FEATURE:
Cher at Eighty
PHOTO CREDIT: Swan Gallet for WWD
Love and Understanding: Celebrating the Icon’s Career-Spanning L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ Advocacy
__________
I did recently…
feature Cher as part of my The Great American Songbook series, so I won’t repeat that and do another mixtape. However, I do have to write about her again, as she turns eighty on 23rd May. I was thinking about what defines Cher. It is her endurance and consistency. How she has helped shape music and changed it too. However, one of the most notable and best aspects of her as a human and artist is her advocacy for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. An icon and trailblazer, she is revered and seen as one of their most staunch and unwavering allies. That is needed in music now arguably as much as ever. I am going to drop in examples where Cher has either defended L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ people or shown her support. I am going to include some songs along the way, not necessarily gay anthems or those that are especially resonant to the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. I will start out with an article from Advocate, which was published in 2024. Admitting that she had been obsessed with gay men since she was nine, Cher “reflected on her relationship with the LGBTQ+ community during a surprise appearance at the Abbey in West Hollywood”:
“Meeting gay men for the first time was “love at first sight” for Cher when she was only 9 years old, the iconic entertainer said during a surprise appearance Thursday at the Abbey, the famous LGBTQ+ bar in West Hollywood.
“The first gay guys I ever met, I was 9 years old,” she said at an event for the Abbey’s new owner, Tristan Schukraft, who bought the bar from David Cooley last year; video was posted online by Marc Malkin of Variety and others. “I walked into my house and there were these two guys there and they started talking to my mom and mom’s best friend. I was thinking, Where have they been hiding these guys? I’m 9, but I thought, Wait a minute … why aren’t the other guys as funny as these guys? It was really love at first sight.”
Cher also gave a shout-out to her LGBTQ+ fans. “One thing I have to say that is serious, that is from the heart, is that I’ve had really ups and downs in my career — I mean, really! — and you guys never left me,” she said. “So thank you.” She had entered the bar singing “Song for the Lonely.” She is a longtime ally to the community and mother of a transgender son, Chaz Bono”
There is a lot of articles and different pieces I could bring together, and the timeline is slightly all over the place here. However, as a performer, Cher is someone who will not perform in a nation who has is anti-gay/trans and does not support the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. Unfortunately, that maybe includes America now under President Trump. In 2013, Cher refused to play in Russia for the Winter Olympics:
“Cher claims to have rejected an invitation to perform at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Although she was asked to participate in February's official opening ceremonies, the singer said she "immediately" refused out of solidarity with Russia's gay community.
Speaking with the Canadian magazine Maclean's, Cher recounted receiving a call from a friend "who is a big [Russian oligarch]". "[He] asked me if I'd like to be an ambassador for the Olympics and open the show," she said. "I immediately said no. I want to know why all of this gay hate just exploded over there. He said the Russian people don't feel the way the government does”.
Cher is no stranger to Russia: she has performed there twice in the past year. And while she said she "can't name names" when it comes to her friend the oligarch, both of her recent gigs were at the invitation of billionaire businessman/politician Suleyman Kerimov. Kerimov is the world's 162nd-richest man, according to Forbes; he is also a huge Cher fan. He brought the Believe singer to Moscow for a private party in December 2012, and then to his home province of Dagestan this July for the opening of a new football stadium. "Russia is Great … COLD BUT GREAT!" Cher tweeted at the time of the December show. "Here is pic of me wearing my friend's [giant, fur] hat!"
Cher is a longtime advocate of LGBT rights, spurred by events "in the early days" of Sonny and Cher, as well as her experiences as mother to a transgender child. "People hated Sonny and I ... because we looked and acted so different," she told Maclean's. "Sonny was always getting into fights – people would called him 'fag' and he'd get his nose broken – only because we were dressing different … You can't forget that”.
There are a couple of other articles I will get to before wrapping this up. Which artist would you say is the greatest and most prolific gay rights activist and ally ever? Many might jump to Madonna. That would be a good shout. Though think about Cher and all the times she has stood up for gay rights and supported the L.G.B .T.Q.I.A.+ community. This article from The Blunt Post argues Cher is the greatest gay icon of all time. This was published in 2018, so it might need updating:
“1983: She played a lesbian opposite Meryl Streep in the film, Silkwood, and was nominated for her first Academy Award.
