I will say this now, and I will say it for always
I will shout it out so you can hear the echo down these hallways
I will not be made to feel ashamed of this word that describes me
I will not regret this word that made me feel, finally, free

I will not let you trample this fire in my heart
I will never forget that this is how I play my part
I will not hear the screams of bigotry and hate
I will never crash beneath that angry weight

I will raise up my brothers, sisters, and those in between
I will never let us go unspoken or unseen
I will not let our importance be dashed against the rocks
I will not let us be shoved aside into a dirty, dust-collecting box

You say that you see us, that we have it okay
But if that were true, then it would be legal to be gay
You don’t understand, this pain that we’ve felt
You don’t understand the flames of our anger, enough to make glaciers melt
You will never understand, try as you might
But that doesn’t mean your efforts are slight

To my friends and my loves, to my wonderful beautiful doves
Don’t you ever, ever give up your hope
Reach out and we will all be your rope
We will tether you to the ground upon which you firmly stand
Together as one, all hand in hand

To you who would hurt us, you who would see us gone
You who would turn us away, like the fading night in the coming dawn
You cannot beat us down or silence our cries
We will always be there to take to the skies

We are not weak, we are not small
We have worth and have value, the lot of us, one and all
So I say this now and I say it for always
You cannot defeat us
We are the rainbow after the rain
The colors in the rising sun’s rays