Tom Robinson - Glad To Be Gay

[AngloSaxonMusic]

I am not Gay but I do know what it's like to get locked up for songwriting in 21st Century UK !

[farhadmv740]

what a fag. . .

[darrouken]

Power to all Oppressed! From a straight black man

[Ihopyourpancakes]

@bloderme

I'm gay. Are you saying that I deserve to be celebrated because I'm different, but that the average Joe is less worthy of praise? I think that the gay liberation is about celebration of humanity, not of any single minority. Let's celebrate people. Celebrate straights. Celebrate tolerance. Love. Laughter. Life. Celebrate all of it and embrace all others.

[TheOBOM]

@Ihopyourpancakes Damn right you are! Wonderfully put. Let's celebrate life, I'm with you bro.

[Tofulord]

Legend!!



[xXMargaritaXx1]

Siiiiiiing if youre glad to be straight. Sing if youre happy that way. There should also be a song about being straight!! Don't leave us out!!!

[bloderme]

@xXMargaritaXx1 You are not (as straight people) a persecuted minority!!!!!

[yalinegurl1]

This is so great.

[MrJealson]

great song!

[Vieweracc99]

I can't actually read any of these comments because I'm crying too much.

Well said, Tom. Well said.

[jinjocat]

Tom, if I'm not mistaken, the Peter Wells verse has been edited out of this performance. Why's that then?

[gladtobegaynet]

@jinjocat When Tom Robonson Band played the song live, Tom felt it was too long and so, although all verses were worthy, one had to be cut to give the song its proper impact.

When it came to uploading it to Youtube he felt that modern audiences, and the ephemeral surfers of Youtube in particular, want snappy stuff too, so again cut it to retain attention and punch. He talks about it on the gladtobegayDOTnet website.

[gladtobegaynet]

@jinjocat Personally, I question his judgement - modern audiences are used to chillout albums and director's cuts of movies, they can do immersion far better than the pop kids of the 60s and 70s. But maybe the difference in our thinking is why he's written a stack of hit singles and I haven't.

[blazak]

This song was so radical when it came out. I blasted out at my high school in Georgia in 1980, and I'm straight! Sadly, it could be written today. But DADT is dead, at least.

[Browned79]

Great song and daring for a successful singer to perform this in 1970's. Much of what he is talking about did not really begin to change in the U.K. until 1990s. Robinson himself is, apparently, bisexual and he got some criticism from it when he ended up marrying a woman. However, if we believe that human rights and dignity should not be denied based on sexual orientation or gender identity, then the gender of the person he feel in love with and married should not be a subject of criticism.

[MissMary600]

What a happy camper ! Like me..,

[IamMegaBustaaman]

thanks to this wonderful song, i had the courage to come out! :-)

[genxxxersize]

@IamMegaBustaaman FAG! Do me a favour okay "fudgepacker", kill yourself, ya know decrease the surplus population ya piece of shit! *backhand*

[krogsdamvej]

I love this song. :-)

[debbie7171]

this song is completely amazing, even today

[drtoonie]

He always sounds so angry when he sings this.

[mchen94]

@drtoonie he is angry...dont you listen to the lyrics? He is angry about the way the gays are threatened....

[Wheretheresgod]

1 dislike lol

[Cris286]

this is such a beautifully inspriring song.. I can't get it out of my activist head ! I def. bow to this man.

[Catreenah]

excellent



[irkibby]

A valuable song to listen to for any young gay or lesbian. 

[funkyme08]

i still have this on vinyl .time old classic !

[JLocust1995]

Tom's version of Ricky Don't Lose That Number on his album was brilliant. Anyone have a version of it?

[joese5]

@JLocust1995 it's on the Hope and Glory album

[bckm54]

I was in a band that did this song in NYC for an AIDS benefit at a gay bar in 1985 or so. Naturally, they loved it.  And best wishes for Tom and his wife and kid(s)...if we aren't free to love who we want, then we have lost the battle FOR SURE. All love should be celebrated and revered.