1989: She released the smash hit If I could turn back time, with a groundbreaking video and reinvented herself once again. The video was filmed on The Queen Mary with hundreds of US Navy sailors. She wore a sexy see-through outfit that vowed the public and redefined what a woman in her forties can do.
1995: Cher’s then daughter, Chastity Bono, came out as a lesbian and went on to be the President of GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation).
1997: Recognized as one of the LGBT community’s most vocals advocates, Cher was invited as the keynote speaker for the 1997 national Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) convention.
1998: Cher reached a new commercial peak with the album Believe, whose title track became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK. It featured the pioneering use of Auto-Tune, also known as the “Cher effect”. It played at clubs across the globe and Cher reached a whole new generation of fans.
1998: Cher was honored with a GLAAD Media Award (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Vanguard Award. The honor is presented to a member of the entertainment or media community who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community.
2000 & 2002: The NBC sitcom Will & Grace acknowledged her status by making her the idol of gay character Jack McFarland. In 2000, Cher made a cameo on the show, in which Jack believed her to be a drag queen and said he could “do” a better Cher himself. In 2002, she portrayed God in Jack’s imagined version of Heaven.
008-2010: Chaz Bono underwent female-to-male gender transition. In May 2010, he legally changed his gender and name, a decision Cher supported wholeheartedly and publicly.
2012: Cher attended the GLAAD Media Awards and presented Chaz with GLAAD’s Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is presented annually to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality. Cher was joined on stage by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (Sonny Bono’s second wife and widow).
2018: Cher starred in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, arguably one of the gayest films in recent years and reunites her with her good friend, Meryl Streep”.
There is a remarkable article from Pride Source that is also from 2018. It was timely, as Cher, in their words, “did her gay-icon due diligence by helicoptering onto the set of "Mamma Mia 2! Here We Go Again". I hope that, as she turns eighty soon, there are new interviews where we get to see how she continues to champion, defend and speak for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community:
“In July, she did her gay-icon due diligence by helicoptering onto the set of "Mamma Mia 2! Here We Go Again" to play the role she'd been playing in front of the world, most discernibly to generations of baby-gays and grown-up gays: maternal pillar. When I met Cher in 2016 on Halloween at a fundraiser stop for Hillary Clinton in the suburbs of Michigan, I was struck by her Cher-ness, the glitzy legend momentarily eclipsed by her warm, inviting humanness.
Armed with a cannon of glittery ABBA bops, Cher has come to our rescue once again with an ode to the Swedish disco-pop supergroup titled – what else? – "Dancing Queen," her 26th album and first since 2013's "Closer to the Truth." In December, "The Cher Show," the musical about her life, which she is co-producing, officially opens on Broadway. And next year, because she just can't help herself, she will embark on a tour appropriately titled "Here We Go Again."
The night we spoke, Cher was laid-back, reflective and full of hearty chuckles as she talked about that Walgreens detour, kissing "Silkwood" co-star Meryl Streep, the wedding dress she'd wear to Trump's impeachment party, the "breadcrumbs" of her legacy, Twitter, the devil, jumping out of a window – and not only her long-standing influence on the LGBTQ community, but our influence on her.
You could've easily found enough inspiration in the world's current plight for another album like your 2000 indie album "Not Commercial," which was dark.
But we don't need that right now! We need ABBA right now! If anything, we need to not be brought down because everything is so terrible. I was just talking to this one boy who came in and he was asking me what did I really think and I said, "Babe, I think the picture's bleak. I think everyone's gotta vote."
Thankfully, "Dancing Queen" is a slice of gay heaven in hell.
Well, look, I wasn't doing it for that, but I'm happy if it can make people happier than they were before they heard it.
When were you first aware that the LGBTQ community identified you as a gay icon?
I don't think I was when I was with Sonny. I think it happened on "The Sonny and Cher Show" (which ran from 1976-1977), somehow. I don't know – I don't know how that happens. I mean, how does it happen? I have no idea! It's just like, we made a pact and we're a group and that's it.
But you were seeing more of the LGBTQ community come out at some point? There was a switch?
