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LGBT rights in Spain

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Spain rank among the highest in the world, having undergone significant advancements within recent decades. Among ancient Romans in Spain, sexual interaction between men was viewed as commonplace, but a law against homosexuality was promulgated by Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans, and Roman moral norms underwent significant changes leading up to the 4th century. Laws against sodomy were later established during the legislative period. They were first repealed from the Spanish Code in 1822, but changed again along with societal attitudes towards homosexuality during the Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco's regime.

Throughout the late-20th century, the rights of the LGBT community received more awareness and same-sex sexual activity became legal once again in 1979 with an equal age of consent to heterosexual intercourse. After recognising unregistered cohabitation between same-sex couples countrywide and registered partnerships in certain cities and communities since 1998 and 2003, Spain legalised both same-sex marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples in 2005. Transgender individuals can change their legal gender without the need for sex reassignment surgery or sterilisation. Discrimination in employment regarding sexual orientation has been banned nationwide since 1995. A broader law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and provision of goods and services nationwide was passed in 2022. LGBT people are allowed to serve in the military and MSMs can donate blood since 2005.

Spain has been recognised as one of the most culturally liberal and LGBT-friendly countries in the world and LGBT culture has had a significant role in Spanish literature, music, cinema and other forms of entertainment as well as social issues and politics. Public opinion on homosexuality is noted by pollsters as being overwhelmingly positive, with a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2013 indicating that more than 88 percent of Spanish citizens accepted homosexuality, making it the most LGBT-friendly of the 39 countries polled. LGBT visibility has also increased in several layers of society such as the Guardia Civil, army, judicial, and clergy. However, in other areas such as sports, the LGBT community remains marginalised. Spanish film directors such as Pedro Almodóvar have increased awareness regarding LGBT tolerance in Spain among international audiences. In 2007, Madrid hosted the annual Europride celebration and hosted WorldPride in 2017. The cities of Barcelona and Madrid also have a reputation as two of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the world. Gran Canaria is also known worldwide as an LGBT tourist destination.

Roman Empire
The Romans brought, as with other aspects of their culture, their sexual morality to Spain. Romans were open-minded about their relationships, and sexuality among men was commonplace. Among the Romans, bisexuality seems to have been perceived as the ideal. Eighteenth-century English historian Edward Gibbon wrote, of the first fifteen emperors, "Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct" by his cultural standards – the implication being that he was the only one not to take men or boys as lovers. Gibbon based this on Suetonius' factual statement that "He had a great passion for women, but had no interest in men." Suetonius and the other ancient authors actually used this against Claudius. They accused him of being dominated by these same women and wives, of being uxorious, and of being a womaniser.

Marriages between men occurred during the early Roman Empire. These marriages were condemned by law in the Theodosian Code of Christian emperors Constantius and Constans on 16 December 342. Martial, a first-century poet, born and educated in Bílbilis (now Calatayud in Aragon, Spain), but spent most of his life in Rome, attests to same-sex marriages between men during the early Roman Empire. He also characterised Roman life in epigrams and poems. In a fictitious first person, he talks about anal and vaginal penetration, and about receiving fellatio from both men and women. He also attests to adult men who played passive roles with other men. He describes, for example, the case of an older man who played the passive role and let a younger slave occupy the active role.

The first recorded marriage between two men occurred during the reign of Emperor Nero, who is reported to have married two other men on different occasions. Roman Emperor Elagabalus is also reported to have done the same. Emperors who were universally praised and lauded by the Romans, such as Hadrian and Trajan, openly had male lovers, although it is not recorded whether or not they ever married their lovers. Hadrian's lover, Antinous, received deification upon his death and numerous statues exist of him today, more than any other non-imperial person.

Among the conservative upper Senatorial classes, status was more important than the person in any sexual relationship. Roman citizens could penetrate non-citizen males, plebeian (or low class) males, male slaves, boys, eunuchs, and male prostitutes just as easily as young female slaves, concubines, and female prostitutes. However, no upper class citizen would allow himself to be penetrated by another man, regardless of age or status. He would have to play the active role in any sexual relationship with a man. There was a strict distinction between an active homosexual (who would have sex with men and women) and a passive homosexual (who was regarded as servile and effeminate). This morality was in fact used against Julius Caesar, whose allegedly passive sexual interactions with the King of Bithynia, Nicomedes, were commented everywhere in Rome. However, many people in the upper classes ignored such negative ideas about playing a passive role, as is proved by the actions of the Roman emperors Nero and Elagabalus.

In contrast to the Greeks, evidence for homosexual relationships between men of the same age exists for the Romans. These sources are diverse and include such things as the Roman novel Satyricon, graffiti and paintings found at Pompeii, as well as inscriptions left on tombs and papyri found in Egypt. Generally speaking, however, a kind of pederasty (not unlike the one that can be found among the Greeks) was dominant in Rome. It is important to note, though, that even among heterosexual relationships, men tended to marry women much younger than themselves, usually in their early teens.

Lesbianism was also known, in two forms. Feminine women would have sex with adolescent girls: a kind of female pederasty, and masculine women followed male pursuits, including fighting, hunting, and relationships with other women.

The first law against same-sex marriage was promulgated by the Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans. Nevertheless, the Christian emperors continued to collect taxes on male prostitutes until the reign of Anastasius (491–581). In the year 390, Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I, and Arcadius declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be burned alive in front of the public. Christian Emperor Justinian I (527–565) made homosexuals a scapegoat for problems such as "famines, earthquakes, and pestilences".

As a result of this, Roman morality changed by the 4th century. For example, Ammianus Marcellinus harshly condemned the sexual behaviour of the Taifali, a tribe located between the Carpathian Mountains and the Black Sea which practiced the Greek-style pederasty. In 342, emperors Constans and Constantius II introduced a law to punish passive homosexuality (possibly by castration), to which later in 390 Theodosius I would add death by fire to all passive homosexuals that worked in brothels. In 438, this law was expanded to include all passive homosexuals, in 533 Justinian punished any homosexual act with castration and death by fire, and in 559 this law became even more strict.

Three reasons have been given for this change of attitude. Procopius, historian at Justinian's court, considered that behind the laws were political motivations, as they allowed Justinian to destroy his enemies and confiscate their properties, and were hardly efficient stopping homosexuality between ordinary citizens. The second reason, and perhaps the more important one, was the rising influence of Christianity in the Roman society, including the Christian paradigm about sex serving solely for reproduction purposes. Colin Spencer, in his book Homosexuality: A History, suggests the possibility that a certain sense of self-preservation in the Roman society after suffering some epidemic such as the Black fever increased the reproductive pressure in individuals. This phenomenon would be combined with the rising influence of Stoicism in the Empire.

In the Bible, homosexuality is condemned by Paul the Apostle in his epistle to the Romans."And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Bible King James. Romans 1:27."

Eventually, the Church Fathers created a literary corpus in which homosexuality and sex were condemned most energetically, fighting against a common practice in that epoch's society. On the other hand, homosexuality was identified with heresy, not only because of the pagan traditions, but also due to the rites of some gnostic sects or Manichaeism, which, according to Augustine of Hippo, practised homosexual rites.

Kingdom of the Visigoths (418–718)
The Germanic peoples had little tolerance for homosexuals, whom they considered on the same level as "imbeciles" and slaves, and glorified the warrior camaraderie between men. However, there are reports in Scandinavian countries of feminine and transvestite pastors, and the Nordic gods, the Æsir, including Thor and Odin, obtained arcane recognition drinking semen.

In the Early Middle Ages, attitudes toward homosexuality remained constant. There are known cases of homosexual behaviour which did not receive punishment, even if they were not accepted. For example, King Clovis I on his baptism day confessed to having relationships with other men; or Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon poet whose verses and letters contain homoerotism.

One of the first legal corpus that considered male homosexuality a crime in Europe was the Liber Iudiciorum (or Lex Visigothorum). The Visigoth law included in that code (L. 3,5,6) punished sodomy with banishment and castration. Within the term "castration" were included all sexual crimes considered unnatural, such as male homosexuality, anal sex (heterosexual and homosexual) and zoophilia. Lesbianism was considered sodomy only if it included phallic aids.

It was King Chindasuinth (642–653) who dictated that the punishment for homosexuality should be castration. Such a harsh measure was unheard of in Visigoth laws, except for the cases of Jews practising circumcision. After being castrated, the culprit was given to the care of the local bishop, who would then banish him. If he was married, the marriage was declared void, the dowry was returned to the woman and any possessions distributed among his heirs.

Islamic Spain (718–1492)
The Muslims who invaded and successfully conquered the peninsula in the early 8th century had a noticeably more open attitude to homosexuality than their Visigothic predecessors. In the book Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia, Daniel Eisenberg describes homosexuality as "a key symbolic issue throughout the Middle Ages in Iberia", stating that in al-Andalus, homosexual pleasures were indulged in by the intellectual and political elite. There is significant evidence for this. Rulers, such as Abd-ar-Rahman III, Al-Hakam II, Hisham II, and Al Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, openly kept male harems, to the point that, to ensure an offspring, a girl had to be disguised as a boy to seduce Al-Hakam II. It was said that male prostitutes charged higher fees and had a higher class of clientele than did their female counterparts. Evidence can also be found in the repeated criticisms of Christians and especially the abundant poetry of homosexual nature. References to both pederasty and love between adult males have been found. Although homosexual practices were never officially condoned, prohibitions against them were rarely enforced, and usually there was not even a pretense of doing so. Sexual activity between men was not seen as a form of identity. Very little is known about lesbian sexual activity during this period.