[6andrew2]

The song is over 30 years old. Now that so many well know and respected public figures and artists are in fact gay, homophobia is far less prevelent. If a hetrosexual man is offended by a 'not overtly' gay man, this demonstrates the predetory way he views females and considers gay men to be like him. OR he is just bi-curious and too scared to admit it. I am not gay, but do have gay friends - no problem. People are people, good and bad, regardless of their sexual orientation.

[masterliljoey]

:L:L:L:L:L:L:L:L:L:L:L my brothers called tom robinson

[Bietel]

I'm 'straight' (as opposed to 'gay' that is) but this song brings tears to my eyes, this version is just brilliant, and if I thought I could sing it only half as good as this, I'd add it to my own set list. It may help, but you don't actually have to be gay to sing this in support of gay lib, right?

:-)

Oh and yes, the police don't raid gay bars anymore nowadays, but there's the occasional brick through the window, since some 'decent' folks still think that's what you do with queers.

[lovesGenet]

i been waiting 30 years to hear this song everbody writes about. Wish it was better known and played more.Sad .wish it could have been more positive but I understand its sentiments.I will def sing this !

[PETER28061957]

I don't like the sentiment of the chorus of this song that implies it is a bad thing to be gay - a thing that is forced on a person, that can't be helped, that they should be pitied rather than just accepted as a different kind of normal. I know it was hard to be gay at this time, but this was societies problem not gay peoples. The tone should have been "We're here, we're here to stay and we're happy about it. Get over it.", not the whinning apology of Tom Robinson's

[imnaturalee]

I lived this era and this song is very apprapro it reflects the sentiment of living the life at that time. Of course you can't apply it to today nor should you want to. We are here to stay. So ,Peter, why don't you write a song meant to reflect about being gay today and keep your criticism of this piece that echoes the truth of that yesterday.

[101merrick101]

@PETER28061957 It's called irony. Look it up.

[lorehal]

I must admire you Tom.

It wasn't easy for a gay in those times... from stories i heard

[Rumpio]

I understand this "sleeping with the opposite sex" thing is a lifestyle choice. But how did you break it to your parents, Tom?  ;)

[bothways]

@Rumpio It was a big shock, of course. But they took it surprisingly well, considering.

[mucock]

simply a great song, straight from the heart. maybe british cops arent raiding gay bars but the gist is still relevant.  havent heard this is years. thanks!

[U4iaF8]

Go Tom =8*)

Don't you look young there fella :)

Take care my friend

U4ia

[lewisner]

And ironically he is now married to a woman.

[Rumpio]

Appalling ;)

[bothways]

@Rumpio Hence my username. Tom x

[cerberus440]

This song really makes me appreciate being able to live openly, and that those who were stopped from living for it

"You don't have to be gay to sing on this chorus... but it helps." so sexy.

[Mugfungus]

I tracked this down to learn it for a bit of a strum but, pleasingly, we've achieved so much in the last 30+ years that much of it isn't relevant any more (well, not in the UK anyway.)

Alas, too much of it is still relevant, in attitudes if not in law.

Still a bloody great song though. I learned it anyway. :)

[paulfborth]

I think that the attitudes are still firmly there both for men and women, by a load of inconsiderate loud mouthed people - shame they just can't let everyone get on with their own lives .......

[paulfborth]

With this song, which is brilliant, Tom broke many "moulds" of the time and allowed people to be a lot more that they wanted to be I think - I cant really comment truthfully as I'm straight, but what the Heck I've always loved this song & sung along to it

[angeltoad]

It's someone Peter Tatchell said of " In the 1970s and '80s, he was one of the most famous gay men in Britain. His hit song "Glad to be Gay" was, for over a decade, the de facto gay national anthem. He's playing at David Hoyle's Aural Assualt this Thursday!

[joese5]

@angeltoad That was SUCH an amazing evening! Tom ROCKED! And the crowd went MAD! Love it!

[larrybob]

Looks like Shout Factory has put out a DVD set of five Secret Policeman's Balls.

[Quickstoptim]

Pioneer ... A Courageous Man

[carolineholding]

i've never heard him speak before, he has such a sexy voice!

