Cyndi Lauper Discusses Tough Childhood, Sexual Assault, Support For LGBT Community And More
"That was shocking -- that was very shocking," pop icon Cyndi Lauper said, candidly discussing a sexual assault she experienced by a male member of her band in the '80s -- and by two women who restrained her during the assault -- an incident which she recounts for the first time in her frank new book, "Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir."
The singer and performer also talked about her tough childhood and several other sexual abuses she experienced, including as a teen by her stepfather; leaving home at the age of 17, hitchhiking and often finding herself in dangerous situations; becoming pregnant early on and getting an abortion, though she wanted to have the child; contemplating suicide after the pressures of fame and the recording industry escalated; and beating back the negativity and becoming inspired by the cause of LGBT rights, for which she's become a leader with her True Colors Tour and True Colors Fund.
"I tried to write an honest story about how I felt as an honest woman who went on to live her life on her terms," Lauper said in an interview on my SiriusXM OutQ radio program on Monday. "I wanted to have my sound. I wanted to have my look. I wanted it to be about me and what I wanted to contribute."
Lauper left home at 17 after her "creepy" stepfather, who threatened to rape her and her sister, had been spying on her while she was taking a bath. She took various jobs, including as an IHOP waitress, and pursued her musical career. She often didn't have enough money to eat, she writes in the book, and traveled by hitching rides, which sometimes put her in threatening situations, such as when a man forced her to perform a sexual act.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/25/cyndi-lauper-sexual-assault-lgbt-community_n_1912425.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
She is a class act. I love you Cyndi!