Kingdom of Spain (1492–1812)
By 1492, the last Islamic kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, the Emirate of Granada, was invaded and conquered by the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon. This marked the Christian unification of the Iberian peninsula and the return of Catholic morality. By the early sixteenth century, royal codes decreed death by burning for sodomy and was punished by civil authorities. It fell under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition only in the territories of Aragon, when, in 1524, Clement VII, in a papal brief, granted jurisdiction over sodomy to the Inquisition of Aragon, whether or not it was related to heresy. In Castile, cases of sodomy were not adjudicated, unless related to heresy. The tribunal of Zaragoza distinguished itself for its severity in judging these offences: between 1571 and 1579 more than 100 men accused of sodomy were prosecuted and at least 36 were executed; in total, between 1570 and 1630 there were 534 trials and 102 executions. This does not include, however, those normally executed by the secular authorities.

First French Empire
In 1812, Barcelona was annexed into the First French Empire and incorporated into the First French Empire as part of the department Montserrat (later Bouches-de-l'Èbre–Montserrat), where it remained until it was returned to Spain in 1814. During that time same-sex sexual intercourse was legal in Barcelona.

Kingdom of Spain (1814–1931)
In 1822, the Kingdom of Spain's first penal code was adopted and same-sex sexual intercourse was legalised. In 1928, under the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, the offense of "habitual homosexual acts" was recriminalised in Spain.

Second Spanish Republic
In 1932, same-sex sexual intercourse was again legalised in Spain.

Francoist Spain
Between 1936 and 1939, right-wing, Catholic forces led by General Francisco Franco took over Spain, and Franco was dictator of the country until his death in 1975. Legal reforms in 1944 and 1963 punished same-sex sexual intercourse as "scandalous public behavior". In 1954, vagrancy laws were modified to declare that homosexuals are "a danger", equating homosexuality with proxenetism (procuring). The text of the law declared that the measures "are not proper punishments, but mere security measures, set with a doubly preventive end, with the purpose of collective guarantee and the aspiration of correcting those subjects fallen to the lowest levels of morality. This law is not intended to punish, but to correct and reform". However, the way the law was applied was clearly punitive and arbitrary: police would often use the vagrancy laws against suspected political dissenters, using homosexuality (actual or perceived) as a way to go around the judicial guarantees.

However, in other cases, the harassment of gay, bisexual and transgender people was clearly directed at their sexual mores, and homosexuals (mostly men) were sent to special prisons called galerías de invertidos ("galleries of inverts"). Thousands of homosexual men and women were jailed, put in camps, or locked up in mental institutions under Franco's dictatorship, which lasted for 36 years until his death in 1975. The year Franco died, his regime began to give way to the current constitutional democracy, but in the early 1970s gay prisoners were overlooked by political activism in favour of more "traditional" political dissenters. Some gay activists deplored the fact that reparations were not made until 2008.

However, in the 1960s, a clandestine gay scene began to emerge in Barcelona, and in the countercultural centers of Ibiza and Sitges (a town in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, that remains a highly popular gay tourist destination). In the late 1960s and the 1970s, a body of gay literature emerged in Catalan. Attitudes in greater Spain began to change with the return to democracy after Franco's death through a cultural movement known as La Movida Madrileña. This movement, along with growth of the gay rights movement in the rest of Europe and the Western world, was a large factor in making Spain today one of Europe's most socially tolerant places.

In 1970, Spanish law provided for a three-year prison sentence for those accused of same-sex sexual intercourse.

Kingdom of Spain (1975–present)
Same-sex sexual intercourse was again legalised in Spain in 1979, and this remains its legal status today.

In December 2001, the Spanish Parliament pledged to wipe clean the criminal records of thousands of gay and bisexual men and women who were jailed during Franco's regime. The decision meant that sentences for homosexuality and bisexuality were taken off police files. Further reparations were made in 2008.

Law regarding same-sex sexual activity
Same-sex sexual acts were technically lawful in Spain from 1822 to 1954, with the exception of the offence of "unusual or outrageous indecent acts with same-sex persons" between the years 1928 and 1932. However, some homosexuals were arrested in the days of the Second Spanish Republic under the Ley de Vagos y Maleantes ("Vagrants and Common Delinquents Law"). Homosexual acts were made unlawful during Francisco Franco's time in power, first by an amendment to the aforementioned law in 1954, and later by the Ley de Peligrosidad y Rehabilitación Social ("Law on Danger and Social Rehabilitation") in 1970. In 1979, the Adolfo Suárez Government reversed the prohibition of homosexual acts.

A new penal code was introduced in Spain in 1995 which specified an age of consent of 12 for all sexual acts, but this was raised to 13 in 1999 and to 16 in 2015.

Recognition of same-sex relationships

In 1994, the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos was passed, giving same-sex couples some recognition rights. Registries for same-sex couples were created in all of Spain's 17 autonomous communities: Catalonia (1998), Aragon (1999), Navarre (2000), Castile-La Mancha (2000), Valencia (2001), the Balearic Islands (2001), Madrid (2001), Asturias (2002), Andalusia (2002), Castile and León (2002), Extremadura (2003), the Basque Country (2003), the Canary Islands (2003), Cantabria (2005), Galicia (2008), La Rioja (2010) and Murcia (2018), and in both autonomous cities; Ceuta (1998) and Melilla (2008). These registries grant unmarried couples some benefits, but the effect is mainly symbolic.

Same-sex marriage and adoption were legalised by the Cortes Generales under the administration of Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005, making Spain the third country in the world to do so.

Soon after the same-sex marriage bill became law, a member of the Guardia Civil, a military-police force, married his lifelong partner, prompting the organisation to allow same-sex partners to cohabitate in the barracks, the first police force in Europe to accommodate a same-sex partner in a military installation.

Adoption and parenting
Adoption by same-sex couples has been legal nationwide in Spain since July 2005. Some of Spain's autonomous communities had already legalised such adoptions beforehand, notably Navarre in 2000, the Basque Country in 2003, Aragon in 2004, Catalonia in 2005 and Cantabria in 2005. Furthermore, in Asturias, Andalusia and Extremadura, same-sex couples could jointly begin procedures to temporarily or permanently take children in care.

Since 2015, married lesbian couples can register both their names on their child(ren)'s certificates. This does not apply to cohabiting couples or couples in de facto unions, where the non-biological mother must normally go through an adoption process to be legally recognized as the child's mother.

Lesbian couples and single women may access in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and assisted reproductive treatments. Prior to 2019, this was mostly in the private sector, where such treatments were much more expensive (around 7,500 euros for IVF). In 2018, following reports that Spain had one of the lowest birth rates in Europe (with reportedly more deaths than births in 2017), measures extending free reproductive treatments for lesbians and single women to public hospitals were announced. The measures took effect in January 2019. Surrogacy is prohibited in Spain regardless of sexual orientation, though surrogacy arrangements undertaken overseas are usually recognized.

In November 2021, an executive order was signed to allow free IVF treatment for single women and women in same-sex relationships throughout Spain. The right of single women and women in same-sex relationships to access IVF was enshrined in law as part of the "Trans Law" passed by congress on 16 February 2023.

Discrimination protections
Spanish law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV status, and "any other personal or social condition or circumstance.” in employment and provision of goods and services. A comprehensive anti-discrimination bill, called the Zerolo Law, was passed by the Cortes Generales on 30 June 2022.

Prior to the Zerolo law, employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation had been illegal in the country since 1995 but employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity was not banned nationwide. The first autonomous community to ban such discrimination was Navarre in 2009. The Basque Country followed suit in 2012, Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Catalonia, and Galicia in 2014, Extremadura in 2015, Murcia, and the Balearic Islands in 2016, Valencia in April 2017, and Aragon in January 2019., Cantabria in November 2020 La Rioja in February 2022 and Castilla-La Mancha in May 2022.

The autonomous community of Madrid previously had a non-discrimination law, but it was repealed by a newly elected far-right government in 2023.

Article 4(2) of the Workers' Statute (Estatuto de los trabajadores) reads as follows:

In labour relations, workers have the right: ... not to be directly or indirectly discriminated in employment, or, once employed, discriminated by reason of sex, civil status, age within the limits set forth by this Law, racial or ethnic origin, social status, religion or convictions, political ideas, sexual orientation, membership or non-membership in a union, or for reasons of language within the Spanish State.

Discrimination in the provisions of goods and services based on sexual orientation and gender identity was not banned nationwide either. The aforementioned autonomous communities all ban such discrimination within their anti-discrimination laws. Discrimination in health services and education based on sexual orientation and gender identity has been banned in Spain since 2011 and 2013, respectively.

Ten autonomous communities also ban discrimination based on sex characteristics, thereby protecting intersex people from discrimination. These autonomous communities are Galicia (2014), Catalonia (2014), Extremadura (2015), the Balearic Islands (2016), Madrid (2016), Murcia (2016), Valencia (2017), Navarre (2017), Andalusia (2018), and Aragon (2019).

Bias-motivated speech and violence
Hate speech on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity has been banned since 1995. Additionally, under the country's hate crime law, crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity, amongst other categories, result in additional legal penalties.

The Secretary of State for Security reported that instances of violence against LGBT people decreased 4% in 2018. This contrasted with figures from other sources. The Observatorio Madrileño reported a 7% increase in anti-LGBT violence in Madrid, while the Observatory Against Homophobia of Catalonia (Observatori contra l'Homofòbia) reported a 30% increase in the first few months of 2019.

Since January 2019, teachers and students in Madrid are obliged to report cases of bullying, including against LGBT students.

Military service
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people may serve openly in the Spanish Armed Forces.

Transgender and intersex rights
In November 2006, the Zapatero Government passed a law that allows transgender people to register under their preferred sex in public documents such as birth certificates, identity cards and passports without undergoing prior surgical change. However a professional diagnosis is still required. The law came into effect on 17 March 2007. In July 2019, the Constitutional Court of Spain declared that prohibiting transgender minors from accessing legal gender changes is unconstitutional. The court ruled that transgender minors who are "mature enough" may register their new sex on their identity cards, and struck down the article of the 2007 legislation that limited this possibility only to those over 18. The first minor to change his legal gender did so in December 2019.

