During her SiriusXM concert at the famed Apollo Theater Monday night, Lady Gaga told the raucous audience she wishes Pride Week could “exist 365 days of the year.”
“So it’s Pride Week,” began the openly-bisexual pop star. “I wish it could exist 365 days of the year, but I’ll take a f*ing global week.”
The Oscar winner also noted that Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, and mentioned transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, who is widely recognized for throwing the first brick at the riots in 1969.
“Yeah, that was when our community said enough is enough,” she said to cheers. “And all hail to so many, including miss Marsha P. Johnson. What bravery, what courage. In the spirit of acceptance, the spirit of tolerance, the spirit of courage to be seen as you see yourself.”
“I have learned so much over the years from all my fans,” added Gaga. “I feel so blessed, thank you for showing me and teaching me.”
One of the things she’s learned, she told the crowd, was the importance of pronouns and the respect they can show.
Said the ‘Bad Romance’ singer: “Ask the question: ‘What. is. your. pronoun.’ Because for a lot of people, it’s really hard, and their pronouns aren’t respected or they’re not asked, and for me I’ve grown and changed over the years in a lot of different ways.”
“I’ve felt misunderstood in different ways,” continued the international pop star. “All our hardships are different; I don’t mean to compare; I just mean to say we’re in this together.”
“And I’ve had a million reasons to want to give up,” she said as she wrapped up her remarks. “And sometimes, if you’re lucky, you just need one good reason to stick around.”
Variety reports the concert was an invitation-only event for SiriusXM subscribers and Pandora listeners, and marked her first performance in New York City in nearly two years.
If you missed her this week, don’t forget Lady Gaga continues her Las Vegas residency at Park MGM with tickets available through next May.
Watch the superstar’s Pride moment below.
