Backstory Behind Diana Ross’s Pride Anthem “I’m Coming Out”

I definitely Stan for Diana Ross. I always have, even as a little kid. And I’m not the only one. She has millions of Stans all over the world who are still fascinated by her.

Here’s some amusing backstory about her huge hit song, I’m Coming Out.

“She didn’t understand that that was a gay thing,” Rodgers says, “that that was a person saying, ‘I’m coming out of the closet.’ She didn’t even get that.”

There’s more here. It’s all amusing. It’s a little before my time, but I love the song anyway. 

Gay Spouses and Social Security Survivor Benefits

Here’s a very endearing story about a gay couple who were together for a long time and who weathered the height of the AIDS crisis. They had a commitment ceremony before marriage was legal, and when marriage became legal they got married. Unfortunately, after they got married one of them passed away from cancer and the other was denied social security survivor benefits because they hadn’t been married for the mandatory 9 months. 

Thankfully, this happened. 

This week, however, a federal court ruling changed that. The LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal won a class-action lawsuit, Ely v. Saul, on behalf of same-sex couples denied Social Security Administration benefits because of gay marriage bans.

You can read the rest of it here. I personally knew several older gay couples who were denied survivor benefits and it was a huge financial blow to their basic survival. 

I’m so glad these things are changing. I sometimes think we should have rioted more often. 

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