A new bill was approved in June 2022 by the Spanish government that would allow trans people to "self-identify" their gender on national birth certificates and grant permission for people above 16 to change their gender without restrictions, and for people between 12 and 16 under certain conditions. The bill was promoted by the left-wing Unidas Podemos party, but its approval was initially delayed because the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party opposed, questioning the bill's treatment of transgender teenagers and expressing concerns that it may cause gender inequality. The dispute was resolved when Carmen Calvo, the then Vice President of the government, left the Executive. Congress gave final approval to the bill on 16 February 2023 by a vote of 191–60 with 91 abstentions. Many of Spain's autonomous communities have their own laws which allow trans people to change their legal gender identity. Catalonia (since 2014), Andalucía (since 2014), Valencia (since 2014), Extremadura (since 2015), Balearic Islands (since 2016), Madrid (2016–2023), Murcia (since 2016), Navarre (since 2017), Aragón (since 2018), Basque Country (since 2019), Cantabria (since 2020), Canary Islands (since 2021), La Rioja (since 2022), and Castilla-La Mancha (since 2022) allow trans people to self-declare their gender identity. In Galicia, a gender change requires a medical diagnosis.

In 2023, a new right-wing government in Madrid repealed several legal protections and recognitions for trans people. Trans people may now only have their legal gender updated on ID after it has been recognized on national documents.

Intersex infants in Spain may not be given unnecessary medical interventions to have their sex characteristics altered after the passage of the Trans Law on 16 February 2023. Previous to that, it had been banned in several autonomous communities: Andalusia, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre, and Valencia. Human rights groups consider these surgeries unnecessary and, they argue, should only be performed if the applicant consents to the operation (i.e. has reached the age of 18). In April 2019, the Catalan Department of Labor, Social Affairs and Families announced that official documents in Catalonia would include the option "non-binary" alongside male and female.

Blood donation
Gay and bisexual men are allowed to donate blood in Spain. For anyone regardless of sexual orientation, the deferral period is six months following the start of a new sexual partnership.

Conversion therapy
Congress passed a nationwide ban on conversion therapy as part of the "Trans Law" on 16 February 2023. Previously, conversion therapy had been banned or restricted in several autonomous communities.

The autonomous community of Madrid approved a conversion therapy ban in July 2016. The ban went into effect on 1 January 2017, and applies to medical, psychiatric, psychological and religious groups. In August 2016, an LGBT advocacy group brought charges under the new law against a Madrid woman who offered conversion therapy. In September 2019, the woman was fined 20,000 euros. In December 2023, a newly elected right-wing government repealed Madrid's conversion therapy ban in so far as it applies to trans people, and removed any penalties for conversion therapy.

Murcia approved a conversion therapy ban in May 2016, which came into effect on 1 June 2016. Unlike the other bans, the Murcia ban only applies to health professionals. Navarre, the Balearic Islands, and Catalonia have also passed similarly limited conversion therapy bans.

Valencia banned the use of conversion therapies in April 2017. Andalusia followed suit in December 2017, with the law coming into force on 4 February 2018. In January 2019, Aragon made it an offense to promote and/or perform conversion therapy. The autonomous communities of Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha and La Rioja also have conversion therapy bans.

In April 2019, the Government of the Community of Madrid announced it was investigating the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alcalá de Henares for violating conversion therapy laws. This followed reports that a journalist named Ángel Villascusa posed as a gay man and attended a counselling service provided by the diocese. Villascusa alleged the bishop was running illegal conversion therapy sessions. The bishop was defended by the Catholic Church in Spain. Minister of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare María Luisa Carcedo called for a nationwide ban on conversion therapy. She said, "they [the Church] are breaking the law therefore, in the first instance, these courses have to be completely abolished. I thought that, in Spain, accepting the various sexual orientations was assumed in all areas, but unfortunately we see that there are still pockets where people are told what their sexual orientation should be".

LGBT rights movement in Spain

The first gay organisation in Spain was the Spanish Homosexual Liberation Movement (MELH, Movimiento Español de Liberación Homosexual, Moviment Espanyol d'Alliberament Homosexual), which was founded in 1970 in Barcelona. The group also established centers in Madrid and Bilbao. It disbanded in 1973 because of police pressure, but following Franco's death, several members of the group formed the Front d'Alliberament Gai de Catalunya (FAGC) in 1975 to continue campaigning for LGBT rights. Several more groups were established, including the Euskal Herriko Gay-Les Askapen Mugimendua in the Basque Country, the Frente Homosexual de Acción Revolucionaria in Madrid, and the Coordinadora de Frentes de Liberación Homosexual de Estado Español (COFLHEE), all three in 1977. On 28 June 1977, the FAGC organised the first gay demonstration in Spain in the city of Barcelona with about 4,000 to 5,000 participants. Police repressed the event, with several arrests and injuries. Exactly one year later, the Frente de Liberación Homosexual de Castilla held a demonstration in Madrid with about 10,000 people. Disagreement within these groups caused many to shut down; many members advocated a more "radical" movement with public demonstrations and many felt the organizations had failed to properly address or campaign for the rights of lesbians and bisexuals. LGBT groups saw an important landmark moment in 1979 with the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

During the 1980s, several LGBT groups and magazines were launched in various cities. The Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales (FELGTB), today Spain's largest LGBT organization, was founded in 1992 from members of the then-former COFLHEE. The groups campaign for legal rights for same-sex couples and LGBT people, societal acceptance, operate counseling centers about topics such as coming out, sex, relationships or health issues, and organize various events and festivals. Several gay villages exist in Spain, including Chueca in Madrid, "Gaixample" in Barcelona, Ibiza, Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, and Sitges.

Nowadays, numerous pride parades and other LGBT festivals are held throughout Spain, including Madrid Pride, whose 2019 edition had 400,000 participants according to police, Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Seville, Bilbao, A Coruña, Valencia, Zaragoza, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Cartagena, Valladolid, Benidorm, Ibiza, Sitges, Maspalomas, Torremolinos, and many more.

Public opinion
Homosexuality and bisexuality today are greatly accepted all around the country and intensely in larger and medium cities. That being said, a certain level of discrimination can still be encountered in small villages and among some parts of society. A Eurobarometer survey published December 2006 showed that 66 percent of Spanish people surveyed supported same-sex marriage and 43 percent supported same-sex couples' right to adopt (EU-wide averages were 44 percent and 33 percent, respectively).

On 4 March 2013, Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz said that due to same-sex marriages the survival of the human species is not guaranteed. He also stated that same-sex marriages should not have the same protection under the law as opposite-sex ones, eight years after same-sex marriage was legalized.

Among the countries studied by the Pew Research Center in 2013, Spain was rated first in acceptance of homosexuality, with 88% of Spaniards believing that homosexuality should be accepted by society, compared to 11% who disagreed.

In May 2015, PlanetRomeo, an LGBT social network, published its first Gay Happiness Index (GHI). Gay men from over 120 countries were asked about how they feel about society's view on homosexuality, how do they experience the way they are treated by other people and how satisfied are they with their lives. Spain was ranked 13th with a GHI score of 68.

BuzzFeed conducted a poll in December 2016 across several countries on the acceptance of transgender individuals. Spain ranked the most accepting in most categories, with 87% of those polled believing transgender people should be protected from discrimination, and only 8% believing there is something mentally or physically wrong with them. In addition, 77% believed transgender people should be allowed to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity rather than being forced to use the one of their birth-assigned gender, with over 50% strongly agreeing with this.

The 2015 Eurobarometer found that 84% of Spaniards thought that same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, 10% were against. The 2019 Eurobarometer showed that 91% of Spaniards believed gay and bisexual people should enjoy the same rights as heterosexual people, and 86% supported same-sex marriage.

The 2023 Eurobarometer found that 88% of Spaniards thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, and 89% agreed that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex".

Literature
At the beginning of the 20th century, Spanish authors, like Jacinto Benavente, Pedro de Répide and Antonio de Hoyos y Vinent, had to choose between ignoring the subject of homosexuality or representing it negatively. The only authors publishing literature with LGBT content were foreigners: Augusto d'Halmar from Chile published Pasión y muerte del cura Deusto, Alfonso Hernández Catá from Cuba published El ángel de Sodoma, and Alberto Nin Frías from Uruguay published La novela del renacimiento y otros relatos, La fuente envenenada, Marcos, amador de la belleza, Alexis o el significado del temperamento Urano and, in 1933, Homosexualismo creador, the first essay representing homosexuality in a positive light.

Others, such as the authors of the Generation of '27, took refuge in poetry. The gay and bisexual poets of this literary movement were amongst the most influential in Spanish literature: Federico García Lorca, Emilio Prados, Luis Cernuda, Vicente Aleixandre and Manuel Altolaguirre. These poets were highly influenced by the great gay authors of the rest of Europe, such as Oscar Wilde, André Gide, mainly his Corydon, and Marcel Proust. In 1930, Emilio García Gómez also published his Poemas arabigoandaluces, which included the pederastic poets of Al-Andalus. Around the mid-1930s, there was a slight liberalisation which ended with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. After the Civil War, with García Lorca assassinated and the majority of gay and bisexual poets in exile, gay culture retired anew to the cryptic poetry of Vicente Aleixandre, who never admitted his homosexuality publicly. Other gay poets of this period are Francisco Brines, Leopoldo María Panero, Juan Gil-Albert and Jaime Gil de Biedma and, in Córdoba, Vicente Núñez, Pablo García Baena and Juan Bernier, belonging to the Cántico group.

Authors that appear after the Spanish Transition include Juan Goytisolo, Luis Antonio de Villena, Antonio Gala, Terenci Moix, Álvaro Pombo, Vicente Molina Foix, Antonio Roig, Biel Mesquida, Leopoldo Alas, Vicente García Cervera, Carlos Sanrune, Jaume Cela, Eduardo Mendicutti, Miguel Martín, Lluis Fernández, Víctor Monserrat, Alberto Cardín, Mariano García Torres, Agustín Gómez-Arcos, Óscar Esquivias, Luisgé Martín and Iñaki Echarte.