[kert8998]

Great song!

[Holebis]

Thanks Tommy,

it was the first really gay song I listenned to a long time ago.

Holebis ♂♂,♀♀♥

[5678connie]

la la la glad to be gay !!!!

[stardustinthezodiac]

Fuck, i remember him being so rad at the time..

[WIGNSWORD]

I think this is his best performance of the song on YouTube: hear that anger, that passion which almost challenges the bounds of propriety in the structure and expectations! I wish this particular performance were on CD or DVD. Is is?

[tattypatty]

I remember when this came out. Now my brother has 'come out'. Fuck times have changed....

[harpervalleypta123]

Guy's got some serious balls to write a song about being the way he is and releasing it in the 1970's.

[adamsez]

@harpervalleypta123 You're right, but somehow the timing was perfect. Punk had a 'never apologise, never explain' attitude, personified by Johnny Rotten, which respected individualism. Tom Robinson caught this mood. Certainly helped make a libertarian of me. Robinson's gig was the most peaceful I saw at Wycombe Town Hall, where trouble usually kicked off like three o'clock.

[parosmarpissa]

Love this song! Just watched Milk... I think it brought out my inner activist!

[lqsw1227]

very happy to be gay

[peggymount]

Hey I'm singing.

[david552]

I sent the album version to this song to my last girlfriend after we first got together - can you believe she had never heard of a Hammond organ?

[coachnut1]

I'm Glad To Be Gay and remember the publicity when this song was released .... BRILLIANT

[gldjer]

So, this is the Tom Robinson that Paul Heaton and The Beautiful South sing about in the chorus of "101% Man." I'm glad that now, this Yank knows whom he was referring too!!!

[bodorgan]

Tom Robinson and this song helped liberate gays from the abusive society we lived in the the 70's and early 80's. Pubs and clubs really were raided by the police. Thank the gods its all changed.

[psyn99000]

Not in Jamaica, Iran, Russia or a number of other places it hasn't

[DragonerPhoenix]

I don't like this song, and I'm not gay. However, for all u ppl who like this, keep on liking this song. That's all I have to say. My friend found this song when he was randomly typing. (he isnt gay either)

[bothways]

Phew - I'm glad we've got that clear then. NEITHER of these dudes is gay. OK, maybe they accidentally came across this video, by mistake, just the once when they were looking for something else. But that doesn't mean either of them are even the tiniest bit gay. ABSOLUTELY not.

[DragonerPhoenix]

I came across this by accident, like I said in the other comment. Now I know that u aren't GAY, I can say my feelings about this song. THIS FUCKING SUX!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bothways]

Thanks for sharing :-)

[NanookHawaii]

I am impressed by your Class, Tom! This song still rings true today as it was when you first launched it.

It is amazing to see how far we have gone in 30 years, doesn't it - in terms of our perception of alternative lifestyles and our openmindedness about things.

At any rate, I had enjoyed this song then - and it is in my iTunes playlist now, along with the dedication to the World Health Organization and the ICD code! ;-D

MAN, that was BRILLIANT!

[bckm54]

make up your mind...are you fucking, or sucking?

har har...you walked right into that one, dude... Relax...

[19OL48]

Iam glad to be gay!!!

[19OL48]

Its my life moste important disc and i finde finaly myself, and I singing and I Glad To Be Gay!

[yorvik21]

I remember my gay friendly dad playing this really loud on a portable Grundig stereo (They were all the rage back in 1978)on a coach from Doncaster to Blackpool. I was so oh embarassed! My dad decided that it was only fair that people should be equal no matter what. He had a 70's version of a ghetto blaster and everybody heard Tom belting out his anthem. Good Union guy my old man. And we is both straight!

[bothways]

Your dad sounds like a brilliant bloke - please give him my best. Anyway isn't it the job of all parents to embarrass their children? My son certainly thinks so...

