A gay anthem (or LGBT anthem) is a song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the LGBT community; usually with gay men. The lyrics of gay anthems are often marked with hope against the odds, pride, unity, or defiance. UK LGBT rights charity Stonewall named Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" the most empowering song of the 2000s decade for LGBT people.

Although every song is individual, the criteria for what makes a gay anthem has shown a trend among the years. In the book Queer, the following ten main themes were listed that are common among many, if not all gay anthems:

Rather than particular songs, this area of gay anthems is more akin to a cult of personality of a large gay male following for some particular diva-style pop music vocalists who are almost always female gay icons. Modern examples include Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga.

The Weather Girls, also known as Two Tons o' Fun (especially during the early portion of their career), are an American duo comprising two African-American women. The girl group has charted several dance hits over the course of its career, with its peak in popularity having occurred in 1982, when the group released the hit song "It's Raining Men." The group currently comprises Ingrid Arthur and Dynelle Rhodes, the daughters of founding member Izora Armstead, who died in 2004.

The original Two Tons were Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. Though the mainstream pop market considers the team a one-hit wonder for "It's Raining Men" (even though the group technically does not qualify for the title, since the song did not make the Top 40, peaking at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100), they recorded three songs which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart under the "Two Tons o' Fun" name: "Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven" (1980); "Just Us" (1980 and also made #29 on the US R&B chart); and the Hi-NRG song "I Got the Feeling" in 1981. They were brought together by Sylvester as his backing group (from 1977 to 1981), who also gave them the name 'Two Tons O' Fun.' They also backed Aretha Franklin (on "Freeway of Love"), and Bob Seger (1986). They are best known for their 1982 #1 club and pop hit, "It's Raining Men", the recording of which music producer Paul Jabara supervised and from which the name "The Weather Girls" was derived. After the success of "It's Raining Men", other hits with the original line-up (which adopted the Weather Girls moniker permanently after the hit) included "Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man this Christmas)", for which, as with "It's Raining Men", an accompanying music video was made, and "No One Can Love You More Than Me." The group disbanded in 1985, while Wash moved on to a solo career, one that continues into the present day.

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (/ˈstɛfəniː dʒʌrməˈnɑːtə/ STE-fə-nee jurr-mə-NAH-tə; born March 28, 1986), known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and was signed with Streamline Records by the end of 2007. During her employment as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.

Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album The Fame (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". After embarking on the The Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with The Fame Monster (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro". The album's success allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her most recent album Born This Way (2011) topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles, including "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Besides her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Carl Bean (born 1944) is the founding prelate of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, a liberal protestant denomination that is particularly welcoming of lesbian, gay and bisexual African Americans. Before founding the first church of the denomination, the Unity Fellowship Church, Los Angeles, in 1975, Bean was a Motown and disco singer, noted particularly for his version of the early gay liberation song "I Was Born This Way" off of disco label West End Records.

In 1982 Bean became an activist, working on behalf of people with AIDS.

Bean's autobiography, I Was Born This Way, came out in 2010.

Kore. Ydro. is a rock/pop group from the Greek island of Corfu.

Kore. Ydro. were formed in Corfu during the autumn of 1993 by 15-year-old schoolmates Pantelis Dimitriadis, Giorgos Arvanitakis while Spiros Katagis. Konstantinos Amygdalos joined in 1997 and Spiros Katagis departed in 2000. Pianist/multi-instrumentalist Alexandros Makris joined in 2001, creating Kore. Ydro.’s music core with Dimitriadis.

Kore. Ydro.'s early output was "no-fi" home recordings of trash aesthetics, peculiar live performances, "raw" video clips and humorous short "films". Their self-produced official debut If All Ever Ended Here [An Ola Telionan Edo] was released in March 2003 by the Greek label Wipeout Records in 515 copies. The downloadable-only mini album Seven Months Later [Efta Mines Meta] followed seven months later.

February 2004 saw the release of the first official Kore. Ydro. video - also produced by the group - for the song "Your Kindness" [I Kalossini Sou], the highlight of If All Eνer Ended Here.

In February 2006, three years after the release of the critically acclaimed debut, Kore. Ydro. released Cheap Pop for the Elite [Ftini Pop ya tin Elit] (Greek: Φτηνή ποπ για την ελίτ) on a new label (Capitol/EMI).