No lesbian authors in Spain publicly acknowledged their homosexuality until the 1990s. Gloria Fuertes never wanted her sexual orientation to be public. The first lesbian author to be openly gay was Andrea Luca. Other authors who have treated love between women in their books include Ana María Moix, Ana Rosetti, Esther Tusquets, Carmen Riera, Elena Fortún, Isabel Franc and Lucía Etxebarría, whose novel Beatriz y los cuerpos celestes won the Nadal Prize in 1998.

Cinema and television
Early representation of homosexuality in Spanish cinema was difficult due to censorship by the Franco regime. The first movie that shows any kind of homosexuality, very discreetly, was Diferente, a musical from 1961, directed by Luis María Delgado. Up to 1977, if homosexuals appeared at all, it was to ridicule them as the "funny effeminate faggot".

During the Spanish transition to democracy, the first films appeared where homosexuality was not portrayed in a negative way. Examples are La Muerte de Mikel from Imanol Uribe and Ocaña, retrat intermitent from Ventura Pons. In these films, authors experiment with different visions of gay men: the transvestite in Un hombre llamado Flor de Otoño (1978), the manly and attractive gay man in Los placeres ocultos (1976) from Eloy de la Iglesia, the warring "queen" in Gay Club (1980), etc. Homosexuality is the center of the plot, and homosexuals are shown as vulnerable, in inner turmoil and in dispute with society.

Beginning in 1985, homosexuality loses primacy on the plot, in spite of still being fundamental. This trend begins with La ley del deseo (1987) from Pedro Almodóvar and continues with films like Tras el cristal (1986) from Agustí Villaronga, Las cosas del querer (1989) and Las cosas del querer 2 (1995) from Jaime Chávarri. Successful films include Perdona bonita, pero Lucas me quería a mí (1997), Segunda piel (1999), Km. 0 (2000), Plata quemada (2000), Los novios búlgaros (2003) and Cachorro (2004).

Undoubtedly, Spain's best-known LGBT person is Pedro Almodóvar. Almodóvar has often intertwined LGBT themes in his plots, and his films have turned him into one of the most renowned Spanish movie directors. Apart from Almodóvar, Ventura Pons and Eloy de la Iglesia are two film directors who have worked on more LGBT themes in their movies. In September 2004, movie director Alejandro Amenábar publicly announced his homosexuality.

There have not been as many Spanish films with a lesbian plot. The most renown may be the comedy A mi madre le gustan las mujeres (2002), and the romantic drama Room in Rome (Habitación en Roma) (2010).

The most-important LGBT film festivals are LesGaiCineMad in Madrid and the Festival internacional de cinema gai i lèsbic de Barcelona (FICGLB). There are also many other smaller festivals and shows, including Festival del Mar in the Balearic Islands, Festival del Sol in the Canary Islands, Zinegoak in Bilbao, LesGaiFestiVal in Valencia or Zinentiendo in Zaragoza.

In 2018, Ángela Ponce became the first transgender woman to win the Miss Universe Spain title, and was the first transgender woman to contest for Miss Universe 2018.

Music

During Franco's dictatorship, musicians seldom made any reference to homosexuality in their songs or in public speeches. An exception was the copla singer Miguel de Molina, openly homosexual and against Franco. De Molina fled to Argentina after being brutally tortured and his shows prohibited. Another exception was Bambino, whose homosexuality was known in flamenco circles. Some songs from Raphael, as "Qué sabe nadie" ("What does anyone know") or "Digan lo que digan" ("Whatever they say"), have frequently been interpreted in a gay light.

In 1974, the folk rock band Cánovas, Rodrigo, Adolfo y Guzmán talked about a lesbian relationship in the song "María y Amaranta" ("María and Amaranta"), that surprisingly was not censored. During the transition to democracy, the duo Vainica Doble sung about the fight of a gay man against the prejudices of his own family in the song "El rey de la casa" ("The king of the house").

Singer-songwriter Víctor Manuel has included LGBT subjects in several of his songs. In 1980, he released "Quién puso más" ("Who put more?"), a true love story between two men that ends after 30 years. He later mentioned transsexuality in his song "Como los monos de Gibraltar" ("As the monkeys in Gibraltar"), feminine homosexuality in "Laura ya no vive aquí" ("Laura doesn't live here any more") and bisexuality in "No me llames loca" (Don't call me fool/queen).

It was not until the La Movida Madrileña that homosexuality became visible in Spanish music. The duo Pedro Almodóvar and Fabio McNamara usually dressed as women during their concerts, where they sang provocative lyrics. Tino Casal never hid his homosexuality and became an icon for many gay people. Nevertheless, it would be the trio Alaska, Nacho Canut y Carlos Berlanga who would be identified from the beginning with the LGBT movement due to their constant references to homosexuality in their lyrics and their concerts. During their time as Dinarama, they recorded the song "¿A Quién le Importa?" ("Who cares?"), which became a gay anthem in Spain. After the Movida, several artists continued to make music with homosexual themes, such as Fabio McNamara, Carlos Berlanga in "Vacaciones" ("Holiday"), or Luis Miguélez, ex-guitarist of Dinarama and later member of Glamour to Kill.

At the end of the 1980s, Mecano made a hit with the song "Mujer contra mujer" ("Woman against woman"), clearly defending the love of two women. There were French ("Une femme avec une femme") and Italian ("Per Lei Contro Di Lei") versions. The song was a huge hit in France in 1990 where it reached No. 1 in charts during seven weeks. The song was also a hit in Latin America and is one of the most remembered of the group. They later composed the song "Stereosexual" that talked about bisexuality. In 1988, Tam Tam Go!, in the album "Spanish shuffle", included the song "Manuel Raquel", the only song in Spanish in the album, which told the story of a transsexual. Tino Casal included in his 1989 album Histeria the very explicit song "Que digan misa". At the beginning of the 1990s, new singer-songwriters also took up the subject, especially Inma Serrano, Javier Álvarez, and Andrés Lewin, but also Pedro Guerra in his song "Otra forma de sentir" ("Another way of feeling") or Tontxu in "¿Entiendes?" ("Do you understand?"). Other artists with diverse styles also used the theme, as "El cielo no entiende" ("Heaven doesn't understand") by OBK, "Entender el amor" ("Understand love") by Mónica Naranjo, "El día de año nuevo" ("New Year's Day") by Amaral, "Eva y María" by Materia Prima, "Sacrifícate" by Amistades Peligrosas, "La revolución sexual" by La casa azul, "Ángeles" by Merche, "Como una flor" by Malú, "Da igual" by Taxi, "El que quiera entender que entienda" by Mägo de Oz, etc.

Indie pop has also treated homosexuality from different points of view, as the band Ellos in the song "Diferentes" ("Different"), or L Kan in "Gayhetera" (Gayhereto). The duo Astrud has been related to gay culture. The leather subculture has the band Gore Gore Gays with themes that range from LGBT demands to explicit sex. Within the indie pop universe, many other bands produce songs almost exclusively for a gay public, especially gay-friendly or with a clear gay content (Nancys Rubias, Lorena C, Spunky, La Terremoto de Alcorcón, Putilatex, Putirecords, Borrachas provincianas, Vanity Bear, Modelé Fatale, Dos Hombres Solos, Postura 69, etc.) and some drag queens have a successful career in music, such as La Prohibida, Nacha la Macha, or La Otxoa.

Politics

Several openly gay politicians have served in public office in Spain. One of the most prominent gay politicians is Jerónimo Saavedra, who served as President of the Canary Islands twice from 1982 to 1987 and again from 1991 to 1993. Saavedra came out as gay in 2000. He served as a member of the Senate until 2004, and was Mayor of Las Palmas from 2007 to 2011. Another prominent gay politician and activist was Pedro Zerolo, who served on the City Council of Madrid until his death in June 2015. Zerolo was known for his LGBT activism and was one of the biggest promoters of the law extending the right to marriage to same-sex couples, leading many to label him a gay icon.

Others include Javier Maroto, formerly serving as mayor of the Basque capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz from 2011 to 2015 and currently serving as senator. Maroto married his fiancé José Manuel Rodríguez in September 2015. The marriage ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Máximo Huerta, Ángeles Álvarez and Fernando Grande-Marlaska are other gay politicians who serve/have served in the Cortes Generales. Grande-Marlaska has served as Minister of the Interior since June 2018.

Ada Colau, elected Mayor of Barcelona in 2015, revealed her bisexuality in December 2017. Other Catalan gay politicians include Antoni Comín, Santi Vila and Miquel Iceta.

Carla Antonelli, Víctor Casco, Iñigo Lamarca, Fran Ferri, Jesús Vázquez Abad, Iñaki Oyarzábal, Empar Pineda and Luis Alegre Zahonero are other openly LGBT politicians, variously serving as mayors or members of regional legislatures. In 2007, Manuela Trasobares won a seat as a councillor in the small Valencian town of Geldo, becoming the first openly transgender Spaniard to hold public office.

Sports
Sports is traditionally a difficult area for LGBT visibility. Recently though, there have been professional sportswomen and sportsmen who have come out. These include Mapi León and Ana Romero in football, Víctor Gutiérrez in waterpolo, Carlos Peralta in swimming, Marta Mangué in handball, Javier Raya in figure skating and Miriam Blasco in judo.

In February 2019, the far-right party Vox vetoed a motion calling for an official stance against homophobia in sports. The motion, supported by every other political party, required unanimity to be adopted.

title: LGBT rights in Spain


text:
Video Single Disc

Video Single Disc (VSD) is a disc-based format that carried the same analog video information as a LaserDisc, but on a 12-centimetre (4.75 inch) diameter CD-DA-sized disc. It was spearheaded by Sony and was released in Japan in 1990. It was a new variety of laserdisc and variation on the CD Video (CD-V) format, except that VSD disc carried only a video track (of up to 5 minutes' duration), and its associated audio, with no CD-compatible partition. The disc is the same size as a standard CD and holds five minutes of video with digital sound. It did not have any additional audio tracks like CD-V. Like CD-V, VSD discs could be played back by multi-disc or LaserDisc players that had VSD playback capability.

