http://www.truecolorstour.com/main.html

Lauper, Others Headline Gay Rights Tour

Cyndi Lauper, Deborah Harry, Margaret Cho To Headline Tour To Raise Awareness For Gay Rights

(AP)For some people, Cyndi Lauper's classic "True Colors" is just another love song.

But as Lauper learned from reading fans' letters, for others, the song's lyrics about letting "your true colors shine through" had a much deeper meaning.

"A lot of people were saying that when it came out (in 1986) they were teenagers and they were coming out," says Lauper, a longtime gay rights supporter. "They were disowned by their family and their friends and their jobs got all messed up and they were totally alone, and suicidal, and then they heard `True Colors' and it made them feel hopeful."

So it's fitting that Lauper, 53, is one of the headliners on the new "True Colors" tour, which will hit major cities nationwide to promote gay rights. Other performers for the 15-city event, which kicks off in Las Vegas on June 8 and ends in Los Angeles on June 30, are Deborah Harry, The Dresden Dolls, Erasure and Margaret Cho.

"This tour is basically gonna be five hours of some of my favorite bands and me, and Margaret Cho making us laugh, and while we're touring, we're going to be raising awareness," Lauper told The Associated Press on Friday. "I think people don't know what's going on, that's all."

Besides headliners like Lauper and Harry, the show will have guest artists such as Rufus Wainwright in the various cities it hits. "Every time I talk to a band, they're like, `I want to go!'" says Lauper with a laugh.

The tour, sponsored by Logo, the MTV Networks channel targeting gay audiences, will provide information to fans who attend, as well as purple wristbands with the slogan "Erase Hate" from the Matthew Shepard organization, named for a gay youth killed in an apparent hate crime. A dollar from every ticket sold will be earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

Lauper believes more Americans would be supportive of equal rights for gays if they knew the discrimination they faced.

"You shouldn't have to be treated badly because of your sexual orientation. Come on, we don't live in a dictatorship. This is supposed to be America, the home of the free and the brave," she says. "It can't be free for some and not for others."

Other stops on the tour are Salt Lake City; Denver; Chicago; Atlantic City, N.J.; Boston; Washington; New York; Toronto; Atlanta; Dallas; Houston; San Diego and San Francisco.

I would love to go!

Atlantic City would be the closest for me. Ryan, can I crash on your sofa? lol

Yes, yes yes, I've heard about this. I soo wanna go too. Hopefully I'll make the money to get a ticket!

I see your true colors shining through...and that's why I love you ...so don't be afraid to let them show your true colors.

Dallas or Houston would be closer to you Matt.

^^^i'm going, I'm going! My friend and I are so in! Who would have ever thought we'd get to Erasure live?, lol, and the Dresden Dolls, plus the Cho, gotta love it.

I can't wait!!

Erasure puts on one HELLUVA show

^^^i'm going, I'm going! My friend and I are so in! Who would have ever thought we'd get to Erasure live?, lol, and the Dresden Dolls, plus the Cho, gotta love it.

I can't wait!!

Which one are you going to Matt? The Dallas one or Houston one?

This sounds rather interesting.

I've never been to one of her concerts before.

I like Cyndi Lauper's songs....

^^Her songs do sound rather cool.

Erasure puts on one HELLUVA show

Yaya, I can't wait!! I have every cd and the dvd of the videos.

Which one are you going to Matt? The Dallas one or Houston one?

prlly the Houston one...

I like how Cyndi did re-arrangements of some of her songs.... Just picturing going to the concert where she's singing "She Bop" makes me smile a little...