NYC Pride Parade 2013: Lady Gaga Speaks At Pier 26

Culture

These days, you may have been wondering where in the world Lady Gaga has been hiding. After going strong with one hit song after another and touring, the cancellation of the Born This Way Ball to undergo hip surgery marked the last time the media reported big news on the celebrity.

For the first time in months though, Lady Gaga made a public appearance Friday night, speaking at Pier 26 for New York's Gay Pride kick-off rally. 

The openly-bisexual artist is one of the entertainment industry’s most well-known gay rights advocates, spreading the message of LGBT equality through speeches and through her music. 

In wake of the recent Supreme Court decisions that struck down the Defense Against Marriage Act (DOMA) and deemed California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional, bringing back gay marriage in the state, this year’s Pride rally will be especially celebratory for members of the LGBT community and their allies.

Of course, what better way to commence the festivities than with a crowd-rousing speech and the singing of the national anthem, with a few words tweaked to address the occasion? 

Gaga attributed her spiritual growth and survival to the LGBT community, explaining that she “felt so damaged, so destroyed, so degraded by those kids at school, by [her] own psychological struggles.”

“But then it was you that saved me,” she stated on Friday. “You saved me, my friends in the LGBT community time and time again. And I saw God for the first real time in all of you. You were sent to me like angels to protect me and to save me. It was you who understood my need to hide behind the wigs, the glasses, the glamour, the clothing … I get to see God every day when I’m with you.”

After her speech, she proceeded to sing the national anthem while clutching a pride flag and holding it to her chest and giving the song a situationally-fitting flair.

"Oh say, does our star-spangled flag of pride yet wave," she sang, finishing off with the line “and the home for the gays.” Happy Pride Week!