The passing of Dolly Parton at the age of eighty, was widely reported across the free world. BBC 1's Points West programme emphasised her links with the West of England, culminating in her stunning performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2014. Channel Four News looked at her role in the highly pro-worker and anti-capitalist movie "9 to 5" in which she starred alongside left leaning actors Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in a comedic lampooning of company bosses and corporate greed. The Channel Four narration said that Dolly rarely made any political comments. But this is to misunderstand Dolly's outspoken support for LGBTQIA equality and humanitarian principles across the world. Like another gay icon, the late George Michael, Dolly gave a lot of money to charities and campaigns. She was particularly interested in education and reading, literacy and young people.
When the violent racist group the KKK tried to block gay people from entering her Dollywood theme park, she remarked "Am I going to say they're not welcome here? Of course not".
In 1991, when gay men and other groups including many black people were living with and dying from AIDS related illnesses, Dolly released one of the earliest country songs to mention the word "gay" , and when trans musician Our Lady J needed surgery her insurance would not cover, Dolly organised a benefit concert.
When Dolly was asked to write a song for the movie TransAmerica, she wrote "Travelling Thru", which earned her an Oscar nomination.
Sometimes, Dolly's love for LGBTQIA people was fun and full of joy. She once secretly entered a Dolly Parton look alike contest at a gay bar full of drag queens, and actually lost! No one recognised her either. Meanwhile, in 2023, when Tennessee passed laws targetting trans people and drag performers, she referred to LGBTQIA people in her family and life "I know and love them all" she said, "and I do not judge".
She concluded " They cannot help who they are any more than I can help being Dolly Parton".
Thanks Dolly. You will always be remembered as one of the good people.
Just as with the Bristol Post newspaper earlier this year, so the Somerset Live website has this week hit back at anti-gay internet trolls who beseiged their comments threads with homophobic posts after a report appeared on Bath Pride, which spread...
One of the ShoutOut Family of community radio stations, is the excellent Trans Radio UK. Since 2018, they have...
B247 reports on the continuing success of the LGBT+ Little Library, which pops up once a month in the Bristol...
