base talk Dan Reynolds and his LGBT+ activism

[Wrecked]

 

 

 

Believer Documentary

After debuting the first ever LoveLoud festival in 2017, Reynolds decided to let the world in on what made him decide to do something with his HBO documentary Believer. The film follows Reynolds as he meets with and talks to young queer people who were involved at some point as Mormons. The film discusses Utah’s high LGBTQ youth suicide rates, the internal struggle for balance between religion and queerness and what it means to be a true ally, showing Reynolds’ journey from well-intentioned performer to bonafide straight ally.

 

Believer won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary.

 

Watch the full documentary here: 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

He worked with queer superstar Justin Tranter on “Believer”

Reynolds has gone on the record to say Imagine Dragons’ smash-hit single “Believer” is meant as an anthem for LGBTQ people living through dark times. But what many may not know is that queer songwriter Justin Tranter co-wrote the song with Reynolds, expressing his anxiety about the future of the LGBTQ community in our dark political moment. Reynolds not only worked with Tranter to make his song as authentic as possible, but he also recognized Tranter for his contribution at a concert for GLAAD by singing the song with him as a duet.

 

 

He showed how to give LGBTQ people the spotlight with his “Turn Up the Love” series

 

While it is always great when allies speak up for the LGBTQ community, sometimes the job of an ally should be to use their platform to uplift voices from the community. Reynolds did exactly that with his “Turn Up the Love” series with AT&T during Pride Month in 2018. In his six-part video series, Reynolds spoke with six different LGBTQ entertainers and activists about important issues the community is facing and how to reach a greater place of acceptance, showing that sometimes, the best kind of allyship shines the spotlight away from yourself.

 

He demonstrated how to change with his 2017 speech at TrevorLIVE

 

Back in 2017, Reynolds was awarded The Trevor Project’s annual Hero Award for individuals who have made an effort to uplift and support LGBTQ people everywhere. But during his acceptance speech at the 2017 TrevorLIVE event, Reynolds took the opportunity to share his story of going on his Mormon mission trip, where he taught people for two years that being gay was a sin. Instead of making excuses, Reynolds owned up to those two years and apologized to the LGBTQ community at large. “I wish I could re-knock all of those doors and tell them that I was wrong,” he said tearfully. It just goes to show that allyship doesn’t mean being perfect, it simply means taking responsibility for past actions and making yourself better.

 

He called out Eminem for his homophobic lyrics on Kamikaze

 

 

Reynolds sent a message to his LGBTQ fans in “Love” the closing track from their 2018 album Origins. The song is about learning to find a common ground of acceptance and love, and it fits hand-in-hand with his constant advocacy for LGBTQ issues. “We got the same heartbeat/ We’re living for the same dreams/ We got the same bloodstream,” he sings on the track, reminding everyone that at the end of the day, regardless of race, gender or sexuality, we’re all still human.

 

Set up LOVELOUD Foundation

 

Quote

 

Founded in 2017 by Dan Reynolds, the LOVELOUD Foundation, is a catalyst to bring communities and families together to help ignite the vital conversation about what it means to unconditionally love our LGBTQ+ youth. LOVELOUD offers hope to young people, letting them know they’re not alone and encouraging acceptance in the home and community. 

It all begins with talking about, sharing and showing the realities of what LGBTQ+ teens face daily.

 

Read more about their amazing work here:

 

https://loveloudfest.com/foundation

 

The next LOVELOUD festival will be taking place in November of this year. 

 

Had to ‘get FBI involved’ after receiving death threats for LGBT+ allyship

 

Quote

“I’ve had weird things happen, I’ve had weird death threats,” Reynolds said.
 

“I’ve gotten the FBI involved.”

 

But he said that he has a “powerful team” who have “taken care of it”. He told Attitude that he is “not a martyr”, but it is the “reality” of being an ally. Reynolds said the “only reason” he mentioned the threats is “so people do understand this is a real problem still”.

 

“And if you don’t think it is, get involved, and you’ll see,” Reynolds said. “There are a lot of people who are very angry… and in the wrong.”

 

As part of his commitment to being an ally, Dan Reynolds founded LOVELOUD – a foundation and festival that advocate for LGBT+ youth – in 2017. The foundation has awarded grants to organisations that support queer youth including the Trevor Project, Encircle, the Tegan and Sara Foundation and GLAAD.

Donated his childhood home in 2021

The Imagine Dragons singer donated his childhood home so that it could be converted into an LGBT+ youth centre for advocacy group Encircle. The centre based in the Las Vegas property, which is worth $1 million, will help vulnerable queer youth.

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine Dragons band member Ben McKee also performs with a trans flag designed guitar and Dan Reynolds is often found holding the LGBT flag during their live concerts. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Wrecked

[barbiegrande]

And we thank him with an open heart, an open mouth, and an open hole

[katara]

5 minutes ago, barbiegrande said:

And we thank him with an open heart, an open mouth, and an open hole

Exactly

 

[Kh-Loud]

Good for us but why does he only look good with his shirt off? 

[liam13]

wait, i thought he was bi

[Flanders]

I'm sure some of this site's resident imbeciles will find some way to complain about it

[Wrecked]

4 minutes ago, Kh-Loud said:

Good for us but why does he only look good with his shirt off? 

I think he looks hot all the time tbh! 
 

 

[playboi]

okay

[Wrecked]

4 minutes ago, Flanders said:

I'm sure some of this site's resident imbeciles will find some way to complain about it

If they do then ATRL truly is the pits. 
 

[Wrecked]

Just now, playboi said:

okay

I can’t wait to hear about what your faves do for our community. I’ll be waiting. 
 

[zach]

 He is such an incredible ally

[Smarticle]

We love a hot, shirtless ally

 

[The7thStranger]

We stan a king in this house.

[JustHoran]

He's literally SO hot and the fact that he's such a good ally and loves the LGBTQ+ community take me NOW

[stevyy]

I worship. 

[pxxxtrick]

KING!!! 

[chosensparkles]

50 minutes ago, barbiegrande said:

And we thank him with an open heart, an open mouth, and an open hole

[Ms. Togekiss]

Oh wow I did not know Believer was about the LGBTQ+ community 

[airplane]

Need 

[johnny_9ss]

every single day I get bombarded with clips on instagram of him dancing shirtless on a stage. i have never looked him up in my life, yet i keep getting these videos.

[thatsmydemi]

wait

for some reason I've always thought he was bi lol

[cockatoo]

Nice to see someone really putting their money where their mouth is 

[Wrecked]

6 minutes ago, Ms. Togekiss said:

Oh wow I did not know Believer was about the LGBTQ+ community 

Quote

Dan Reynolds, the Imagine Dragons front man, revealed that he wrote "Believer" around the time of the 2016 U.S. presidential election alongside out songwriter Justin Tranter, whose queer visibility in the face of adversity helped inspire the empowering lyrics.

At the time, Tranter "was telling me about the fear in his heart about the future. And we were writing these songs about how we want to change and how we wanted to speak our truth no matter what came our way," Reynolds said.

It makes watching this performance even more powerful, hearing the audience singing the song back to him. 

 

 

[Outlaws]

1 hour ago, barbiegrande said:

And we thank him with an open heart, an open mouth, and an open hole

oh yes, we do

[Wrecked]

11 minutes ago, johnny_9ss said:

every single day I get bombarded with clips on instagram of him dancing shirtless on a stage. i have never looked him up in my life, yet i keep getting these videos.

Lucky you!