Janet Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter and actress. Jackson garnered a substantial gay following during the 1990s as she gained prominence in

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

. Recognized as a long-term ally of the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

community, Jackson received the

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their liv ...

for Outstanding Music Album for her

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

-winning sixth studio album ''

The Velvet Rope ''The Velvet Rope'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Janet Jackson. The album was released on October 7, 1997, through Virgin Records. Prior to its release, she renegotiated her contract with Virgin for US$80 million, the largest rec ...

'' (1997), which spoke out against homophobia and embraced same-sex love. In 2005, Jackson received the Humanitarian Award from the Human Rights Campaign and

AIDS Project Los Angeles APLA Health is a non-profit organization that is focused on building health equity and promoting wellbeing for the LGBT and people living with HIV." APLA Health is one of the largest non-profit HIV service organizations in the United States. Its ...

in recognition of her involvement in raising funds for AIDS Charities and received the Vanguard Award at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2008. In June 2012, Jackson announced she is currently executive producing a documentary on the lives of

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

people around the world titled ''Truth'', saying she agreed to sign on to help stop discrimination against the transgender community.

''The Velvet Rope'' and AIDS charities

During the recording of Jackson's sixth studio album ''The Velvet Rope'', the singer reportedly suffered from depression, which became a central theme to the album among other subjects including domestic abuse, low self-esteem, sadomasochism, homophobia and

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

. In his review of the album, Neil McCormick of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' observed, " acksoneven makes a bid for gay icon status, delivering a diva-ish performance reminiscent of Diana Ross on 'Together Again' (a post-AIDS pop song), singing a paean to homosexuality on the jazzy 'Free Xone' and finishing with a lesbian reinterpretation of Rod Stewart's 'Tonight's the Night'." The song "Free Xone" dealt specifically with homophobia and same-sex relationships. Speculation over Jackson's own sexual orientation began circulating after the release of ''The Velvet Rope''—particularly regarding her

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"—however, Jackson denied rumors that she has had sexual relationships with other women. The album's second single " Together Again", a hit in several countries, became an homage to loved ones Jackson has lost to AIDS, as well as an

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

to AIDS victims and their families worldwide. The upbeat dance song was arranged to celebrate the spirit of those who have passed on, rather than mourn their deaths, as Jackson comments. A portion of the single's sales were donated by Jackson to The American Foundation for AIDS Research. On November 17, 1997, Jackson was honored by the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum for the album's sexual orientation-related content, in addition to receiving the award for Outstanding Music Album at the 9th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 1998. In June 2005, Jackson was given the Humanitarian Award by the Human Rights Campaign and

in honor of her activism. She has also been a strong advocate of practicing safe sex as a means of inhibiting the spread of the AIDS virus, criticizing those who are "careless" when it comes to sexual intercourse.

LGBT social movements

LGBT social movements Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...

, which include the Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement,

Gay Liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii ...

, lesbian feminism, and

transgender activism The transgender rights movement is a movement to promote the legal status of transgender people and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health ...

, have often garnered

celebrity endorsement Celebrity branding or celebrity endorsement is a form of advertising campaign or marketing strategy which uses a celebrity's fame or social status to promote a product, brand or service, or to raise awareness about an issue. Marketers use celebr ...

from many entertainers including Jackson. She has often voiced her support for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, advocating all people have the right to fall in love. In 2008, Jackson appeared in a

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

sponsored by the

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

television network and the

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network GLSEN (pronounced ''glisten''; formerly the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) is an American education organization working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender ex ...

(GLSEN) in response to the E.O. Green School shooting. The announcement discusses the murder of fifteen-year-old Lawrence "Larry" King and the safety of LGBT youth in public schools. Jackson states that "none of us are safe, until all of us are safe". On April 26, 2008, fellow gay icon

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

presented Jackson with the Vanguard Award at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Jackson spoke with Larry King on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, supporting the

It Gets Better Project It Gets Better is an Internet-based 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe. It was founded in the United States by gay activist, author, m ...

and

The Trevor Project The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...

, a non-profit organization providing crisis and suicide prevention for LGBT youth, in light of the high profile suicides committed in Fall, 2010. She stated: "(I was) one of those kids ... holding everything inside ... internalizing everything. And that really can affect you, and feeling helpless and hopeless, and finding that person that you can trust, that adult, like I did later on in life, that I felt comfortable and safe to tell my issues, my worries, my pains, my aches to. This is what the Trevor Project is really all about. And they have a 24-hour hotline ... There's someone there that you can speak with 24 hours that will be there for you." She made an official It Gets Better video which was released on December 1, 2010. Jackson is currently producing a documentary on the lives of

people around the world titled "Truth", saying she agreed to sign on to help stop discrimination against the transgender community. "All people are very important to me. I've been fortunate to make friends and learn about very different lives," Jackson said in a statement. " 'Truth' is our small chance to ask that you try and understand someone who lives their life in a way that is a little bit different from yours, even though all of our hearts are the same. We want to stop the hate and find understanding." Director Robert Jason, who previously directed the Style Network documentary "Style Exposed: Born Male, Living Female," about four transgender New Yorkers, said Jackson will play a prominent part in the finished product. "Janet Jackson will take us on a visually innovative, cerebral journey through the turbulent lives of transgendered people of all ages around the world and their epic struggle for equality," he said in a statement announcing the project. "This film will highlight landmark mainstream stories and provide a glimpse at others that will change the gender landscape of the world forever. Just as it is hard to believe that there ever was a time when different components of society were required to use separate drinking fountains, it is as incredible that one's gender expression remains just such a target for discrimination." Jackson is working behind-the-scenes on the movie and will also take part in some of the on-camera interviews as well.

References

External links

Janet Jackson's official websiteGay & Lesbian Alliance Against DefamationHuman Rights CampaignAIDS Project Los Angeles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janet Jackson As Gay Icon Jackson, Janet Jackson, Janet

Gay icon A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon of some members of the LGBT community. The most widely recognized gay icons are often actresses and singers who garnered large LGBT fanbases, such as Judy Garland, Madonna, Diana Ros ...

''The Velvet Rope'' and AIDS charities

LGBT social movements

See also

References

External links