Cyndi Lauper Launches ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights’ Fund – Billboard

Cyndi Lauper launches the Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights Fund, with a mission to help organizations “fighting for the right to abortion and reproductive healthcare.”

The veteran singer, songwriter and activist introduced the initiative on Oct. 11, the International Day of the Girl and in response to the Supreme Court’s controversial overturning of Roe v. Wade.

In addition, Lauper will launch limited-edition “Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights” t-shirts, with web proceeds generated from every sale additionally going towards the fund.

Its ambition, reads an announcement on Lauper’s official web site, is to “support efforts that advance the fundamental rights and health of all women and girls.”

The program is a long-time brewing for Lauper, who’s been vocal about her id as a feminist.

“When most women would say, ‘What are you, a feminist?’ And people would go, ‘Well, I’m really a humanist.’ I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m a feminist. I burned my training bra,’” stated Lauper in a latest interview revealed by People. “Then in 2017, I saw these young girls with these ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights’ signs, and I felt like, ‘You know what? It was all worth it.’ The little ones, they heard me.”

Although the fund borrows its title from Lauper’s breakthrough 1983 single “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” she admits she didn’t have any political intentions when she initially wrote the music.

“It wasn’t political, but in a lot of ways it was, because how dare I say that women should come together and be joyful?” Lauper advised People. “When I used to go on tour, I actually saw grandmothers, mothers and daughters — three generations. It just made it worthwhile to me.”

The ’80s hitmaker has landed 14 titles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, together with eight high 10s and two leaders, “Time After Time” and “True Colors” (“Girls Just Want To Have Fun” peaked at No. 2).

Across her profession, Lauper has received two Grammys (1985, 2014) an Emmy (1995), a Tony (2013) and in 2018, she accepted the Icon Award on the 2018 Billboard Women in Music Awards.