“Glad to Be Gay” by Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson composed “Glad to Be Gay” for a 1976 gay pride parade in London. In 1967, homosexuality was decriminalized in the United Kingdom, although society took little attention. The song, sung by the punk/new wave Tom Robinson Band, critiques attitudes in Margaret Thatcher’s England, particularly those of the British police, who raid gay pubs for no cause other than prejudice. It was published in 1978 on the band’s live “Rising Free” EP. Radio stations found it too sensitive to play. BBC Radio 1 refused to carry it on its Top 40 Chart, but John Peel, the evening DJ, disobeyed the prohibition and played it. Today, the protest song inspired by the Sex Pistols has become an LGBT anthem in the United Kingdom.
Glad To Be Gay By Tom Robinson Band
