Madonna on the 70s: ‘It wasn’t safe to be gay’
Yesterday (December 9), Madonna accepted the Billboard Woman of the Year award at the Billboard Women in Music 2016 event.
According to Billboard, the Queen of Pop was introduced on-stage by CNN presenter Anderson Cooper who spoke about how Madonna helped him when he was younger.
Then, Madonna gave a personal and moving speech at the event, addressing her life and career, including her early years in New York City when she first connected with the LGBT community.
She said, “People were dying of AIDS everywhere. It wasn’t safe to be gay, it wasn’t cool to be associated with the gay community. It was 1979 and New York was a very scary place.”
“In the first year I was held at gunpoint, raped on a rooftop with a knife digging into my throat and I had my apartment broken into and robbed so many times I stopped locking the door. In the years that followed, I lost almost every friend I had to AIDS or drugs or gunshots.”
Madonna also spoke about David Bowie and how the superstar helped her realise that women are treated differently than men.
“I was of course inspired by Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde and Aretha Franklin, but my real muse was David Bowie. He embodied male and female and that suited me just fine. He made me think there are no rules… But that was wrong. There are no rules if you’re a boy. There are rules if you’re a girl.”
The pop star looked back at previous musicians in her speech, stating she’s lucky to still be standing.
“I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick round. Michael is gone. Tupac is gone. Prince is gone. Whitney is gone. Amy Winehouse is gone. David Bowie is gone. But I’m still standing. I’m one of the lucky ones and every day I count my blessings.”
Madonna then had some wise words for women and the audience.
“What I would like to say to all women here today is this: Women have been oppressed for so long they believe what men have to say about them. They believe they have to back a man to get the job done… As women, we have to start appreciating our own and each other’s work.”
“Seek out strong women to befriend to align yourself with and to learn from, to collaborate with, to be inspired by and enlightened by.”
She adds, “True solidarity amongst women is a power on its own.”