"Glad To Be Gay" was originally written by Tom Robinson for a London Gay Pride march in 1976. An out gay songwriter, he subsequently formed the TOM ROBINSON BAND with three (non-gay) musicians and - inspired by directness and confrontational style of The Sex Pistols - the band released a four-track EP called "Rising Free" on EMI Records in Feb 1978 which included the song.

The EP made the UK Top 20 - reaching 18 in the UK singles chart within a week of release. BBC Radio 1 refused to play "Glad To be Gay" choosing instead the less controversial opening track "Don't Take No For An Answer". However, listeners to rival station Capital Radio voted it No.1 on their Listeners' Hitline for six consecutive weeks.

The song was subsequently included on the North American release of TRB's "Power In The Darkness" album later in 1978. The song has been performed - with the lyrics occasionally updated - ever since.

click for MP3 of original 1978 version


SING IF YOU'RE GLAD TO BE GAY (1978)
The British Police are the best in the world
I don't believe one of these stories I've heard
'Bout them raiding our pubs for no reason at all
Lining the customers up by the wall
Picking out people and knocking them down
Resisting arrest as they're kicked on the ground
Searching their houses and calling them queer
I don't believe that sort of thing happens here

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

Pictures of naked young women are fun
In Titbits and Playboy, page three of The Sun
There's no nudes in Gay News our last magazine
But they still find excuses to call it obscene
Read how disgusting we are in the press
The News of The World and the Sunday Express
Molesters of children, corruptors of youth
It's there in the paper, it must be the truth

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

Don't try to kid us that if you're discreet
You're perfectly safe as you walk down the street
You don't have to mince or make bitchy remarks
To get beaten unconscious and left in the dark
I had a friend who was gentle and short
Got lonely one evening and went for a walk
Queerbashers caught him and kicked in his teeth
He was only hospitalised for a week

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

So sit back and watch as they close all our clubs
Arrest us for meeting and raid all our pubs
Make sure your boyfriend's at least 21
So only your friends and your brothers get done
Lie to your workmates, lie to your folks
Put down the queens and tell anti-queer jokes
Gay Lib's ridiculous, join their laughter
"The buggers are legal now,
what more are they after ?"

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way, hey
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way, hey

SING IF YOU'RE GLAD TO BE GAY (2004)

The LA police are the best in the world
I don't believe one of these stories I've heard
About pretty policemen in leather and jeans
Showing their leg through a slit in the seams
Seeking out superstars, leading them on
Then running them in when they start to respond
But back home in Britain, we're equal and free
Except when the case is a Labour MP

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

The Liars of Wapping are really the pits
Commissioned by bigots and written by shits
They plaster their pages with bingo & tits
Then add all the scandal and slander that fits
They rip into victims destroying their lives
From anglican bishops to footballers wives
From internet perverts to lesbian mums
If it's vicious and fiction it's... there in The Sun

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

Now young Matthew Shepherd was killed in the States,
And left alone dying, and tied to a gate,
For being a pretty and gay 21
He was murdered by thugs who thought killing was fun
At his funeral Christian love showed its face
As the bigots all picketed, twisted with hate
But God doesn't hate fags you sickos, it's true
He even loves people as evil as you

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

For 29 years now I've fought for the right
For people to love just whoever they like
But the right-on and righteous are out for my blood
Now I live with my kids and a woman I love
Well if gay liberation means freedom for all
A label is no liberation at all
I'm here and I'm queer and I do what I do
And I'm not gonna wear... a "straight" jacket for you

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way, hey
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy this way