while i can mainly only speak for sapphic playlists, ive noticed in general that the lgbt playlists were making are really white, cover heavy and… straight?
so heres a (very unabridged) list of lgbt musicians that deserve to be on your playlists way more than that cover of lego house. in alphabetical order:
Against Me! if youre trans & alternative and dont know abt against me - lead by trans frontwoman and punk rock mum laura jane grace - then idk what youre doing. ik theyre p well known, but i still never see them in playlists.
Angel Haze / Raen Roes black & native american two-spirit rapper with the brilliant freestyle rewrite of ‘same love’
Ashby and the Oceanns cute midwestern singer/songwriter with a tmg influence
Be Steadwell super cute butch singer/songwriter
Beth O'Reilly irish youtube singer whose gay ukelele songs arent covers
Bloc Party indie rock band from east london led by kele okereke, coolest man on earth, ended oasis w his snark (seriously)
Chris Garneau french-american indie singer reminiscent of spektor’s anti folk, often discusses trauma with very sad, floaty music. very androgynous voice
Christine and the Queens french synthpop by pansexual singer héloïse letissier
Coeur de Pirate french-canadian singer with a more folky vibe reminiscent of of monsters and men. oh, and shes dating laura jane grace. put them both in the same playlist. please.
Daskinsey4 (warning for nsfw imagery in the link) fuzzpedal britpop from bristol with a fun, bouncy tone
Doria Roberts 90s american folk singer/songwriter. political and confident. put ‘honey jar’ in your playlist please just do it.
Ezra Furman gay american alternative rock singer similar to neutral milk hotel
Ferras indie pop singer with a strong bowie influence vocally
Frank Ocean yes, you know who he is. have you listened to him? have you? i dont care if you only listen to harsh noise folk backwards - listen to frank ocean.
Gerard Way we all know gerard fuzzpedal emo king friends with ljg way and still i see more artic monkeys in these gaylists (gay playlists)
Grace Petrie folk singer from the midlands, england whose bbfsies w billy brag. has two modes: angry gay, sad gay. what more do you need?
Hayley Kiyoko ok ok ik we all know her shes the token woc in your playlist im putting her on the list anyway because im in love with her
Honeywater has a dubious place on the list due to the other fella but.. this is amandla stenbergs band. amandla. they make music. remember that.
the Hoosiers the british indie band behind ‘goodbye mister a’
Indigo Girls this is fucking lesbian heritage right here. Old Skool lesbian country singers right here.
the Internet classique gay triphop led by my dream girlfriend, syd the kyd
Jasmine Kennedy soft sad indie folk from the north of england. her sweet, quiet music ranges from melancholic to happy ending bliss. shes stage buddies w grace petrie too. put ‘cardigan sweater’ in your playlist. do it.
JD Samson & MEN nonbinary dance music officianado JD Samson and her new band after le tigre. loud and fun and gay
Jussie Smollet he plays jamal in empire. admittedly, he hasnt brought out his own stuff yet, but his music for empire is beautiful soulful R&B
Kaytranada a gay music producer whose worked with all the big names, including collaborating with the internet. gay squared.
Le Tirgre lesbian feminist dance music
MIKA the fella behind ‘grace kelly’ and outspoken mga singer whose broached gay/bi topics in his peppy, flamboyant pop since the beginning
MNEK brand new pop sensation making waves with his smooth, energetic love songs
Mr. Twin Sister american indie pop band from long island
Neon Hitch bisexual rroma indie pop singer from the uk
Rachael Yamagata melancholic, blues inspired folk-pop with a smooth, deep voice
Shamir nonbinary synthpop singer known for his androgynous voice and catchy, light hearted tunes such as ‘on the regular’ and ‘make a scene’
Sia bisexual pop-ballad queen who sings often abt trauma, mental illness, and abuse
Soko kristen stewarts girlfriend. indie singer with a high, airy voice whose music ranges in topic from trauma to homophobia to the surreal. put ‘who wears the pants’ on your playlist.
Spoonboy genderqueer punk singer from washington dc. try ‘sexy dreams’
Teenage Kitchen airy kidcore ukelele folk from bandcamp
Tegan & Sara look, ok, i know everyone knows abt tegan and sara. the lesbian band. so why are they never on sapphic/lesbian playlists? why?
Thao & Mirah folk/country lesbian mirah teams up w thao, who afaik is also sga, for an album of soft, sweet folk music
Tracy Chapman seriously ok this is History. this is the woman behind ‘fast car.’ very political american folk singer from the 90s. i love her. shes amazing.
Tunde Olaniran R&B / hiphop singer from michigan with a loud, take-no-shit style
Willow Smith yes, the willow smith. she wrote two love songs dedicated to marceline from adventure time. thats all you need to know. shes perfect.
Younger Lovers fuzzpedal energetic indie punk
this is also a list of trans women on bandcamp (check the notes for additions)
also, yknow what, spoken word poetrys getting quite popular now. heres a few lgbt spoken word poets to put in the start or end of your playlist to shake it up:
andrea gibson, toby campion, venus selenite, dia davina, aislinn evans, denice frohman, ollie renee schminkey, jade anouka
note: ive bolded the names of poc to emphasise our lgbt playlists are too white. trans musicians are italicised for similar reasons.
please feel free to add your own!
fyi Le Tigre is Kathleen Hanna’s newer band and she’s a pretty notorious transmisogynist so I wouldn’t recommend them (i mean I’d lie if I said I hadn’t put rebel girl on some mixes myself but still just letting people know, otherwise this looks like a great list)