[yorvik21]

You are correct.My old man was top of the class when it came to embarassing family. But he is still a great bloke and still massively into his music. This song reminds me of him every time, and reminds me of the power and influence that a good song can bring. Excellent track my friend and thanks

[JesperCarrot]

Im glad to be gay :)

[Irisedpig]

Let's hear it for bi people :)

[downtwothenleft]

Im not gay but this song has many fabulous memories for me. I remember going to the Liverpool Empire in 1977 to see TRB in my first ever live gig age 14. Great times, great singer, great song!

[196014]

English isn't my first language. Could you tell me what are the two first lines in the second couplet?

Great song!

[jhaaglund]

"The British police are the best in the world,

I don't believe one of these stories I've heard,

About them raiding gay bars for no reason at all,

Lining the customers up by the wall"

[WannesLemmens]

Being a lesbian's wonderful fun,

You ain't fit to mother (= raising) a daughter or son.

[bckm54]

There are entirely too many labels in this world. Yes, Tom fell in love with a woman, and they have a kid. I think it's great...if he's happy, his wife is happy, and they love the kid, what could be better? The whole point of the gay rights movement is to let people be themselves...

My band did this song at a benefit for an AIDS hospice 20 years ago in NYC. It was beautiful then, and it's beautiful now.

Peace and love.

[Aub99]

"You don't have to be gay to sing on this chorus...but it helps!"

best line ever, :D!

[fg68at]

I love it also. Every time i hear this, i must smirk. :-)

This is my favorite version of this song on youtube.

[paulatwe]

My favourite as well (dad was there)

This song ended the Inquisition. People must nowadays resolve to stabbing you in the back; which they do.

...and you smirk?

[WhiskeyyWoman]

ahh, I love this song.

Everybody should listen to it.

[allthisfuss]

didnt he marry a woman? owell, superb song and message any how

[bothways]

hey - anybody can waiver - see username :-)

Tom x

[bckm54]

Thanks, bothways. Great song, great name, great attitude.

I don't fit neatly into little categories either; although I am sexually attracted to other men MUCH more than women, I can just as easily fall madly in love with a woman as a man. I've fallen madly in love with both... After all, love is the best thing in the world, and how can you cut yourself off from half the world? :)

[magogoroks]

This band were the epitome of cool 30 years ago. I remember getting on a train after school at Hounslow Central on the Picadilly line in the days the carriages were empty and there was Tom and the band looking very pleased with themselves with guitars and pieces on their way up to the city from the airport. Bbeing a straight private school boy in a two tone jacket having just been slippered by my PE teacher I could have waivered, but got off 2 stops later at Osterley! Greatest song of all time?

[coldshoulder2]

Homophobia can make you schizophrenic, denying yourself, and everyone homophobic wants you to deny it or be hetro, then they laugh at you anyway regardless.

[Chessplayer63]

Such people are not worth the effort!

[dearjonboy]

glad to not be homophobic... :-)

[Chessplayer63]

Love this song and the power of the performance. Dream of a world that has no room for homophobia!

[moomoosnake]

sing if you're happy this way. beautiful song, so energising

[joemama4twenty]

awesome.

peace & hugs from texas,

joe

[anotherblonde]

Right on Tom!

[Tangoratsfan]

amazing, my favourite performance of this song, I really hope he tours near me lol, thanks for posting xx

[trageek]

no matter how many times I hear it, this song always fills me with an almost a violent rage, as well as a profound sense of gay pride.

a powerful song indeed.

[lupesilver]

I'd like to hear this on a redneck radio :)

[SFJonesy]

Tom is so great! Hadn't heard this in years and never saw him perform it before. Thanks for posting! He's still doin' it: tomrobinson dot com

[sussexden54]

Great song that I come back to and sing out loud every now and then!

[bobgee1999]

I'm confused. This may be from the Secret Policeman's Ball, but it is different from the soundtrack of the performance. On the soundtrack he includes the Peter Wells verse.

[bothways]

correct. this is a shortened version

[Ellemeno]

This is the version I first ever heard of this song. But the song has been a work in progress for almost 30 years. Tom adds verses periodically. Love this song.

[drvonnick]

awesome. my new theme song.