Release
Upon release, the Video Single Disc was seen as a possible replacement for the failing “CD Video” format, which had confused the public with its combination of five minutes of video and 20 minutes of audio.

Cost
In Japan the Video Single Disc (VSD) was listed at around US$8 which was half the price of the (US$16) CD Video.

Popularity
VSDs were popular only in Japan and other parts of Asia, and was never marketed or introduced elsewhere in the world, but the format did get used once in the United States for a promotional movie teaser and trailer disc to accompany early pressings of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day movie when it was released on LaserDisc in 1991.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Video Single Disc


text:
Moriche oriole

The  moriche oriole (Icterus cayanensis chrysocephalus) is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It is unrelated to Old World orioles (family Oriolidae). It is a breeding resident in the tropics of eastern South America. This bird is noted for its close association with the palm Mauritia flexuosa (moriche, buriti, ita, ité, etc.).

This ecologically distinct bird was formerly treated as a species Icterus chrysocephalus. It was eventually found to be embedded in the epaulet oriole (I. cayanensis) clade. Thus, for example the AOU, since 2005, has lumped the moriche oriole into I. cayanensis. The subspecific structure of I. cayanensis is still rather puzzling.

This is a slim bird, 8.7 in long and weighing 1.5 oz, with a long tail and thin decurved bill. It has mainly black plumage, apart from a bright yellow crown, rump, thighs and wing epaulets. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile bird is dark brown rather than black, with duller yellow patches.

The song of the moriche oriole is a squeaky whistling heaaa-wheeooo-heaaa. This is an often-conspicuous species near its favored tree, and usually occurs singly or in pairs.

The mochique oriole breeds from eastern Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and the Guianas, and south to eastern Ecuador, Paraguay and northern Brazil. The Trinidadian population may have originated from recent colonization or escapes. It is most common from sea level up to 1600 ft ASL, but here and there it reaches up to around 3300 ft in the eastern foothills of the Andes, which mark the western border or its range.

The moriche oriole is a bird closely associated with moriche palms (Mauritia flexuosa), and it is found in the forests, swamps or savannah where that tree occurs. This bird eats mainly insects, but will also take nectar and some fruit. Its nest is a long hanging basket of grass and other plant fibers, suspended from the end of a moriche palm branch. The normal clutch is two dark-spotted pale blue or white eggs.

It is affected to some extent by trapping for the cagebird trade, but can cope with heavy disturbance to its habitat as long as some moriche palms remain.

title: Moriche oriole


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Shoulder riding

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was Redirect to human pony.

Note: although this was already done by 219.111.147.78 out of process on 22:59, 6 Jun 2005 and 12:46, 8 Jun 2005, I am letting this redirect stand. Let this be an official notice that I, as a vote closer, am taking responsibility for this particular action on June 8. --Deathphoenix 19:14, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Shoulder riding
Not notable or encyclopedic — Phil Welch 05:56, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete dicdef at best. --Xcali 06:12, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, notable activity. Didn't know there was a fetish associated. Kappa 07:04, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete Not much found on Google, seems like a hoax, notability in question -CunningLinguist 08:59, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, not notable, dictionary definition. Megan1967 09:25, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete This page is pretty pointless as it is, and I don't see there being much potential to expand the article. Oracleoftruth 10:16, May 30, 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, An encyclopaedia should be complete. Not just what you learn at school. Did you know that people like Aristotle enjoyed this? IT has historical background and in some cultures esp. in Haiti and Africa it is also used as a transport medium. Please note that just by lack of knowledge, do not go and delete it. See this page. It has proof of Aristotle has enjoyed this acrivity. --218.41.113.26 08:13, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I will consider changing my vote if the article provides proof that Plato enjoyed this activity. Gamaliel 22:54, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete unless we get the Plato proof, as per Gamaliel.    — P Ingerson  (talk)  22:59, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment ... and I always though shoulder riding was what the motorcycle riders on the shoulder of the pavement did while laughing at the people in cars who were stuck in a traffic jam ... - DS1953 23:01, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment Perhaps Kappa or 218.41.113.26 could add material to the article to demonstrate the topic's notability. --Dcfleck 12:28, 2005 May 31 (UTC)
 * Merge/redir to shoulder. Radiant_* 13:09, May 31, 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment - shoulder riding is also bicycling along the shoulder. --SPUI (talk) 17:48, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete ➥the Epopt 16:50, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete unverifiable claims. JamesBurns 08:55, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, could be expanded. Grue 11:25, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment Google Aristotle pony-play to beleive me. Also the name of the woman who rode Aristotle was - Phillis. Google Aristotle and Phillis and see. Please help vote Keep to make this fabulous article and fetish in pubic eye and Wikipedia more complete--218.41.113.26 15:10, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * First of all, it's not Wikipedia's job to keep "this fabulous article and fetish in pubic eye" [sic]. Secondly, your references have nothing to do with "shoulder riding". They describes a different practice, which already has an entry on Wikipedia (Human pony). --Dcfleck 02:29, 2005 Jun 4 (UTC)
 * Delete - Wikipedia is not a dictionary. -- Cyrius|✎ 03:54, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * delete not a dictionary Mozzerati 19:37, 2005 Jun 4 (UTC)
 * Redirect to Human pony (no content worth merging). --Dcfleck 03:12, 2005 Jun 7 (UTC)
 * Redirect to human pony as of Dcfleck --219.111.147.78 12:49, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
User:Udhay ece

Rural computing:
Design goal:
 * To create an IT awareness among rural and underserved communities.

Sites of interest:
 * http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/FAQ.pdf
 * http://www.indianngos.com/issue/education/interviews/sudhamurty/fullinterview.htm
 * http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~mattkam/publications/TEDC2005.pdf

title: User:Udhay ece


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Vientiane treaty

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was Keep, and turn into article on the real treaty. Noel (talk) 20:08, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Vientiane treaty
Delete. No objection to keeping the (sub?)stub. Hoax article, corollary of Eastern Pact. (There was a Vientiane treaty of 1973, but this wasn't it). Mark1 05:58, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I can't speak English, but I believe you. --Asova 05:58, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * User's second edit. All edits have been trolling.  RickK 06:15, May 30, 2005 (UTC)
 * I would vote to keep an article about the Vientiane Treaty of 1973 but not this article. I would like to rewrite this myself if I had the opportunity. Capitalistroadster 06:17, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Move to correctly capitalized entry, keep. — Phil Welch 09:50, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I stubified the content and moved it to Vientiane Treaty. Vientiane treaty is currently set to be a redirect as long as the VfD expires. — Phil Welch 09:56, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Why do you want to keep a hoax article? RickK 09:53, May 30, 2005 (UTC)
 * I deleted the hoax content because, as according to the original VfD listing you can plainly see above, "There was a Vientiane treaty of 1973, but this wasn't it". I stubified the content so it only has that information and moved it accordingly. — Phil Welch 09:56, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Ah, okay, sorry. RickK 19:04, May 30, 2005 (UTC)
 * The article History of Laos mentions a "Vientiane cease-fire agreement in 1973". I googled with the words Vientiane "cease-fire agreement" and found some more information. In this address Victor N. Xiong writes about the "cease-fire agreement between the two Lao factions ... signed ... in Vientiane on February 21, 1973." (It goes on.) It seems that this treaty wasn't very meaningful. This could be a section on the History of Laos page. That way it could still be linked to if ever needed. Redirect. Wipe 14:46, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep and expand. From my reading, this was a fairly significant treaty. Capitalistroadster 23:53, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Josh Turner

Joshua Otis Turner (born November 20, 1977) is an American country singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to MCA Nashville Records. That same year, his debut album's title track, "Long Black Train", was his breakthrough single release. His second album, Your Man (2006) accounted for his first two No. 1 hits, "Your Man" and "Would You Go with Me", while 2007's Everything Is Fine included a No. 2 hit, "Firecracker". Haywire, released in 2010, produced his biggest hit, the four-week No. 1 hit "Why Don't We Just Dance" and another No. 1 song, "All Over Me". It was followed by Punching Bag (2012), whose lead-off single, "Time Is Love", was the biggest country hit of 2012 according to Billboard Year-End.

Early life
Turner was born in Hannah, South Carolina. Growing up in the church, he founded a gospel quartet called Thankful Hearts, where he sang bass, in addition to singing the bass part in choirs.

In 1996, Turner developed a lesion on his right vocal cord. Turner was examined by the Vanderbilt voice clinic, where doctors advised him to let it heal on its own. Surgery was not needed, but he did have to rest his voice for a year. While Turner rested his voice back at home, he learned classical vocal technique and how to take care of his voice and avoid developing further problems. Turner states that he "learned how to whistle really well during that year".

After Hannah-Pamplico High School, he spent some time at Francis Marion University before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, to enroll in Belmont University and pursue a career in music. After college, his fledgling career got a boost on December 21, 2001, during his debut on the Grand Ole Opry, when he performed a song he wrote titled "Long Black Train", which was inspired by Hank Williams. He received a standing ovation in the middle of the song, then sang it again for an encore.

2001–2004: Long Black Train
On December 21, 2001, Turner debuted on the Grand Ole Opry with the song "Long Black Train".

In 2003, Turner released his debut album, also entitled Long Black Train. Prior to its release, Turner had released 7" vinyl singles of "She'll Go on You" and "Long Black Train". Both singles featured Long Black Train album track "Backwoods Boy" as a B-side. While neither "Backwoods Boy" nor "She'll Go on You" were successful (the latter peaking at No. 46 on the country charts), "Long Black Train" spent more than forty weeks on the Billboard country charts, reaching a peak of No. 13 and receiving a gold certification. The third single, "What It Ain't", was less successful, reaching No. 31.

