Out for the Holidays

The holiday season is a time to spread the love — to open hearts and minds to the beauty that is our shared, gorgeously diverse humanity. And, oh yeah, it’s also time to party! Which is why we bring you our Out for the Holidays Basics, a set of songs specially selected to grace fun and fabulous GLBT festivities. From out artists — Elton John and the glamorama pop of “Step into Christmas,” Melissa Etheridge and the passionate pleas of “Christmas in America” — to beloved gay-friendly icons, such as the Divine Miss M (Bette Midler’s sweet-and-sassy “Cool Yule”), we’ve got the tunes to roast your chestnuts, deck your halls, and jingle your shiny Christmas bells.

Keep the season going strong in Next Steps.

Gay, straight, undecided — who doesn’t love a great yuletide tune? Not living doll Dolly Parton, who wraps her spun-sugar voice around the time-honored carol “We Three Kings,” or Doris Day, who gives a whirling “The Christmas Waltz” her sultry-sweetheart best. And definitely not Eurythmics alt-idol Annie Lennox, who walks us through a sparkling synth-pop “Winter Wonderland.”

Hit Deep Cuts for more Out for the Holidays magic.

The most sensational surprise package of the season? It’s gotta be the blending of heavenly male voices for the big announcement, “Coming Out on Christmas,” by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus & Dr. Kathleen McGuire. Once that fabulous feline is out of the bag, cue up Liberace’s ivory-tickler “O’ Tannenbaum,” a swoon-y “Silent Night” by so-unusual siren Cyndi Lauper, or Joan Osborne’s swing-time shout-out “Santa Claus Baby,” and let the world know you’re here, you’re queer, and you’re ready for the holidays!

At long last, a soundtrack by which to don your gay apparel — our long-running playlist of songs to celebrate the season and the rainbow-hued humanity of our extended family of GLBT loved ones. Celebrate the birth of the King of Kings with the music of the Queen of Queens (Barbra Streisand’s “Jingle Bells,” “Ave Maria,” and “It Must Have Been the Mistletoe”); get cozy by a crackling Yule log with a special like-minded someone (try the Carpenters and “Merry Christmas Darling”); or give your holiday blowout some musical ornamentation suitable to your orientation with Mariah Carey and “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Wham! and “Last Christmas,” or Cyndi Lauper and her kicky calypso-style “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Remember, that Christmas star shines down on everyone, so we say, “Merry Christmas to all.”