CMU School of Drama


Friday, September 16, 2016

Pittsburgh's Billy Porter sings about 'All That Matters' for Human Rights Campaign

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Billy Porter re-introduced his song "All That Matters,” written with Matt Zarley and James Sampliner; as the headliner at the 20th annual Human Rights Campaign National Dinner Saturday night.

6 comments:

Emily Lawrence said...

I am glad he did this performance, because the more conversation that occurs on this matter, the more people will become accepting. If it is something that people continue to push aside, nothing will ever be accomplished. It is also very important for people to realize that love is love and nothing can ever change that. While the song was originally written for marriage equality, it still fully applies to human rights because it pushes forward the idea that all people have the same rights. It is also important that people with influence are not afraid to talk about this matter. People tend to listen to authority, so Tim Kaine giving a speech can only help push for equality. And while there has been an impressive amount of progress, people need to remember that there is still a long way to go. Men may be able to marry other men, but the fact that they feel unsafe around some people and in certain situations proves that there is still much that needs to happen. People just need to keep the conversation going and act upon what they say to achieve full equality.

Claire Farrokh said...

This is a such a beautiful song, and I am so glad that Billy Porter is continuing to sing this at events, even though it was intitially written for the marriage equality movement. I think it is especially important that Billy Porter was contacted to perform at a political event. Even though it is a human rights campaign event, it is still a big deal that the people organizing the event are hiring people who actually are making an effort to improve human rights for all people. I also love that Billy Porter introduced the song the way that he did. He could have just come out and started singing, but he went through the whole back story of the song, mentioning how it was originally written for marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights. Even though same sex marriage has been legalized, it is still necessary to remind people of the issue, especially since people in the LGBTQ+ community continue to be mistreated.

Sasha Schwartz said...

Yes Billy Porter!!! It’s great to see CMU Drama alumni standing up for what’s right and using their fame to help and support others. Human Rights Campaign is a great organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ equality, and it’s so great to see someone we recognize from Broadway joining with such a company to promote not just for marriage equality, but all of the rest of the progress that still needs to be done. It’s also very exciting to see members of the democratic party speaking in support of the HRC. I think it’s fast becoming an antiquated idea for hyper- conservative republicans to think that “marriage is between a man and a woman!”, but with this current election it’s easy to think that we haven’t actually come all that far. I can only hope and pray that it’s Clinton/Kaine who pulls through and makes sure that we don’t take any steps backwards in terms of these fundamental rights.

Zak Biggins said...

billy porter is amazing! this song is incredible and i'm so glad he chose to sing it for the human rights campaign! it's so exciting, to me, to see our alumni redefining this art form and what we can do with it (just as billy did in kinky boots). the human right campaign is at the top of my social platform and heavily impacts which candidate to vote for. when the human rights campaign endorsed clinton i knew that this election was going to be revolutionary in terms of rights for the LGBTQ+ community. I encourage all artists to comment on the political system and contribute in any way, just as billy and many other artists have done. this performance reminds me of a similar one at the democratic national convention. i am wildly impressed by the broadway community and their continuous fight to help further social agenda in the american political system.

Javier Galarza-Garcia said...

It makes me so happy whenever I see celebrities and just well known people publicly fighting for what is right. This song was an excellent choice to headline the human rights campaign. ;Like previous comments bring to light, Billy Porter has been a constant advocate and symbol in fighting for human rights, the right to marry anyone you want, to be anything you want. The fact that Clinton is being backed by the Campaign means that educated individuals have trust in that she will help in pushing the right for every individual. It also influences young people in making a decision this coming fall, and if they want to continue to see human rights grow they need to make the right choice and promote equality. Be part of the movement and spread the love.

Jake Poser said...

Billy Porter has been such a voice for the theater community and for pushing our community and those around us into truly accepting all different walks of life in 2016. I am beyond thrilled that the Human Rights Campaign has decided to publicly back Senator Clinton in her presidential campaign. Like Javi mentioned earlier, this shows that educated individuals of all walks of life in a HUGE organization have the ability to recognize what is necessary for our country to continue to grow and prosper. Specifically on numerous amounts of social and a few fiscal policies. I often find that many theater celebrity types like Billy Porter and Lin Manuel Miranda jump on board in supporting causes that speak to the truth of what the theater community stands for: acceptance and love. The song sung by Billy Porter in the video posted is an awesome musical monologue of the human spirit, and the ideas that I strive to implement in my daily life. Accepting others without judgement is difficult because we all bring to the table something different. We were raised by different people, in different places. However, if we embrace our differences as positives and much as our similarities we have a much stronger future as a country and human community.