Happy 9-2-5 Day! Here is a gift bonus episode for all those who loved Dolly Parton.
Dolly Parton Tribute: Music, Memories & LGBTQ+ Allyship
Listen to Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again” on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6H7nDglS6xWpRidbhMwI2L
I heard Dolly Parton before I knew who Dolly Parton was.
I was riding to kindergarten when “Here You Come Again” came through the car radio. I didn’t know her name yet—I just knew that when the song ended, I wanted to hear it again. A few years later, I was standing in front of a mirror lip-syncing “9 to 5” like I was Dolly. Looking back, some of the clues about me were less subtle than others.
This episode is my personal tribute to Dolly Parton—not only the country music legend covered in rhinestones, but the woman whose humor, Christian faith and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people made a gay kid from a conservative evangelical world feel safe.
I talk about Dolly’s declaration that “people are people,” the time she entered a Dolly Parton look-alike contest at a gay bar and lost to the drag queens, and “Travelin’ Thru,” the song she wrote for the transgender-centered film Transamerica. I also share why her understanding of God, family and belonging meant so much to me as I faced estrangement from my own mother, married Troy and learned the important difference between receiving permission and being truly accepted.
This is an episode about Dolly Parton’s LGBTQ+ allyship, grief, faith, family and the people who help us believe we were already somebody worth loving.
The world may feel less sparkly without Dolly—but she left us the rhinestones.
References and further listening
• Dolly Parton’s 1984 interview with Andy Warhol and Maura Moynihan:
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/new-again-dolly-parton
• Dolly discusses her gay fans and losing a drag look-alike contest:
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/dolly-parton-gay-rumors-losing-drag-queen-alike-17812138
• The Associated Press on Dolly’s Christian faith and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people:
https://apnews.com/article/6c8d0046b90ef8490ebe1233aeb69008
• The Academy Awards listing for “Travelin’ Thru” from Transamerica:
https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2006/T
• Official memorial announcement from Dolly Parton’s family:
https://www.dollyparton.com/news/official-announcement-dolly-parton-passes-away-at-80
• Celebrity tributes, including Kacey Musgraves:
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dolly-parton-dead-80-celebrities-react-country-music/story?id=135946115
• Sally Field and Reba McEntire’s Emmy Awards tribute:
https://www.televisionacademy.com/video/dolly-parton-tribute-78th-emmy-awards
• Miley Cyrus’s tribute to her godmother:
https://pitchfork.com/story/miley-cyrus-pays-tribute-to-godmother-dolly-parton-i-have-an-angel-by-my-side/
• Dolly Parton’s 2018 Library of Congress interview:
https://www.loc.gov/item/2021690731/
Music credits
• “Morning Mandolin” — Chris Haugen
YouTube Audio Library
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0bxY-vPuYU
• “Photographs” — The Lakes
Licensed through Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/contributors/the-lakes
• “Steadfast” — The Lakes
Licensed through Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/contributors/the-lakes