2005–2006: Your Man
In early 2006, Turner released his second album, Your Man. The album's first single and title track, "Your Man", was written by Jace Everett, Chris DuBois and Chris Stapleton and released in late 2005. "Your Man" also climbed the charts slowly, eventually reaching No. 1 in early 2006. Your Man was certified Gold by the RIAA four weeks after its release, and went Platinum six months later.

"Would You Go with Me" was the second single released from Your Man. Like the album's title track, "Would You Go with Me" also reached the top of the country singles charts, holding that position for two weeks; it also reached No. 48 on the  Billboard Hot 100. Turner also performed it on the CMA Awards in November 2006.

Shortly after the album's release, a song called "Me and God" was released as a single to Christian radio. A duet with bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley, the song also featured members of the band Diamond Rio on background vocals. "Me and God" reached a peak of No. 16 on the country charts.

In December 2006, the 49th Annual Grammy Award nominations were announced. Turner received nods for Best Male Country Vocal Performance and for Best Country Album. That same month, a featurette on CMT Insider showed Turner in the studio working on the album. He mentioned that he wanted it to sound like music in the 18th and 19th centuries. Turner performed at the Ryman Auditorium where a live album was recorded, singing a song called, "Church in the Holler". Turner's album Josh Turner: Live At The Ryman was recorded in April and is available exclusively through Cracker Barrel restaurants.

Turner, along with veteran songwriters Brett James and Don Schlitz, wrote a song entitled "Say Yes"; recorded and released by singer Dusty Drake in 2007, the song was a minor Top 40 country hit for Drake, peaking at No. 36.

2007–2011: Everything Is Fine and Haywire
On September 29, 2007, while giving an award to Roy Clark on Clark's 20th anniversary on the Grand Ole Opry, Turner was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was inducted by Vince Gill on October 27, 2007. At the time, he and Carrie Underwood were the youngest members of the Opry.

Turner's third studio album for MCA Nashville, titled Everything Is Fine, was released on October 30, 2007. Its lead-off single, "Firecracker", became Turner's third Top Ten hit on the country music charts, peaking at No. 2. The second single from Everything Is Fine, a duet with Trisha Yearwood entitled "Another Try", was released in late January 2008, peaking at No. 15. The title track was released as the third single and peaked at No. 20. Everything Is Fine has been certified gold.

At the end of June, Turner wrapped up recording his fourth album, Haywire. The lead-off single, "Why Don't We Just Dance", which was released on August 12, 2009, debuted at No. 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of September 5, 2009. The song went on to become Turner's third Number One hit, spending four consecutive weeks at the top in February 2010. The album was released on February 9, 2010, along with a deluxe version. "All Over Me" was released in April 2010 as the album's second single; it became Turner's fourth Number One. On September 27, 2010, Turner shot the video for "I Wouldn't Be a Man" in Nashville, which was the third single from Haywire. "Haywire" is now certified gold.

2012–2017: Punching Bag and Deep South
Turner's fifth studio album, Punching Bag, was released via MCA Nashville on June 12, 2012, and preceded by the single "Time Is Love". The song, written by Tom Shapiro, Tony Martin, and Mark Nesler, was released digitally on December 20, 2011, and went for radio adds on January 9. The song reached No. 2 but finished the year as the No. 1 country song of 2012 according to Billboard. The album's second single "Find Me a Baby", was released to country radio on October 15, 2012, but it failed to make top 40 on the country charts.

Also in 2012, Turner released Live Across America with twelve of his songs recorded in concert in different cities. This album was distributed through Cracker Barrel. "Those are the most magical performances of each song," Turner said.

The lead single from Turner's upcoming sixth studio album, "Lay Low", was released to country radio on September 1, 2014. It reached a peak of No. 25 on Country Airplay, at which it remained stalled for several weeks. The single did not perform as expected on the charts, so Turner's label decided to delay the release of the album and next single. The second single, "Hometown Girl", was released to radio on May 31, 2016. At Turner's show in Reading, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 2016, he announced that his new album would be released sometime in March 2017. The album, Deep South, was released on March 10, 2017, preceded by two sneak preview songs, "Deep South" and "Where the Girls Are" released on February 23, 2017. Deep South scored Turner his third No. 1 album on the US Top Country Album's Chart upon its release. Turner's second single, "Hometown Girl", from Deep South peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Country Airplay Chart and at No. 1 on the Mediabase chart, which made it Turner's fifth No. 1 single. . Turner's third single "All About You", written by Craig Wiseman and Justin Weaver, was released on May 15, 2017.

2018–2023: I Serve a Savior, Country State of Mind, and King Size Manger
After the release of Deep South, Turner began work on a project of gospel music. Titled I Serve a Savior, his seventh studio album was issued on October 26, 2018. It consists of a collection of mostly gospel standards with a few original songs, including its title track that Turner co-wrote. The album also features appearances by Sonya Isaacs, Bobby Osborne, and Turner's own family (who sing and play instruments on a track penned by his wife and oldest son) and new live renditions of both "Long Black Train" and "Me and God".

Turner followed this release with two further passion projects: Country State of Mind (2020) and King Size Manger (2021), his eighth and ninth studio albums. Country State of Mind consisted of a collection of cover songs, while King Size Manger served as Turner's first album of Christmas music.

2024–present: New music
In April 2024, it was announced that Turner had extended his record deal with MCA Nashville, his longtime label home of over two decades, and that "Heatin' Things Up" would be released as his new single.

Acting
Turner played George Beverly Shea in the 2008 film Billy: The Early Years, about the evangelist Billy Graham. Shea was the soloist for the Billy Graham Crusades.

Personal life
Turner has one brother and one sister. He married his wife Jennifer Ford in 2003. They met at Belmont University, a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, where they both attended school at the time. Jennifer travels with Josh when he is on tour, playing keyboards and singing background vocals. They have four sons together.

Turner is a devout Christian. "I don't believe God wants me to be a gospel singer," Turner said regarding his religion. "He just wants me to be a Christian singer. That's who I am, a Christian."

On September 19, 2019, a tour bus carrying Turner's road crew plunged off a cliff following a show in California, killing one, David Turner - unrelated to the singer - and injuring seven others. Turner was not on the bus.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * Long Black Train (2003)
 * Your Man (2006)
 * Everything Is Fine (2007)
 * Haywire (2010)
 * Punching Bag (2012)
 * Deep South (2017)
 * I Serve a Savior (2018)
 * Country State of Mind (2020)
 * King Size Manger (2021)
 * This Country Music Thing (2024)

title: Josh Turner


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Rainbow (Mariah Carey album)

Rainbow is the seventh studio album by American R&B singer Mariah Carey, released on November 2, 1999, by Columbia Records. The album followed the same pattern as Carey's previous two albums, Daydream (1995) and Butterfly (1997), in which she began her transition into the urban adult contemporary market. Rainbow contains a mix of hip hop-influenced R&B tracks, as well as a variety of ballads. Carey produced the album with David Foster and Diane Warren, who, as well as Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, replaced Walter Afanasieff, the main balladeer Carey worked with throughout the 1990s. As a result of her separation from her husband, Tommy Mottola, Carey had more control over the musical style of this album, so she collaborated with several hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Master P and Mystikal as well as female rappers Da Brat and Missy Elliott. Other collaborations include the pop and R&B acts Joe, Usher and boyband 98 Degrees.

On Carey's previous album, Butterfly, she began incorporating several other genres, including R&B and hip hop, into her musical repertoire. In order to further push her musical horizons, Carey featured Jay-Z on the album's lead single, the first time in her career that another artist was featured on one of her lead singles. Carey wrote ballads that were closer to R&B than pop for this album, and worked with Snoop Dogg and Usher on songs such as "Crybaby" and "How Much", respectively, both of which featured strong R&B beats and grooves. Several of the ballads that Carey wrote during this period, including "Thank God I Found You" (written with Terry Lewis) and "After Tonight" (written with Diane Warren), mirrored sentiments she experienced in her personal life.

The album spawned five singles, two of which became number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100, making Rainbow her seventh-consecutive studio album to produce one or more number-one hits. The album's lead single, "Heartbreaker", became Carey's fourteenth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the record charts in Canada and New Zealand. "Thank God I Found You", featuring Joe and 98 Degrees, also topped the Billboard Hot 100, but achieved moderate international chart success. The next two singles, "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) and "Crybaby" featuring Snoop Dogg, were released as a double A-side. The songs were at the center of a public feud in between Carey and Sony Music due to the label's alleged weak promotion of the singles. Carey's cover of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" with Westlife peaked at number one in Ireland, Scotland and the UK Singles Chart.

Rainbow was well received by music critics, who generally praised Carey's embrace of R&B and hip hop in her music. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 323,000. It was her first album in years to not reach number one. However, within a month, Rainbow was certified triple-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of three million copies within the United States. Internationally, the album peaked at number one in France and Greece, and charted within the top-five positions in Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. Globally, Rainbow has sold an estimated eight million copies.

Background
Since her debut in 1990, Carey's career was heavily calculated and controlled by her husband and head of her label Sony Music Entertainment, Tommy Mottola. For years, Carey's albums had consisted of slow and meaningful ballads, devoid of any guest appearances or hip hop-influenced melodies. In January 1995, as she recorded Daydream, Carey began taking more control over her musical style and genre influences. She enlisted the production skills and rap styles of Ol' Dirty Bastard, who was featured on the remix of her song "Fantasy." While Mottola was hesitant at first, Carey's persistence paid off when the song became an international chart topper, with critics calling the collaboration one of the pioneering songs of pop and R&B musical collaborations.