Yeah, there was a change, there was definitely a change. And I think it was when I was not with Sonny anymore, and then somehow it all started to click. But I always had gay friends. I actually almost got arrested at a party with my best friend at school. He was gay but he couldn't let anybody know, and he wanted me to go with him to a party and the party got raided. And we jumped out the bathroom window! It was high. We had to go over the bathtub into the window and jump out.
Do you recall the moment that galvanized you to stand up as an ally for the LGBTQ community?
I really don't know if there was a moment. I'm not sure there was a moment; I'm not sure what it was. I just feel that, probably, there was a moment where guys thought I was just one of you. It's like, there's a moment where you're either part of the group and you're absorbed into the group and people love you as part of the group, or they don't even know you're alive, you know? Gay men are very loyal.
Look, I have a friend (makeup artist) Kevyn Aucoin – he's dead now – but he told me when he was young, he was growing up in some place in Louisiana and said how horrible it was to have to hide and be frightened, and he said he loved listening to Cher records. I think that's a dead giveaway! Haha! If you want to hide being gay, do not buy Cher records!
And I had another friend who had a Cher poster on his wall. I don't remember where he came from – some small town too – and his dad ripped it off the wall and he bought another one, put it inside his closet and said it was a way to really be who he was in spite of who his dad wanted him to be.
When in your life have you felt like the LGBTQ community was on your side when the rest of the world maybe was not?
Always. I remember when I was doing (the play) "Come Back to the Five and Dime" (in 1976) and we had standing room only before we got reviewed, and after we got reviewed nobody came except the community – the community, and little grey-haired old women who came to matinees. We managed to stay open until we could build back up the following. Also, the gay community, they just don't leave you, they stay with you; that's one thing that always keeps you going.
What does that loyalty mean to you?
There's been sometimes where I was just, you know, heartbroken about things, but it always gives you hope when there are people who think that you're cute and worthwhile and an artist. It's a great thing to have in your back pocket.
How do you hope your role as the mother of a trans son, Chaz Bono, has influenced other parents of LGBTQ kids?
This is what I think, and this is what I would hope: I would hope that, look, I didn't go through it that easily. Both times. When I found out Chaz was gay, I didn't go through it that easily; when I found out Chaz was (transitioning) … except we talked about it a lot, actually. But then Chaz didn't mention it anymore, so I kind of forgot. And what I think is, there's such a fear of losing the child you love, and what will replace that child.
I think it's about the fear, mostly. I felt, who will this new person be? Because I know who the person is now, but who will the new person be and how will it work and will I have lost somebody? And then I thought of something else: I thought, my god, if I woke up tomorrow and I was a man, I would be gouging my eyes out. And so I know that if that's what you feel then that must be so painful that it doesn't make any difference what anyone else feels or what anyone else thinks. Chaz is so happy now and we get along better than ever”.
It is a very bleak time in America. For so many reasons. When it comes to women’s rights and body autonomy. Abortion being criminalised and President Trump, a known abuser and misogynist, making sure women have fewer rights and less freedom than any time in recent history. In terms of rights of the trans community, they are more vulnerable and less heard than ever before. In 2023, Cher spoke out for trans rights. How we all need to stand together at a moment when trans people are being demonised and seen by some governments, including Trump’s, as almost sub-human. Their safety as in jeopardy as it has been ever arguably. A powerful and consistent ally such as Cher is definitely not wavering:
“Cher is sounding the alarm about the unprecedented number of anti-trans bills that have been introduced by Republicans in state houses across the U.S. this year.
While promoting her first-ever holiday album, Christmas, out this Friday, the “Believe” singer seemed aghast when asked about the GOP’s anti-trans crusade ahead of the 2024 election.
“It’s something like 500 bills they’re trying to pass,” she told The Guardian.Bottom of Form
In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 501 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced, and in some cases passed into law, across the country during the 2023 legislative session. Those include bans on gender-affirming care for trans young people and laws restricting which bathrooms trans people can use and the sports teams on which they can compete.
“I was with two trans girls the other night – and of course my own child,” Cher continued, referring to her son, Chaz Bono, who is trans. “I was saying, ‘We’ve got to stand together.’ I don’t know what their eventual plan is for trans people. I don’t put anything past them.”
A long-time LGBTQ+ ally—not to mention a gay icon—Cher has spoken candidly about her struggle to come to terms with Bono coming out as trans.
