12/05/2025
Earlier this week, my dearest friend in the world, Michael Feinstein, sounded a clarion call about what may only be defined as a bigoted attack on the arts. As an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, a human rights advocate, the daughter of two iconic, amazing artists, a career of my own that without contributions from LGBTQ+ geniuses, would have rendered me a singer with few songs, a dancer with few collaborators, mostly naked ON STAGE, acting without scripts and I could go on! My lifetime friend Elizabeth Taylor once said… “without gay people there is no entertainment industry.” Long before Elizabeth said it, My Mama and Papa taught me, from my earliest memory to embrace everyone. This year I made new friends when I received a beautiful honor from RuPaul's Drag Race and produced Drag The Musical. Guess what kids? Those beautiful, valued, artistic experiences made a few enemies too. Michael’s message of truth shatters my heart into so many pieces. I’m damn mad about what’s going on. Please read “Fear of Q***r? by Michael Feinstein” carefully. Become active in solution. Together, we will stop censorship and hate.
God, I love each and every one of you. I also thank the LGBTQ+ community for always supporting me, my family and my career.
Always,
Liza
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Fear of Q***r? by Michael Feinstein
The genesis of art is essential to our need to enlighten, entertain, educate and help each of us, as human beings, connect to one another. Art, especially during the 20th century in America, offered every soul an opportunity to express or experience the diversity of culture. Recently, I was invited to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as perform and speak at a program entitled "A Peacock Among Pigeons:
Celebrating 50 Years of Pride" at The Kennedy Center, which championed the rainbow of influences upon art, music and our entire culture. This program was abruptly and unceremoniously canceled. These recent Kennedy Center losses may well be defined in the years ahead, with 21st century government-sanctioned censorship and silencing of creativity - regardless of value, and based strictly on sexual orientation. Art, in its purest form, is where we suspend our differences to illuminate elements of the human condition.
The Kennedy Center crisis removes the light and plunges our country into despair. Indeed, the latest attempts to strip PBS and NPR of critical funds, highlight the fact that any government-supported access to the arts is no longer safe. Since the current administration has banned, cancelled or forbidden, in an effort to erase any concert or program at the Kennedy Center, that in any way allows art to acknowledge of existence of Homosexuality (and these “cancellations” do not acknowledge the disturbing, racist, misogynistic and other bigoted forms of censorship, which I find equally distressing, infuriating and indeed, despicable),
the next logical step is to ban all works written by Homosexual, Bisexual, Omnisexual, Tr*******al people, friends of Gay people or people suspected of being q***r. It worked for the N***s right? Many of the following artists have innumerable timeless songs - these are a few of my personal favorites. So here’s just a little starter list of deceased songwriters, so as to save the DC bureaucrats some time!
Freddie Mercury - We Are The Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody
Billy Preston - You Are So Beautiful, With You I’m Born Again, Nothing From Nothing
Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring, Fanfare For The Common Man
Donny Hathaway - This Christmas, Where Is The Love?
Little Richard - Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Good Golly Miss Molly
Laura Nyro - Save The Country, Wedding Bell Blues, Stoned Soul Picnic
Billie Holiday - God Bless The Child, Don’t Explain
Peter Allen – Don’t Cry Out Loud, I Honestly Love You
Howard Ashman – Beauty And The Beast
Marshall Barer – “Once Upon A Mattress” (Show)
Billy Barnes – (Have I Stayed) Too Long At The Fair, Something Cool
Lionel Bart – As Long As He Needs Me , “Oliver” (Show)
Leonard Bernstein – Somewhere, Tonight, New York, New York, “West Side Story” (Show)
Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, The Trolley Song
Marc Blitzstein – Mack The Knife, “The Threepenny Opera”(Show)
Earl Brent – Angel Eyes (for Sinatra)
Walter Bullock – When Did You Leave Heaven?
Earl Brown – If I Can Dream (for Elvis)
Ralph Burns – Early Autumn
Cory and Cross – I Left My Heart In San Francisco
Noel Coward – I’ll See You Again (and countless other classic songs)
Bob Crewe – Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, Walk Like A Man, Sherry
Roger Edens – Our Love Affair, It’s A Great Day For The Irish
Francis Faye – Well Alright!
Kermit Goell – Near You
Murray Grand – Guess Who I Saw Today
Hal Hackady – Let’s Go Mets
Nancy Hamilton – How High The Moon
Lorenz Hart – My Funny Valentine, Where Or When, The Lady Is A Tramp, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (and countless other classic songs)
Jerry Herman – Hello Dolly, Mame, The Best Of Times Is Now (sung at the Republican National Convention)
Edward Heyman – Body and Soul, When I Fall In Love
Bart Howard – Fly Me To The Moon
Alberta Hunter – My Castle's Rockin’
Herman Hupfeld – As Time Goes By, “Casablanca”
Paul Jabara – Last Dance
Fred Ebb – Theme from “New York, New York”, Cabaret, Maybe This Time
John La Touche – Taking A Chance On Love, Lazy Afternoon
Jack Lawrence – All Or Nothing At All, Tenderly, Linda
Rod McKuen – Jean, If You Go Away, Love’s Been Good To Me
Ivor Novello - Keep The Home Fires Burning
Buddy Pepper – Vaya Con Dios, Pillow Talk
Cole Porter – Night And Day, I Concentrate On You, Just One Of Those Things, Let's Misbehave, Anything Goes, I Get A Kick Out Of You (and countless other classic songs)
James Rado – Hair
Johnnie Ray – The Little White Cloud That Cried
Harry Revel – Did You Ever See A Dream Walking, When I’m With You, There’s A Lull In My Life
Harvey Schmidt – Try To Remember
Howard Greenfield – Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Where The Boys Are
Stephen Sondheim – Send In The Clowns, Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Tonight (and a list of iconic shows probably unknown to the censors)
Billy Strayhorn - Lush life
Luther Vandross – Never Too Much
Alec Wilder – I’ll Be Around
George Wright And Chet Forrest – Stranger In Paradise, “Kismet” (Show)
Where will this end? Where will this music and these artists be seen and heard in the future? We must rally against the forces that conspire to deny, erase and eradicate our culture. If you too find yourself in opposition to the current "values" of our country and government, please take action. Each of us has the power to make a change. Write a letter to your Senator, Congressman or the White House. Send an email. Make a call. Passivity is not progress. Artists and art need our support now more than at any other moment in our lifetimes - regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or any other arbitrary "qualification" designed to divide us.
If you can, please donate to The Trevor Project and visit http://thetrevorproject.org. No amount is too small, and if your personal situation currently prevents a monetary contribution, raising awareness and sharing information is equally vital.
... Oh, and I hope they don’t forget to ban my upcoming show, “The Gay American Songbook”!
p.s. Our special thanks and love to brilliant photographer and friend Greg Gorman for this new image. ❤ Liza and Michael
