So Sick Edits

Lady Gaga, West Hollywood Celebrate ‘Born This Way Day’

In West Hollywood, May 23rd is now officially Born This Way Day. The new holiday celebrates the release date of Lady Gaga’s 2011 album Born This Way, which turned 10 on Sunday.

During the in-person ceremony on Sunday, Gaga was presented with a key to the city by Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath. A street painting on Robertson Boulevard was also revealed as a tribute to the LGBTQIA+ community, with the album title painted out in colors representing the trans pride flag and the gay pride flag. 

“You’ve been the motherfuckin’ key to my heart for a long time,” Gaga said to the audience during the presentation. 

Gaga shared photos of the event on social media along with a message about the album and its meaning. “Born This Way, my song and album, were inspired by Carl Bean, a gay black religious activist who preached, sung, and wrote about being ‘Born This Way.’ Notably his early work was in 1975, 11 years before I was born, ” she explained. “Thank you for decades of relentless love, bravery, and a reason to sing. So we can all feel joy, because we deserve joy. Because we deserve the right to inspire tolerance, acceptance, and freedom for all.”

Born This Way was Gaga’s follow-up to her debut The Fame and EP The Fame Monster. She led the album with the empowering single “Born This Way,” which has since become an essential gay pride anthem. The LP also made Rolling Stone‘s updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. A year ago this week, she released her sixth LP Chromatica, which featured the Grammy-winning Ariana Grande collaboration “Rain on Me.”