As the sun sets on a gospel diva's career, we got to thinking...Who are some kinda sorta almost mainstream artists that are hanging on to fame only because of their gay fan base. Well there are more than a few to be quite frank but we've picked out ten we think we having the biggest impact on. While the rest of the world may have forgotten about these ladies, we show up faithfully to shows, promote their latest projects and drag others in their name.
1 Tamar Braxton
Tamar, the only other Braxton that matters (to us anyway). We live for Tamar because she lives for us, and because she lives for us we live for her. She gives us every inch of our lives. She's a proud supporter of LGBT rights, made sure everyone knows our lingo and attends every pride function she can limo too. She was also a guest judge on one of our favorite episodes of Ru Paul's Drag race.
2 K Michelle
One of the breakout stars of the Love and Hip Hop Franchises we fuck with K. Michelle because we can relate to her and her music. She loves big dicks, she knows you can't raise a man, she is comfortable with her own sexuality, and has openly supported friends and other artists that identify as LGBT. She even helped a gay couple with their engagement on her reality show. This past year, she was one of the headliners at Atlanta's Black Gay Pride.
3 The Clark Sisters (Karen and Dorinda)
Honoroble Mention: Kierra "Kiki" Sheard
In 2010 Karen Clark Sheard was scheduled to perform at a NOM event (National Organization For Marriage or some bullshit like that) but backed out at the last minute because of her daughter Kiki's support of the LGBT Community. KiKi knows who butters her bread and refuses to take the Kim Burrell route. Kiki has come under fire from the Christian community for performing at gay and lesbian clubs.
4 Fantasia
Sometimes you gotta lose to win. Fantasia almost lost her gay fanbase when she made some comments which could have been interpreted as anti gay but she quickly cleared it up. When everyone else counted Fantasia out we were the only ones that had her back. “It has been brought to my attention that something I said was taken out of context,” she said. “I, Fantasia Monique Barrino, don’t judge anyone because I don’t want to be judged. The gay community is one of my largest supporters. I support the gay community as they support me. Bloggers please stop misrepresenting the facts.”
5 Brandy
Whether the vocal bible was sitting up in her room, or singing from her bathroom, when the rest of the world dismissed her after finding out she had been untruthful about being married and then that nasty car accident, her gay fans stayed by her side. When asked about us, Brandy had this to say: It’s funny, recently I was in a parking lot, and one of my gay fans came to the car and knocked on the window. He said, “Oh my God, Brandy, you’re so beautiful, I want to be straight!” It was the funniest thing. I knew that he was just playing with me, but that was his way of saying I was beautiful to him, and I was really flattered by that. I just think that love is free, that’s what I think. I feel like if people want to be committed to each other, I don’t think there should be any problem with that. I don’t judge people on what they do. I just know that love is free, and anybody can feel it, whether it be with someone of the same sex or the opposite sex.
6 Monica
You know you're gonna see Monica at a Pride event. Period. I can't remember a year in the last 10 years where Monica was not performing at a Pride function, club or hosting a day event. We are basically putting her kids through college, but when ever we call, she answers and shows up.
7 Trina
Trina is another artist who has become a staple at LGBT pride events, has performed and hosted numerous events. For years rumors have swirled that she was a lesbian or bisexual because of her explicit lyrics to which she responded: "If I chose to live a bisexual life or I'm gay or whatever, that's MY business...." Trina recently hosted and performed at Atlanta Black Gay Pride and appeared on our other favorite episode of Ru Paul's drag race along side fellow rapper Eve.
8 Lil Kim
Quite frankly Kim is hip hop royalty and will always be relevant for pioneering in the industry. You can say what you want about Kim, but she has always been here for the kids! Lil Kim has been in more Pride Parades, club appearances, and Pride events than some gays and lesbians. In a 2000 interview with Howard Stern, Kim denied being bisexual but said "I support gays and lesbians, they are people just like everyone else." Since then she has been an outspoken advocate for gay rights and marriage equality.
9 Ciara
This beat is...Ciara has battled rumors of being born a man even though she's clearly all woman. She has never shyed away from her gay fan base, as she was famously served lawsuit paperwork at L.A. Pride. When asked about her LGBT fans Ciara said in an interview with the Advocate: "I can say that I welcome everybody. No one is different from the other. I'm very grateful that I have a diverse group of fans as well. We welcome individuality over here in my world and I think that my fans can see and feel that. What I would like to do is collaborate with the gay dance community. I think that would be really fun. You know, like walking at balls and some other cool stuff. I would love to do something like that."
10 Patti Labelle
If no one else has kept Patti Labelle relevant its us. A gay fan famously sang about her pies from Wal-Mart a couple of Thanksgivings ago that reminded us she is one of the ultimate gay icons. She's been outspoken in her support for us and was quoted as saying: "“The first year I was performing I wasn’t sure, but the second year of performing I got this love — I mean, great love — from my gay fans. I always questioned, ‘Why do they love me? Why do they really, really give a damn about Patti LaBelle?’ And I think it’s because I’m such a free spirit and such a drag queen, really, myself. The original drag queen.”
Stay tuned for Vol 2 coming soon.