Last Night of the Proms sees Jamie Barton take a stand for gay rights
Jamie Barton in the Royal Albert Hall, London, for the Last Night of the Proms. (Twitter)
Bisexual opera singer Jamie Barton stole the show at the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms, waving a rainbow Pride flag during a rendition of ‘Rule Britannia’.
Barton, a US mezzo-soprano who is a self-professed “queer girl with a nose ring”, took to the stage waving a Pride flag – and her dress also reflected the lavender, pink and blue colours of the bisexual flag.
The bisexual flag-themed dress was “a statement of the pride in my community”, Barton said.
“We are witnessing something rather remarkable,” said BBC Radio 3’s Petroc Trelawney. “That moment an audience falls in love with a singer.”
Here’s the big moment when @jbartonmezzo entered into the flag-waving spirit of the Last Night of the Proms! #LNOP pic.twitter.com/7b3eUFVhUh
— BBC Proms (@bbcproms) September 14, 2019
“There was a wave of love and acceptance and appreciation,” observed conductor Sakari Omaro, following Barton’s performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Barton, the 37-year-old star of the show, said she wanted to make “a very clear statement of Pride” at the 15 September Last Night of the Proms.
“It’s not only a very important thing to me personally, but it’s also something I think unifies the audience,” she said.
“It’s not just queer pride, it’s a connective celebration of people being exactly who they are and loving who they are. And I’m honoured to get to lead that.”
Barton told The Times that waving the rainbow flag was her idea.
“When I sat down with the BBC in October I told them, ‘You know, I can think of a flag that I can get behind. I’d really like to carry the Pride flag’,” she said.
Barton also sang the Wizard Of Oz classic, ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ – a gay anthem.
Barton came out as bisexual on Twitter on National Coming Out Day in 2014. She first rose to fame in the Cardiff’s 2013 Singer of the World competition.
