Six Awesome New School Gay Anthems by LGBT Artists

Photo by the Associated Press

It's Pride weekend, and the United States government just legalized gay marriage. It's fucking lit. Parties are gonna be off the chain all weekend (if it can stop raining everywhere long enough). Below are some new school gay pride anthems to get you hyped up for the festivities, all performed by LGBTQ artists. If you have a little more time, check out the pride playlist of old and new classics our friend Peaches made for us. Turn up!

Laura Jane Grace is fucking badass. She came out publicly as transgender a while back, weathered a barrage of prying interview questions, hosted documentary series illuminating the struggles of trans youth and adults and, oh, released the rock album of 2014 in Against Me!'s honest, raw and uncompromising Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Recently Laura performed album highlight "True Trans Soul Rebel" with bandmate Atom Willard and Miley Cyrus, who herself came out as bisexual and continues to rebel against the gender norms presented to her as part of pop music's elite.

Until recently, Mike Hadreas' Perfume Genius project was home to grief-wracked chamber music that dove headfirst into the artist's darkest fears and experiences. On last year's Too Bright, he picked up a snarl. "Queen" is the calling card, a spiteful, glammed out wink back at a detractor's look of scorn: "No family's safe when I sashay!" Work.

Angel Haze's major label rap career didn't go how anyone planned (read: not very well) but in February she dusted herself off and released "Candlxs," an ode to her girlfriend Ireland Baldwin that goes on the shortpossibly nonexistent list of hip-hop joints about two women in love.

"I am no longer afraid/ The truth doesn't terrify us." The lead cut off singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Owen Pallett's In Conflict finds its protagonist coming to terms with a life and a gender in flux, carefully employing gender neutral pronouns to tell the story.

"I got so many fellas, I make all the ladies jealous." And nary a fuck was given. Well, none of the philosophical variety.

"She Keeps Me Warm" is the beating heart of that other dude's smash hit "Same Love," only without any of the self-satisfaction and pandering. It's full up on love and courage in the face of a world that doesn't understand it. "I can't change, even if I tried," Mary sings. You can tell she wouldn't do it for anything in the world.

You'll feel very corny when this inevitably plays somewhere this weekend. It's so obvious and so direct that the natural instinct is to fight it. But stick to it long enough with the right mix of drinks in the right crowd, and for a second, you'll feel invincible.

Craig is all dressed up with nowhere to go. Follow him on Twitter.