Last February, the creative Wondros agency put out a casting call for LGBT people to kiss as part of Melissa Etheridge’s “Uprising of Love” anthem for LGBT Russians.
The music video was released late Thursday. It features flashes of montages of LGBT Pride parades intercut with images of gay Russians and others around the world being beaten and harassed for who they are. And then, suddenly, interspersed as motionless contradictions to the chaos of the world and yet still a part of it, are clear, artistic images of couples—LGBT and straight, all ages, sizes and colors—holding hands, lovingly facing each other, hugging each other until they kiss.
The video is a pure, heartfelt Valentine to LGBT people struggling with opression, harassment and even death everywhere.
“If you had been to Russia a couple of years ago, you would have seen the gay movement gaining ground,” says Etheridge. “Now, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is looking for a common enemy to unite the country. He’s saying the reason you don’t have a job or that your family is suffering is because of gay people. Then there are government sanctions that allow violence. It’s an old World War II way of scaring a nation into submission.”
Etheridge is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the single to the U.S.-based, grant-giving Russia Freedom Fund, which directly helps LGBT activists in Russia—even more imperative now that the eyes of the world are no longer on the Sochi Olympics.
“My message is that I’m never going to change anyone by telling them what they should be,” Etheridge says. “It all starts with me, so I’m going to start an uprising of love. Love is love.”
The Uprising of Love coalition was founded on Human Rights Day (Dec. 10, 2013) by Melissa Etheridge and her partner Linda Wallem (pictured), along with Dustin Lance Black, Bruce Cohen and Greg Propper. More than 75 celebrities have aligned themselves with the cause, including Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, James Franco, Edward Norton, Jim Parsons, Julianne Moore, Chris Colfer, Sean Hayes and many more. The song has also been remixed by EDM heavy-hitters the Bent Collective (Danny Verde and Steven Redant) for a special club mix.
Etheridge is about to set off on a limited series of concerts in intimate theaters. You can download “Uprising of Love” on iTunes and find out more about the movement at this website, on Facebook and on Twitter: @UprisingOfLove #UprisingOfLove