitar player and singer, playing the honky-tonks of the American Southwest. I've played a lot of kinds of music but over the years I played country more than anything. I played a kind of Western swing that is popular around the universities and I played down-to-earth country classics -- cryin' in your beer music -- to hard working folks in beer-joints and roadhouses from San Diego to Kodiak.

Country musicians are not known for being overly educated or liberal. In general, country music describes the pleasure and pain of living a traditional lifestyle, adapting as much as necessary to modern innovations but basically bringing the values of nineteenth-century rural America to the cities of the twenty-first century.

Those values might seem conservative, there is an emphasis on patriotism and traditional religion and "living right" -- even though the protagonist in a song may be cheatin' or drinkin' they sure are sorry about it! They are conservative in the old-fashioned way. Individuals struggle with their own sinful nature but hold a heartfelt belief that they have the freedom to live the wrong way if they choose, and everybody else is free to make their own mistakes, too. Hank (and by that, of course, I mean Hank Senior) said it: "If you mind your business then you won't be minding mine."

Still, I admit I am as surprised as anyone to see The Advocate's review of country stars who have made pro-LGBT or marriage equality statements. The Dixie Chicks, sure -- Willie, sure -- but Toby Keith?

Here are some quotes from the article:

Garth Brooks
The musician won a GLAAD Media Award in 1993 for his song "We Shall Be Free," with lyrics such as "'Cause we shall be free / When we're free to love anyone we choose" that helped turn it into an LGBT anthem.

Laura Bell Bundy
The performer, who earned a Tony Award nomination for Broadway’s Legally Blonde, has released two country albums. In 2010 the Kentucky native discussed her relationship with LGBT friends. “Gay people have taught me there there’s really no ‘right’ way to live — it’s all okay,” she said. “That’s helped to bring me to the place I’m at now where I’m not afraid of anything anymore. I’m the most fearless I’ve ever been. It’s interesting for me to be in the country music community — you don’t know how open-minded people are going to be. But I think it’s important to treat people equally, regardless of color, sexual preference, or religion. I love people from the South, and I love traditional values, but I will not repress my love for gay people. It makes me really happy that my music is being marketed to the gay community. It’s like I’m getting my own coming-out party.”

Dixie Chicks
The trio could write a textbook on a backlash from conservative fans following their remarks in 2003 criticizing then-President George W. Bush. In 2010 sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison formed a side project Court Yard Hounds and released “Ain’t No Son,” a song about a young man coming out to his judgmental father.

Robison discussed her inspiration for the song. “I turned the TV on, and it was A&E or one of those documentary kind of shows about these poor teenage kids who are devastated that their parents won't let 'em stay in the house because they found out they were gay,’ she explained. ‘The lines, 'You ain't no son to me/Eight pound baby boy I bounced on my knee' were around from the very beginning. That idea, how can you have kids and love them so much and one day decide not to — it just boggled my mind.”

Wynona Judd
When the powerhouse vocalist was criticized by Christian fans for performing on a gay cruise in 2005, she spoke to The Advocate about the controversy.“We actually have some gay people that work with us, and we have a lot of friends that are gay, too, and I know that this song has inspired them. I know that coming out was tough on their parents and on them and the whole entire family. For a long time, some of them didn’t get to hear ‘I love you’ from their dads or be accepted in that way... It’s helped a lot of our friends.”

Toby Keith
Last year the country superstar told CMT Insider that same-sex marriage doesn’t bother him and opponents are wasting money trying to stop it. "That whole gay issue thing, that's never bothered me," he said. "I've never seen what that affects and why anybody should care — and they never do affect me."

He added, "First of all, we're going to stop somebody from getting a marriage license because they're gay? You won't stop them from living together, so what have you accomplished? ... Wasting a lot of money here and a lot of time that could be spent working on this deficit that we're under ... I never saw the reasoning behind getting in people's personal lives."

Martina McBride
In 2009 McBride was asked by Out magazine if she’d consider telling her conservative fans to be more tolerant of LGBT people. “Honestly, I just have to do what's right for me, and what I would tell people is what I believe, which is that I feel like tolerance is very important,” she replied. “I have three daughters and that's what I teach them. I think we should all be tolerant of each other and embrace each other's strengths and differences and uniqueness and beauty.”

Reba McEntire
In 2009 the singer-actress was asked by Out magazine about conservative fans who might not support LGBT equality. “I just try not to judge,” she said. “Don't judge me, and I won't judge you. And that's what it says in the Bible — 'Don't judge.' Keep an open mind. That would be my voice. I have gay friends. I have a lot of straight friends. I don't judge them. I take them for what they are. They're my friends, and I can't defend my feelings for them, other than I like 'em.”

