Pride Month Spotlight: Mary Lambert

 

Welcome to the 21st issue in our 2019 Pride Month Series! Each day in June, we will be highlighting a different member of the LGBTQ+ community who we think is an excellent example of representation and dynamic characterization. We will focus on fictional characters, celebrities, and activists alike — the positive voices within the LGBTQ+ community and in mainstream media.

Mary Lambert was born May 3, 1989. She is a musician, spoken word artist, author, and activist. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Cornish College of the Arts located in Seattle, Washington.

Speaking up for the LGBTQ+ community has always been important to Lambert. In an interview with Well + Good, Lambert talks about that: “Speaking loudly and openly about my experiences is inherently political. I think I find most of the power and activism in the performing and sharing of it.”

She wrote and sang the chorus on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love,” a song about the fight for same-sex marriage that went viral. From that, Lambert created the song “She Keeps Me Warm,” a beautiful song about falling in love from the viewpoint of a lesbian. The video shows a realistic depiction of a lesbian relationship that is relatable and not the generic over-sexualized version that is so often seen.

Lambert’s music and poetry are as real and sincere as she is, speaking the truth from the heart. Whether it is on the topic of mental health, body image, trauma, or sexuality, she tells it like it is, connecting to her audience and fans. In one of her first music videos, “Secrets,” she does just that: she shares that she has bipolar disorder and that she cannot think straight because she is gay.

In an interview with Billboard, Lambert talks about leaving a record label and wanting to use her platform. “I think it’s difficult because I do spoken word, I write pop songs, I want to talk about Black Lives Matter, race and really difficult things.”

Currently, Lambert has four albums: Letters don’t Talk, Welcome to the Age of My Body, Heart on my Sleeve, and Bold. And she is working on her fifth album called Grief Creature through Kickstarter.

And knowing Lambert’s emotionally charged lyrics, there will be tears.

Sitting down with Seventeen in 2018, Lambert talked about the conversation of gender and sexuality:

Just learning the right words to use and the pronouns that feel right, it’s so important. Now realizing, okay, I identify more as queer than lesbian.

She uses her platform to stand up and advocate for body positivity, those suffering mental illness, and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, using her strong voice to say and sing what she writes to bring awareness.

Watch Lambert’s music video for “She Keeps Me Warm” below. And check out the rest of our 2019 Pride Month Series here.

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