During the recording and production of Carey's Butterfly in 1997, she and Mottola separated, giving Carey an extended amount of control over the unfinished album. Following their separation, Carey began working with younger hip hop and R&B producers and songwriters, aside from her usual work with balladeers Walter Afanasieff and Kenneth Edmonds. While the album incorporated several different genres and components that were not present in Carey's previous releases, Butterfly also included a balance of her classic ballads and newer R&B-infused jams. While Sony accepted Carey's new collaborations with writers and producers such as P. Diddy and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, they continued to focus their promotion on the ballads. After "Honey," the debut single from Butterfly, was released in August 1997, Sony halted the release of the succeeding R&B-influenced jams, and released the ballad "My All" as the second worldwide single. Rainbow followed in its predecessors' footsteps, featuring even more hip hop and R&B.

Writing and recording
During the spring of 1999, Carey began working on the final album of her record contract with Sony, her ex-husband's label. Carey's lover at the time, Luis Miguel, was in the midst of a European tour. In order to spend more time with him, she opted to record the album on the secluded island of Capri, Italy, figuring the seclusion would also help her complete the album sooner. During this time, Carey's strained relationship with Sony affected her work with writing partner Afanasieff, who had worked extensively with Carey throughout the first half of her career. Aside from their growing creative differences, Mottola had given Afanasieff more opportunities to work with other artists. She felt Mottola was trying to separate her from Afanasieff, in hopes of keeping their relationship permanently strained. Due to the pressure and the awkward relationship Carey had now developed with Sony, she completed the album in a period of three months in the summer of 1999, quicker than any of her other albums. In an interview with Blitz TV, Carey spoke of her decision to record the album in Capri: I love New York. But if I'm there, I want to go out, friends come to the studio, the phone rings constantly. But in Capri, I am in a remote place, and there is no one I can run into. I felt that in Capri I would be able to effectively finish the album on a shorter schedule. And I did. I made it in three months, I was like 'Get me off this label!' I couldn't take it. The situation there [Sony] was becoming increasingly difficult. Like her previous releases, Carey co-wrote and co-produced the album's material, working with several hip hop and R&B producers such as Jay-Z, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Usher, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Jermaine Dupri, and Bryan-Michael Cox. For the album's debut single release, Carey collaborated with Jay-Z and DJ Clue. During the spring of 1999, Carey began working with Clue on several hooks and melodies for the lead single. After a few hours, they decided to include a hip hop star on the track, which eventually led to Jay-Z. Carey's longtime friend and back-up vocalist Trey Lorenz, who was featured on her remake of the Jackson 5 song "I'll Be There," added "some soft male [back-up] vocals." Carey worked with Lewis and Jam on the ballad "Thank God I Found You." She had already been in the studio with the duo several times when she contacted them to meet her at the studio, where she told them that she had come up with the title, hook, and melody. Usually, when Carey was writing the songs for Rainbow, James "Big Jim" Wright would play the organ or piano and assist Carey to find the "right melody." However, since Wright was not present, Lewis played the organ while Carey directed him with her lower registers, providing the chord progression. They composed the song and recorded Carey's vocals. Knowing she wanted to introduce a male vocalist on the track, Lewis brought R&B singer Joe and pop group 98 Degrees into the studio. After a few hours, the group and Joe had recorded all their vocals and the song was complete. In an interview with Bronson, Lewis discussed the night Carey wrote "Thank God I Found You:" It all happened that night. She told us the title of the song, the concept and sang us the melody. We usually have Big Jim Wright sit in on those kind of sessions to work out the chords. he wasn't there so I had to work on the chord myself. So I was playing and there was a part where I said 'Man, what chord am I supposed to do here?' and Mariah has such a good ear that she sang me the chord.

While the album was immersed further into mainstream R&B territory, Carey included some of her classic ballads and tender love songs on the album, working with writers and producers such as David Foster and Diane Warren. The idea to work with Warren was suggested by Foster, who thought that the two would be able to "hammer out one hell of a ballad" together. The two wrote and produced the song titled "After Tonight." Carey felt the song was a perfect metaphor for her relationship with Miguel, describing their romance in Capri. While the song was deemed a success by both parties, they described their working relationship with mixed feelings. According to Foster, who was involved in the writing session, Carey and Warren would not always agree on the lyrics and melodious structure of the song. He described it as a "give and take relationship"; Warren would offer lyrics and Carey would not like them; she wanted something more intricate and detailed. Carey would produce a hook or lyrics that Warren did not feel were a perfect fit. In the end, Foster felt that they worked "well together." After recording the song, Carey invited Miguel to record the song with her as a duet. However, after recording his verses several times, Foster and Carey realized that the song would not turn out the way they planned. Foster said the song's key was "too high for him"; the voices did not harmonize well. Carey did not have time to re-record her vocals in a lower key to accommodate Miguel's verses. Miguel, furious over the failed collaboration, later sent a cut-up tape of the demo to Foster. Carey and Warren also wrote "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)," one of the other ballads featured on Rainbow.

Music and lyrics
As with Butterfly, songs for Rainbow were chosen to solidify Carey's reputation as a multi-genre artist. Throughout the first phase of her career, Carey's albums predominantly consisted of pop and adult contemporary ballads. Rainbow mixed hip hop and R&B-flavored upbeat songs with softer and lyrically intense ballads resembling those that Carey had previously recorded. "Heartbreaker," Carey's first collaboration with Jay-Z, used a sample from "Attack of the Name Game," recorded by Stacy Lattisaw, as its hook. The loop originated from "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis; Ellis and co-writer Lincoln Chase are credited as songwriters on the track. Carey incorporated the hook into the song's melody, and added instrumentation. Lyrically, the song chronicles the heartbreak the protagonist feels after learning of her lover's infidelity. "Thank God I Found You" features vocals from Joe and 98 Degrees, as well as songwriting and production from Carey and Lewis. According to Carey, the song reflects on events in her own life at the time, with the lyrics describing the completion the protagonist feels after "finding" their lover. Joe provides the main male vocal throughout each verse, and 98 Degrees sing the background vocals and the bridge.

Prior to the album's recording, Mariah and her sister, Alison Carey had a falling out in their relationship. Alison had tested positive for HIV sometime after she turned 27 in late-1988, and in late-1994, during the time when her second son, Michael who was only 7 years old at the time, was taken away from her by Alison and Mariah's mother, Patricia Carey. She continued to blame Mariah for many of her problems and heartbreaks throughout the years. In 1990, when Mariah debuted with her 1990 self-titled debut album as well as dedicating it to Alison, she began paying so much of her hard-earned money for Alison's continuous visits to drug rehabilitation. On February 6, 1995, in an interview with Nancy Glass from the news show American Journal, Alison stated that Mariah only dedicated the album to her to make herself look good, and that it was beneath contempt. Carey wrote a song titled "Petals," which she describes as the most honest lyrics she has ever written. The song tells of Carey's feelings for her sister, while illustrating the pain Alison's betrayal and suffering have caused. In an interview with Bronson, Carey described the meaning of the lyrics of "Petals": It is a great outlet for me to go into the studio and write a song like 'Petals', which is one of my most personal songs and remains one of my favorites. I think [it had the most] honest lyrics I've ever written. The song chronicles a lot of past emotions I've felt to certain people close to me, and the way I feel towards them and how their actions have impacted me personally. For that reason, I sang in my lower registers, trying to add that breathy effect to go hand in hand with the song's composition. "After Tonight" was a song Carey wrote with David Foster and Diane Warren. Carey had strong feelings about the song, as she wrote it about her relationship with Luis Miguel. The song was compared instrumentally to "My All" from Butterfly, which features traces of Latin and guitar instrumentation. In the lyrics, the protagonist asks her lover if he will still love her and come back to her "after tonight." Carey's cover of the Phil Collins song "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" was originally intended to be a solo ballad. The song was re-done after the album was released, with music by the Irish band Westlife replacing the song's instrumental bridge. "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" was one of the album's most uplifting ballads, lyrically serving as an anthem for fans and listeners. The message, Carey said, was a personal theme of hers growing up, of not letting others "bring her down" and not allowing them to take away the light inside her. "How Much" is a duet with Usher and features a sample from Tupac Shakur's "Me and My Girlfriend."

Conflict with Sony
As with Butterfly two years earlier, Rainbow became the center of conflict between Carey and her label. After her divorce from Sony record official and Columbia CEO Tommy Mottola, Carey's working relationship with the label deteriorated. She intended for "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" to be the third single from Rainbow, as it held very personal lyrical content. However, Sony made it clear that they intended the third single should be a more upbeat and urban track. The difference in opinion led to a very public feud, as Carey began posting messages on her webpage in early and mid-2000, telling fans inside information on the dispute, as well as instructing them to request "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" on radio stations. One of the messages Carey left on her page read: Basically, a lot of you know the political situation in my professional career is not positive. It's been really, really hard. I don't even know if this message is going to get to you because I don't know if they want you to hear this. I'm getting a lot of negative feedback from certain corporate people. But I am not willing to give up. Carey's actions were given mixed reception, with critics and executives commending her bold actions regarding a song she felt needed to be heard, while others criticized her for publicizing the dispute further. Soon after, Sony stripped Carey's webpage of messages and began negotiations. Fearing to lose their label's highest seller and the best-selling artist of the decade, Sony chose to release the song. Carey, initially content with the agreement, soon found out that the song had only been given a very limited and low-promotion release, which meant the song failed to chart on the official US chart, and made international charting extremely difficult and unlikely.

