Feminism and LGBTQ music thread

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In 1979, Ross commissioned Chic founders Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards to create material for a new album after taking her daughters to see the band in concert, following the success of Ross's final Ashford & Simpson-composed and produced LP, The Boss. Rodgers got the idea for "I'm Coming Out" after noticing three different drag queens dressed as Diana Ross at a New York club called the GG Barnum Room. The lyrics hold an additional meaning to Ross, as she was leaving Motown Records and "coming out" from under Berry Gordy's thumb. According to the BBC4 documentary "How to Make It in the Music Business", Ross loved the record until she put it in front of Frankie Crocker, who pointed out that 'I'm Coming Out' is what homosexuals use to announce their homosexuality; she ran back to the studio in tears and demanded to know why Rodgers wanted to ruin her career.

A lot of people thought 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?' was about S&M, but it was about Culture Club's drummer Jon Moss, my boyfriend at the time. Well, not just Jon, it was about all the guys I dated at that time in my life.

What is that song really about?

It’s a tough talk for girls. I had a very good best friend, and I wrote it with her in mind, she is the “she” in the first verse. And I was also reacting to Michael Jackson singing “the kid is not my son.”

Really?

I thought, what a jerk! He doesn’t say he wasn’t with her, he says, “the kid is not my son”, and I thought, what a horrible thing to say to a woman in that situation. That’s not very supportive, I didn’t like it, you know, so I decided that I’m going to tell the girl that a girl in trouble is a temporary thing. Like the song says, there’s a way to walk that says “Stay away,” and a time to go around the long way.