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
In 2010 McGraw visited Grassland Middle School in Tennessee to speak out against bullyingafter a 13-year-old boy shot himself in the head after antigay bullying went unaddressed at his school. McGraw also appeared in the 2011 film Dirty Girl, a gay-themed comedy from out director Abe Sylvia. Chely Wright revealed that McGraw’s wife Hill was one of the few country singers to offer her support for coming out as lesbian.

Lorrie Morgan
On her acclaimed 2004 album Show Me How, Morgan sings against antigay bigotry on the song “Rocks.”

Willie Nelson
Interviewed for a 2010 profile for Parade magazine, Nelson, who contributed the song “He Was A Friend Of Mine” to the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, spoke out for equality. "Rednecks, hippies, misfits — we're all the same,” he said. “Gay or straight? So what? It doesn't matter to me. We have to be concerned about other people, regardless. I don't like seeing anybody treated unfairly. It sticks in my craw. I hold on to the values from my childhood.”

Dolly Parton
The iconic entertainer received an Academy Award nomination for her song “Travelin’ Through,” which she wrote for the 2005 transgender-themed drama TransAmerica.

While being interviewed by Joy Behar for CNN in 2009, Parton, a longtime equality advocate, had this to say about why she’s so accepting of her huge LGBT fan base. “We’re not supposed to try to change people. We should allow people to be who they are and love them for who they are.”

Pressed by Behar to espouse her support for marriage equality, Parton replied, “I always say, ‘Sure, why can’t they get married? They should suffer like the rest of us do.’”

Rascal Flatts
The band’s “Love Who You Love” is considered an LGBT anthem. While promoting its release singer Gary LeVox discussed the song’s impact. "We actually have some gay people that work with us, and we have a lot of friends that are gay, too, and I know that this song has inspired them," he said. "I know that coming out was tough on their parents and on them and the whole entire family. For a long time, some of them didn't get to hear ‘I love you' from their dads or be accepted in that way. It's helped a lot of our friends." Bassist Jay DeMarcus added, “We don’t judge anybody’s lives.”

LeAnn Rimes
The sultry vocalist is a longtime equality advocate, having filmed an It Gets Better video, posed for the NOH8 campaign, and performed with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. “I believe in equality,” Rimes said in a 2010 interview. “Everybody should be treated exactly the same way no matter what their race, no matter what their sexuality.”

Blake Shelton
After a wrist-slapping from GLAAD following a tweet in which he rewrote Shania Twain lyrics in a way that seemed to deride gay men, the country singer and mentor on The Voice apologized.

In a series of tweets, Shelton wrote, “Hey y'all allow me to seriously apologize for the misunderstanding with the whole re-write on the Shania song last night... It honestly wasn't even meant that way... I now know that their are people out there waiting to jump at everything I say on here or anywhere. But when it comes to gay/lesbian rights or just feelings... I love everybody. So go look for a real villain and leave me out of it!!! @glaad hey I want my fans and @nbcthevoice fans to know that anti-gay and lesbian violence is unacceptable!!!!! Help me!!!! And DM me...”

Taylor Swift
The singer seems to address the antigay bullying epidemic in her Glee-esque video for the song “Mean.” In it, a boy reading a glossy fashion magazine is harassed by a members of the football team, as Swift sings, “You, pickin’ on the weaker man / Someday, I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me / And all you’re ever gonna be is mean.”

Sugarland
In 2009 Jennifer Nettles spoke about the gay fan base of the band, who has performed at numerous Pride events. "I've always had a large gay following," she said. "Particularly in the lesbian community. I am grateful for that ... It also means that I'm a cute girl singing a rock song in an alto voice!"

Carrie Underwood
While publicizing her latest album Blown Away, the Grammy Award-winner was asked her thoughts on LGBT equality. "I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love," she said, adding, "Our church is gay friendly," she says. "Above all, God wanted us to love others. It's not about setting rules, or [saying] 'everyone has to be like me.' No. We're all different. That's what makes us special. We have to love each other and get on with each other. It's not up to me to judge anybody."

Chely Wright
The singer is regarded as the first major country musician to come out as lesbian. Since coming out, Wright has written a memoir Like Me, an album Lifted Off the Ground, and married her girlfriend Lauren Blitzer. Fly Me Away, a documentary about her decision to come out publicly, is now playing in theaters.

Trisha Yearwood
In 2005 The Advocate asked the singer if she had advice for her gay fans. “My advice would actually be to people who are intolerant — get over it,” Yearwood said. “I can’t imagine living life and not being able to be true to who you are.”

Country Entertainers Who Support LGBT Equality

I think that is cool. Live and let live is a traditional American value, and it is good to see these influential artists making clear statements of acceptance and empathy for their LGBT neighbors and colleagues.