Promotion
Prior to the album's release, Carey made an appearance on Pavarotti & Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo, performing "My All" and "Hero" alongside Luciano Pavarotti in a live duet. The concert benefit was filmed live in Modena, Italy, during the summer of 1999 and was released for sale on September 21, with funds being donated to relief efforts for natural disasters in Guatemala and Kosovo. Carey made several live television and award show appearances at this time, and recorded her own Fox Broadcasting Company special, titled The Mariah Carey Homecoming Special. A mini-concert filmed at Carey's old high school in Huntington, New York, the special aired on Fox on December 21, 1999. Carey performed "Heartbreaker" and its accompanying remix at the MTV European Music Awards, held on November 11, 1999, in Dublin, Ireland. Additionally, the song was performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the British music chart program Top of the Pops, and The Today Show, which included a performance of "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" and "Hero." "Thank God I Found You was performed live at the 2000 American Music Awards as well as on several European programs, including Top of the Pops and Friday Night's All Wright in the United Kingdom, NRJ and Soulier d'Or in France, Wetten, dass..? in Germany, and Quelli che... il Calcio in Italy. The album's final two releases, "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" and "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)," were performed on The View and at the 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. Carey further promoted Rainbow performing on VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross, where she opened the show with a mashup of "Heartbreaker" with Ross's "Love Hangover" and later performed "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)."

In order to promote Rainbow, Carey embarked of her fourth headlining and third worldwide tour. Titled the Rainbow World Tour, it included nineteen shows: six in Europe, four in Asia, eight in the United States, and one in Canada. For Carey's previous two tours, she had only visited Europe and Asia, due to the mixed reception of her debut stateside tour in 1993. However, after achieving record-breaking ticket sales throughout Asia and instant sellouts in Europe, Carey felt secure enough to once again tour her native country. The set list featured songs from most of Carey's previous studio albums, as well as some tracks from Rainbow. Missy Elliott and Da Brat served as opening acts for the US leg of the tour. Ticket sales were very strong; the entire US leg sold out in a matter of days. The Asian and European leg mirrored the commercial success of her previous two tours. Reviews for the tour varied from positive to mixed. Some critics and fans reproached her of having a "tired and hoarse voice," while others commented on Carey's choice of wardrobe. Several critics and many concert-goers praised the tour, calling it an intense celebration of Carey's career.

Singles
Five singles were released from Rainbow; two were worldwide international releases and three were more limited releases. "Heartbreaker," the album's first worldwide release, became Carey's fourteenth chart topper in the United States. Aside from staying atop the US chart for two weeks, the song reached the chart's summit in Canada and New Zealand. Elsewhere, "Heartbreaker" achieved high charting, peaking within the top five in France and the United Kingdom and within the top ten in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. The song received mixed reviews from critics. Arion Berger from Rolling Stone called the song Carey's "most insinuating: nasal, silken, declarative, riding the percolating beat." However, while dismissing some of the song's vocals and the incorporation of the hook, he complimented its marriage of pop and hip hop through Jay-Z's verses. The song's music video became one of the most expensive music videos of all time, costing an estimated $2.5 million. The video features Carey visiting a movie theater with her friends, where she finds her lover with another woman. "Thank God I Found You" was released as the second worldwide single from the album. While becoming Carey's fifteenth chart topper in the US, the song achieved moderate chart success in Europe and other territories. Berger called it a "gospel soar" and complimented Carey's vocals, as well as the harmonies by 98 Degrees. The music video features footage from a live concert with Carey and the band performing the song.

"Crybaby" and "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" were released simultaneously as a double A-side, with very limited promotion from Sony. These two songs, especially the latter, became the center of a very public controversy between Carey and her label, due to their alleged low promotion of the album. Carey and Snoop Dogg were featured in the music video for "Crybaby," with Carey playing an anxious woman who can't sleep at night due to her lover's infidelity. A music video for "Can't Take That Away" was released around the same time, which features Carey on a rooftop garden. Carey sings during a rain storm, and towards the video's conclusion, the sun arises, bring forth a "new day." The final single from Rainbow, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)," was given a limited release as well. After performing moderately around the world, a new version of the song, featuring Westlife, was released in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It became successful there, peaking at number one in both territories, and became Carey's second UK chart topper. The song's video features Carey and Westlife on a boat in Capri. Scenes of the group exploring the island are cut with scenes of them in the studio, though Carey never re-recorded her vocals from the original version.

#Rainbow25
On June 14, 2024, for the album's twenty-fifth anniversary, Carey released an expanded version of the album featuring a remaster of the original album and an extended version of the interlude "Rainbow" retitled "Rainbow's End" with David Morales. The new version also contained a solo version of "Thank God I Found You", live recordings, a cappella versions of songs such as "Bliss", various remixes and a previously unreleased song, "There For Me". A 2-LP rainbow picture disc set was also announced.

On revisiting the album, Carey noted that "listening to the record again brought [her] back to that time in a way that was extremely overwhelming". She described the album as a "brighter and more playful era" compared to Butterfly (1997) and added that she "did re-record some of the vocals" for "Rainbow's End".

Critical reception
Rainbow received mixed to positive reviews from critics, many of whom noted the new direction in Carey's music. In Entertainment Weekly, Danyel Smith wrote that "what began on Butterfly as a departure ends up on Rainbow a progression – perhaps the first compelling proof of Carey's true colors as an artist." Arion Berger from Rolling Stone viewed it as a genuine R&B and hip hop album, a "sterling chronicle of the state of accessible hip-hop balladeering at the close of 1999." Aside from calling some of the ballads "banal," Berger concluded his review that "Rainbow is at its best—and Carey at her most comfortable—when urbane hip-hop stylings and faux R&B coexist in smooth middle-of-the-road harmony." Elysa Gardner from the Los Angeles Times wrote in her review: "Exhibiting an emotional authority to match her technical prowess, Carey gives us a vision of love that's dynamic without being ostentatious." Steve Jones from USA Today deemed the record "colorful" and "some of her most compelling work." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention, indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy." He cited "Heartbreaker" and "Crybaby" as highlights while writing that Carey was "not a 'real' r&b thrush, but good enough to fake it."

Amy Linden from Vibe was less impressed by the album, particularly the songs on which Carey sings over hip hop samples or alongside guest rappers, deeming it a commonplace formula--"pairing a singing thrush with a rhyming thug." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic said it was "the first Carey album where she's written personal lyrics, and allusions to her separation from Mottola." He called the lyrics "true" and "deep," but found the songs "ballad-heavy" and "repetitious," adding that the album followed the formula of Carey's previous records too precisely. In his opinion, "it would have been a more effective album if the heartbreak, sorrow, and joy that bubbles underneath the music were brought to the surface."

Commercial performance
Rainbow debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart with 323,000 units sold, the highest first-week sales of Carey's career at that time. In its first week, it was barred from the top by Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles. In its second week, the album stayed at number two, selling an additional 228,000 copies, barred from the top by Faith Hill's Breathe. In its eighth week, Rainbow experienced its highest weekly sales—during the Christmas week of 1999—selling 369,000 copies, while placing at number nine. It became Carey's first studio album since Merry Christmas (1994) to not reach the top position in the United States. In total, Rainbow stayed in the top twenty for ten weeks and on the chart for thirty-five, making one re-entry. It was certified triple-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of three million copies throughout the United States. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album's sales in the US are estimated at 3 million copies. In Canada, Rainbow debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart, and was certified triple-Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Sales in Canada are estimated at 300,000 units.

Rainbow debuted at number three on the Australian Albums Chart, staying within the chart for seven weeks. The album was Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of 70,000 copies. In France, the album experienced strong success, debuting at number four on the albums chart, rising to number one the following week, and remaining inside the top forty for thirty-four weeks. The album was certified Platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP), for sales of over 300,000 copies. In Germany, Rainbow peaked at number three, and received a Platinum certification from the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI), denoting shipments of 300,000 units. In the United Kingdom, Rainbow debuted at number eight with sales of 26,000 copies. It stayed within the top 100 for 20 weeks. Rainbow was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of 300,000 units. Additionally, Rainbow received Platinum certification in Brazil, with 250,000 copies, Platinum in New Zealand, triple-Platinum in Spain, Platinum in Argentina, Gold in Belgium, Platinum in the Netherlands, and Gold in Switzerland. The album has sold an estimated eight million copies worldwide.

Track listing
Notes
 * $undefined$ signifies a co-producer
 * "Heartbreaker" contains a sample of Stacy Lattisaw's "Attack of the Name Game" (1982)
 * "How Much" contains a sample of Makaveli's "Me and My Girlfriend" (1996)
 * "Heartbreaker (Remix)" contains a sample of Snoop Dogg's "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)" (1993)
 * "Crybaby" contains samples of Guy's "Piece of My Love" (1988) and Toto's "Georgy Porgy" (1978)
 * "Did I Do That?" contains a sample of Silkk the Shocker's "It Ain't My Fault 2" (1998)

Personnel
Personnel
 * Mariah Carey – lead vocals, songwriting, background vocals
 * David Foster – keyboard, songwriting
 * Diane Warren – songwriting
 * Narada Michael Walden – Drums, programming
 * Bryan-Michael Cox – bass, keyboards
 * Jermaine Dupri – programming, percussion
 * James "Big Jim" Wright – keyboard, bass
 * Corrado Sgandurra – guitar
 * Terry Lewis – synthesizers, keyboards, rhythm programming
 * James Harris III – synthesizers
 * Trey Lorenz – background vocals
 * Cindy Mizelle – background vocals
 * Melonie Daniels – background vocals
 * Kelly Price – background vocals
 * Shanrae Price – background vocals

Production
 * Mariah Carey – arranger, producer
 * David Foster – arranger, producer
 * Diane Warren – arranger
 * Jermaine Dupri – arranger, producer
 * Narada Michael Walden – producer
 * Terry Lewis – arranger, producer
 * James Harris – producer
 * Bryan-Michael Cox – producer
 * Melissa Elliott – producer
 * Calvin Broadus – producer
 * Shawn Carter – producer
 * DJ Clue – arranger, producer

title: Rainbow (Mariah Carey album)


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Hi! I am a man. I am seven years old. I live in London. I can't speak English. If you have some questions please use some stupid language I invented. I am not a troll.

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Graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002. MBA in 2008.

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