Cyndi Lauper asserts her advocacy for 'fundamental rights': 'You can get angry, but vote'
Cyndi Lauper espouses a simple theory: âIf youâre going to work really hard to get to the top of the mountain, you better have something good to say.â
An enduring authority not only in music, but also Broadway and social justice campaigns, Lauper has reached many a mountaintop in her 40-year career.
And she still has much to say. "I feel it's time to raise our voices," she tells USA TODAY.
On Tuesday, Lauper launches the fund Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights â a takeoff on her iconic 1983 breakthrough, âGirls Just Want to Have Funâ â which will support womenâs issues including reproductive health and abortion access, as well as promote voting efforts.
Lauper is also releasing a lyric video for âSallyâs Pigeons,â her abortion-themed song originally recorded for her 1993 âHat Full of Starsâ album and re-released in acoustic form following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.
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âI donât want a vanity project,â she says. âI believe in effective change.â
This is hardly Lauperâs first foray into championing human rights causes. In 2008, she co-founded True Colors United to aid homeless LGBTQ+ youth and is a prominent voice at Pride festivals and events.
Ever the advocate and creative force, Lauper, 69, talks about the genesis of the fund, her upcoming entertainment projects and recently losing her beloved mother, Catrine Dominique, to dementia.
Question: Were you thinking about starting this fund prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade or was that ruling the impetus?
Answer: The ruling was the straw that broke the camelâs back. Iâd seen the signs in 2017 at the Womenâs March that said "Girls just want to have fundamental rights" and that really touched me, because in the â80s I was talking about womenâs rights. I got a lot of guff sometimes from people, the whole "shut and sing" thing, but whatever. When I saw those signs, I just felt like everything I did was really worth it because I know that (âGirls Just Want to Have Funâ) is a song that is handed down from generation to generation. I never wanted to make disposable music.
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I remember when the original âSallyâs Pigeonsâ came out on âHat Full of Stars.â Are you seeing a different reaction to it now?
I grew up in a time where every headline was "Another girl found dead from back-alley abortion." Itâs a story that needs to be told so people remember what itâs like. There are a lot of people who werenât born then and for 50 years you felt protected under a constitutional right. This is an issue about equality and not having bodily autonomy. This is the U.S., which means âwe the peopleâ and 50% of âwe the peopleâ are women.
Youâve been a huge supporter of the LQBTQ+ community your entire career. How do you feel about the future of gay marriage rights?
Iâm worried about all kinds of rights. Thatâs the whole slippery slope with equality and taking away fundamental rights. You say you donât want government control and now theyâre in your bedroom and controlling forced birth. This is what happens when civil rights start to get stripped away. You can get angry, but Iâm telling you, vote. It should be mandatory that people vote.
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Youâve got a lot of other things in the pipeline, too. Whatâs the latest on the Broadway musical version of âWorking Girlâ (based on the 1988 film)?
Even that is about womenâs rights, set in the â80s. Iâm writing with Rob Hyman (of The Hooters, who co-wrote Lauperâs âTime After Timeâ). Iâm also working with Cheryl (James) from Salt-N-Pepa. Everything Iâm doing is kind of all about women.
And inclusion, like your Tony Award-winning âKinky Boots,â which just returned to off-Broadway.
âKinky Bootsâ is more about about evolving and acceptance and redemption. It also has every different kind of person in it and thereâs something great about that diversity.
Youâre working with Alison Ellwood on a documentary about your life (âLet the Canary Singâ). Did her work on the âLaurel Canyonâ and Go-Goâs documentaries make her the right person for the job? When can we expect it?
Next year. I always felt the proof is in the pudding. I saw âLaurel Canyonâ and I absolutely loved it and I saw The Go-Goâs thing and bottom line, I think sheâs a wonderful storyteller.
I was really sad to hear about your momâs passing in June because I remember her from all of your early videos. How have you been coping with the loss?
I donât believe that sheâs gone. Sheâs not on the planet anymore but sheâs part of me and I see her all the time. Iâm grateful to have had her for so long. She inspired me in so many ways â including doing this fund. She believed in womenâs rights and was so happy in 2016 when, for the first time in her life, she could vote for a woman (for president). In the end she had Alzheimerâs and dementia and she had a hard time. But I was able to stay with her and I feel blessed.
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