No, Gay Republicans, Cyndi Lauper Doesn't Want You Near Her Songs

We love a nice remix. Truly. John Duff's recent take on the "Hokey Pokey" ... that's talent. Even the pandemic-appropriate version of "Be Our Guest" is a true gem. But another revamp that's recently been released is getting some push back.

Brandon Straka is the gay conservative known for leading the #WalkAway campaign, which encourages Democrats (mostly gay ones) to leave the Democratic party for the Republican one. You may remember him for melting down over having to wear a mask on a flight this summer. Well these days, he's apparently singing covers on YouTube.

Last week, Straka released his version of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors."

"As a gay man in America, I spent most of my life believing that Republicans hated me," he said alongside the release. "In the past few years, I've received more love, support, and respect from Republicans, Donald Trump supporters, and the president himself than I ever could have previously thought possible. I created the 'True Colors' video to offer the same love, support, and respect back to these people who have given me so much." But you know one person who is not feeling giving? Miss Lauper herself.

"I have not heard this version and won't be listening to it," Lauper told New York Daily News of the release, which was blocked from YouTube over copyright. "I recorded 'True Colors' to be a healing song and it's not appropriate for anything MAGA related."

"We have free speech in this country, which I would never change," she continued. "But we also have the freedom not listen to things that are coming from a place of hate and divisiveness and we have the right to not want our beautiful music co-opted for the wrong reasons."

The clip is still available on Twitter.

The original "True Colors," was released in 1986 as the lead single from Lauper's album of the same name. The song was nominated for a Grammy and has charted well. It also is what True Colors United, the nonprofit that fights LGBTQ+ youth homelessness, is named for. That organization was started in 2008 as the True Colors Fund, and changed its name in 2019.

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