Erik Toro Celebrates LGBT Rights in Hit Song

Photos: Team Toro

Hitting the top of Sweden's iTunes chart during Stockholm Pride Week, Erik Toro's single "The Right" features the indie singer-songwriter as he makes an emphatic defense of LGBT rights worldwide. Intended as a commentary on the struggles of Uganda and Russia's queer communities, according to Toro, the song features the musician as he dances and croons his way from a maudlin piano track amidst a black and white background to a powerful anthem set to explosions of color from all over the rainbow. (Be warned: both videos below contain strobe effects.)

Not his first time approaching LGBT rights, "The Right" joins Toro's "If I Pray," which was written from the perspective of the victim of an anti-LGBT hate crime in his last moments of life. Dedicated to hate crime victims such as Matthew Shephard and Daniel Zamudio, it features a more consistently dour track than "The Right," yet holds a twinge of hope for what the protagonist's prayers might achieve.