Not the usual hi-energy music that generally appears on this blog, Holly Near’s Singing for Our Lives is very much an old fashioned folk song.

Why, then, is it appearing on an LGBT blog?

Because it was written in response to the assassination of one of our greatest heroes, Harvey Milk (who was murdered 35 years ago this month).

For some reason the song wasn’t released until 1983 but, with the advent of AIDS, it took on yet another important meaning for us.

“We are gay and straight together, and we are singing, singing for our lives”