“I think it’s about the fear, mostly. I felt, who will this new person be? Because I know who the person is now, but who will the new person be and how will it work and will I have lost somebody?” she told PrideSource in 2018.
In the years since Bono began transitioning in 2008, however, Cher has been a tireless defender of her son, blasting transphobic critics on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2011. “If you got that excess time and that amount of hostility, I’m not so sure that I can say anything to you that would make you change your feelings,” she said. “Those are such feelings of hostility and fear, that I don’t know that I would have any magic words to make you feel more comfortable and to soothe you into not being terrified of my child dancing on ‘Dancing With the F–king Stars.’”
Following the 2016 election, she told LGBTQ Nation “I shudder to think” what Donald Trump’s presidency might mean for transgender Americans.
“I almost got an ulcer the last time,” Cher told The Guardian of a potential second Trump victory. “If he gets in, who knows? This time I will leave [the country]”.
You knew Cher has a nasty and cold feeling. That Trump would roll back trans rights and block any pro-trans bills and orders within hours of coming back into The White House. This 2025 article provided some sobering and awful truths about Trump and his attitudes towards the trans community:
“Within hours of returning to power Monday, United States President Donald Trump issued a stunningly broad executive order that seeks to dismantle crucial protections for transgender people and denies the validity of gender identity itself.
The new order withdraws a range of executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden, including those allowing transgender people to serve in the military, advancing the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, and interpreting federal sex discrimination protections in domains like education, housing, and immigration to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The order states that the US government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, that are fixed at birth, and orders government agencies to end all reference to and consideration of a person’s gender identity. This sweeping redefinition threatens federal programs used by transgender people and impacts federal documentation such as passports, which can currently reflect the gender identity of transgender and nonbinary people.
The order also pledges to withhold federal funding from any programs that promote “gender ideology,” echoing language used by right-wing movements across Europe and Latin America to oppose not only recognition of transgender people but broader sexual and reproductive rights.
Worryingly, it instructs agencies to house transgender people in detention according to their sex assigned at birth, putting them at extreme risk of physical and sexual violence, and to withhold gender-affirming care in prisons, which can amount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment under international law. The order further instructs the Department of Justice to help agencies reinforce sex-segregated spaces that exclude transgender people, potentially excluding transgender individuals from everyday facilities like bathrooms but also from crucial services like shelters for those facing homelessness and intimate partner violence”.
Transgender rights in the US are currently heavily contested, with a stark divide between states passing restrictive legislation and others expanding protections. As of 2025–2026, over twenty-five states have restricted gender-affirming care for minors, while federal protections are fluctuating. Major debates centre on healthcare access, bathroom usage, and sports participation. This anti-trans bill tracker gives us real-time information about the bills passed and where in the U.S. At the time of writing this (5th April), there have been 755 bills across forty-two states. Twenty-six passed, 666 active and sixty-three have failed. Texas has passed the most anti-trans bills. Missouri, Oklahoma, and West Virginia are not far behind. Other high-impact states for passing restrictive laws include Idaho, Arkansas, and Wyoming. Cher was born in California. California has passed zero anti-transgender bills in recent years, as the state actively pursues pro-equality legislation and serves as a ‘shield’ state for gender-affirming care. Conversely, California is a leader in passing pro-transgender legislation, with over 200 LGBTQ+ bills enacted as of September 2025. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed numerous bills strengthening protections for transgender and nonbinary people regarding privacy, healthcare, and identification. This is heartening to see. Civility and humanity in one of the biggest and most important states in the U.S. As this revered icon and fearless, consistent and committed champion for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community enters her ninth decade on 23rd May, I wanted to highlight some of her important words, advocacy and great work here – whilst peppering in some Cher classics! I am not sure what her position is about remain in the U.S. Cher still live in the U.S. but I feel that she might relocate if President Trump doubles-down his anti-trans hatred. Trying to almost eradicate or neutralise the community. This incredible advocate for communities still attacked, vilified and seen as immoral by so many nations and states of the U.S. has Cher in their corner. It might be a long road (especially in the UJ.S.) before there is equity, freedom and acceptance but, with women like Cher standing firm and not budging, this is a huge reason…
TO believe.