St. Petersburg – Expect packed crowds and a lot of love during this year’s second annual 27/82 Pride Concert at the State Theater on Friday, June 27. Performers Mary Lambert—who wrote the chorus to “Same Love”—and band Hunter Valentine of The Real L-Word fame are co-headliners of the official Pride event.
It will be Lambert’s first time in St. Petersburg. She gained national acclaim with Macklemore and Lewis’ “Same Love” and is now one of the most popular LGBT artists in the recording industry.
“I think it’s a fallacy to say you’re not marginalized as a minority,” Lambert says when asked about being out. “The hurdles are less difficult, but then again, I’m not an expert since I’m relatively young and getting into it now. It is hard, but I didn’t have to compromise anything. I feel fortunate for that.”
The LGBT community, she says, has helped bolster her success, and for that she will forever be grateful. But in the mainstream world, it’s more about the music.
” I feel very lucky for the people who have surrounded me and pushed me to this level that I am,” she says. “I wouldn’t be here without the support of my whole team. But it’s turned into being gay is an afterthought. It’s like, ‘Oh yeah, she’s a singer songwriter and she’s gay.'”
The members of Hunter Valentine are also out and proud, and have made a huge splash in the Showtime reality series The Real L Word. But the band has been around longer than that series, which begins its second season July 12.
Kiyomi McCloskey was looking for a drummer in 2006 when she met Laura Petracca in a crowded bar. Now, eight years later, two record labels and three studio albums later, the band has put down roots in Brooklyn and tour 200-plus gigs around the globe.
The 27/82 concert is no-doubt geared toward a female audience, promotion company Girl2Girl Productions typically does. But that doesn’t mean men can’t enjoy the show as well.
“I’m always fascinated by the attention the ‘My Body Love Poem’ gets on my site,” Lambert says. “It’s a body love poem geared toward women and my experience as a plus-sized lesbian. But I get so many comments from gay men who say its applicable to them. I forget as a woman that body image issues are a universal struggle and not gender-specific. I have found that men also enjoy the show.”
And it was male/male, female/female, and male/female couples who wed in a mass ceremony at the Grammy Awards in the spring of this year—and Lambert was able to witness it all from the stage.
“I cried for like 10 hours the day before we performed,” Lambert recalls. “I felt so much and felt that this performance was so important in our society and culture. To be at the epicenter that directly affects me, I thought, ‘Wow, this is so close to home!'”
And while it was a watershed moment for the gay and lesbian community, Lambert recognize that the struggle isn’t over.
“Trans rights is our next chapter,” Lambert says. “That community is severely underrepresented I’ve seen the radical injustice transgender people face because I have a lot of trans friends. It’s about all of us being treated as equal citizens. Those are inalienable rights.”
And what about Lambert’s personal life? Does she see a wedding dress and a fancy reception in her home state of Washington any time soon?
“I completely want to get married and I can’t wait to be settled down,” says Lambert, who says she and her partner Michelle have an incredible relationship. “It’s a privilege to spend time with her. Marriage is definitely in our future.”
More Info:
WHAT: 27/82 Concert
WHO: Mary Lambert and Hunter Valentine
WHERE: State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, June 27
TICKETS: StPetePride.com
