In collaboration with the City of West Hollywood's Summer Sounds Concerts Series, the City of West Hollywood will close out Pride Month events with the first-ever combined Lesbian Speakers Series and Summer Sounds event: Free Myself: A Conversation and Concert with Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins. This free event will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 25, 2023 at Plummer Park, located at 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard. Seating is not provided; picnic blankets, low chairs, and picnic snacking are encouraged. RSVP is requested.

Sophie B. Hawkins’ acclaimed 1992 album Tongues and Tails achieved massive global success and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, vaulting Hawkins into the limelight and revealing her as a cultural luminary way ahead of her time. Ms. Hawkins broke new ground when she used a female pronoun in a romantic context in her 1992 hit song, Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover (“…I sat on a mountainside with peace of mind, And I lay by the ocean making love to her with visions clear…”), the first time a same-sex pronoun was used in a mainstream major record label release. She also challenged the norms of gender expression and sexual orientation at a time when political, social, and sexual labels were more rigid. When asked by a New York Times reporter in 1992 if she was gay, she answered “omnisexual” which under the culture and politics of the time could have effectively ended her career before it even began.

The first half of the event begins at 4 p.m. with the Lesbian Speakers Series event and will feature a conversation focusing on the topic of visibility for lesbian/queer women in the music industry with insights and stories from Sophie B. Hawkins’ more than three-decade career. Free Myself is the title of her sixth studio album, which was released in Spring 2023 to rave reviews. Ms. Hawkins is a 2021 recipient of the City of West Hollywood’s Rainbow Key Award. City of West Hollywood Public Information Officer Sheri A. Lunn will moderate the event.

The Lesbian Speakers Series will be immediately followed at 5 p.m. by the first Summer Sounds Outdoor Concert Series performance of the season where Ms. Hawkins and her band will perform her greatest hits and brand-new favorites.

 Please RSVP here.

For more information on Lesbian Speakers Series, including joining our mailing list, visit us here, or call Dee Saunders at (323) 848-6833.