Turning Anti-Gay Bullying Into Pop Music Success

Want a song refrain that will stick in your head all day? Check out the new Scissor Sisters album Night Work, and then head on down to track three, "Fire with Fire." In terms of catchy-ness, it's a song that's got lyrics which I'll put up there with Lady GaGa's "Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah," or Ke$ha's "Tick Tock on the clock," as lines that instantaneously get you singing.

But in the case of the Scissor Sisters, and openly gay frontman Jake Shears, their music is not only meant to be catchy, but also vindication against anti-gay bullies of years past. Forget fighting "Fire with Fire." How about avenging teenage years full of anti-gay bullying by becoming an international dance-pop sensation?

"I'll never stop feeling like I've got something to prove. You never really get rid of those demons sitting on your shoulder," Shears said of the bullying he faced in high school. Chances are he speaks for many, given that statistics show nearly 90 percent of all LGBT teenagers face some sort of emotional or physical harassment in school because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Heck, maybe we can get Jake Shears to sign on in support of the Student Nondiscrimination Act?

by Michael A. Jones,Gay Rights