Pride 2025 Spotlight: Petter Wallenberg on Building a Global Rainbow Family Through Music
Pride Month is a celebration, but it’s also a protest against the forces that try to silence us. In 2025, the global fight for LGBTQ+ rights is more urgent than ever, with anti-queer and anti-trans laws rising across multiple continents. But in the face of all that, music can still be a balm, and a battle cry.
Few artists understand that better than Petter Wallenberg. A Swedish musician, director, and human rights activist, Wallenberg is the founder of Rainbow Riots, a global nonprofit that merges art and advocacy to uplift LGBTQ+ communities, especially in countries where it’s still illegal to be queer. Through his work, Wallenberg has helped launch Uganda’s first LGBTQ+ community center, released India’s first Pride anthem, and created multimedia projects that shine a spotlight on queer lives across the world.
His latest release, “My Love (is the way it’s supposed to be),” is a disco-fueled, genre-hopping anthem that’s equal parts joy and defiance. It features queer collaborators from three continents, including Ugandan queer performers who face the daily threat of violence, and New York drag legend Lady Bunny. But this isn’t just a feel-good Pride song. It’s a creative act of resistance, one that insists LGBTQ+ folks everywhere deserve not just to survive, but to thrive.
To kick off our 2025 Pride Month series spotlighting global queer creatives, we sat down with Petter for an in-depth conversation. The interview unfolded in two parts: first, a discussion of the new single and its message of love, resilience, and resistance; then, a deeper dive into his work with Rainbow Riots and his ongoing mission to create change through creativity. The result is a powerful portrait of an artist who believes that joy is political—and that disco might just help save the world.
This new track is such a powerful mix of joy and resistance. What inspired you to create “My Love (is the way it’s supposed to be)”—and why now?
PETTER WALLENBERG: Thank you! The song is inspired by my deep love for classic disco—a genre which played a significant role in the queer liberation movement. I wanted to revive that spirit of freedom and celebration through music again.
You’ve brought together queer voices from three continents for this single. What was the creative process like working across so many borders and communities?
WALLENBERG: It’s incredibly exciting! Despite our different cultural backgrounds, we as queer folks share so much—a common resilience, creativity, humor, and a fierce love for life. We really are a global rainbow family.
For example, working with drag artists from Uganda, where it’s illegal to be LGBTQ+, is profoundly meaningful. Drag becomes much more than entertainment in that context—it’s a tool of resistance, a way to voice the silenced, to stand tall against oppression. As the Ugandan drag performers sing on the Afrobeat version of the track: “They try to burn us, but we’re heat-proof, baby!”
The song comes in three different versions—disco, Afrobeat, and ballad. What made you want to explore such varied musical styles, and how do they each reflect the message of the track?
WALLENBERG: I love pushing musical boundaries. Each version reflects a different vibe, a different cultural lens, but all carry the same core message of strength, hope, and resistance. The disco version is a nod to our Western queer roots, the Afrobeat brings the African vibe to the world. The ballad offers a more heartfelt reflection with strings and spoken word.
We’re seeing a lot of LGBTQ+ persecution rising globally. How do you see music as a tool for activism in times like these?
WALLENBERG: Music has this incredible ability to unite people across borders. It transcends language, culture, and even legal barriers. It’s a form of activism that evokes emotions and hope. Music can change the world, because it can change the most important thing—people’s hearts and minds.
Lady Bunny brings such legendary energy to the track. How did that collaboration come about, and what did she bring to the project that surprised or moved you?
WALLENBERG: I’ve known Lady Bunny for years, and I knew she’d be perfect for a song rooted in classic disco and activism. Bunny’s legendary legacy as a New York drag icon adds so much power to the track. What surprised me was how seamlessly her energy connected with my European music roots and the queer voices from Uganda. It’s like a transatlantic celebration of resilience—drag and disco as our superpowers, echoing the spirit of the Stonewall riots. Even in the face of oppression, we can be loud, proud, and fabulous.
The Ugandan artists featured on the track are doing something incredibly brave by using their voices under dangerous conditions. How did you navigate the safety and visibility concerns around their involvement?
WALLENBERG: This is not just music and creativity, it’s part of my organization Rainbow Riots’ human rights work in Uganda. We conduct thorough risk assessments and collaborate closely with local organizations to safeguard everyone involved. Beyond making music and performances, we organize legal workshops and advocacy campaigns to protect the community and push for legislative change. It’s creativity and activism rolled into one!
You’ve described this song as both a Pride celebration and a protest. How do you hope listeners, especially young queer folks, will respond to it emotionally or politically?
WALLENBERG: I want them to feel joy, strength, and resilience. To know they’re part of a global movement that refuses to be silenced. As Lady Bunny says: “First we dance, then we fight.”
In many parts of the world, Rainbow Riots has become such a global force in queer activism. For people discovering it for the first time, how would you describe its core mission in your own words?
WALLENBERG: I am the founding director of Rainbow Riots, a nonprofit dedicated to using arts and culture to advocate for LGBTQ+ human rights worldwide. I make music, films, campaigns, and capacity-building projects in countries where being queer is dangerous or illegal. Our goal is to create visibility, foster community, and push for change—using creativity as a catalyst for change. As an openly gay artist and musician, this approach came naturally to me. I want to use my creativity to fight hatred.
Rainbow Riots has helped launch everything from Uganda’s first LGBTQ+ community center to India’s first Pride anthem. What’s been the most unexpectedly impactful moment for you so far in this journey?
WALLENBERG: One of the most moving moments was when I was invited as a keynote speaker at the first legal Pride in India in 2019, where it was previously a criminal offence to be LGBTQ+. Being part of the historical decriminalization of same-sex relations in India, the world’s most populous country, reminded me why this work matters. Things can change for the better!
There’s a lot of talk about “art as activism,” but you’ve been living that truth for years. How do you approach blending art and human rights work without losing the emotional core of either?
WALLENBERG: Authenticity is key. The art must come from a real place—genuine emotion, talent, and truth. When I create, I focus on making something beautiful and uplifting that also carries a message. It’s not just activism for the sake of it; it’s about making art that can stand on its own.
Rainbow Riots does a lot of work in places where being LGBTQ+ is literally illegal. How do you build trust and community in such high-risk environments?
WALLENBERG: By going there, by meeting people face-to-face, and connecting with other queer people. I have been to Uganda multiple times, as well as several other countries where it is illegal to be gay. Even in dangerous environments, human connection is powerful. People are people.
You’ve said that music, arts, and culture are universal languages. What kind of response have you seen when queer stories are told through those mediums in places that have little queer visibility?
WALLENBERG: The response is often overwhelming. Since I started my work making music and directing films to convey our queer stories from around the world, I have been contacted by LGBTQ+ people from so many different countries sharing their stories. We all have so many amazing, inspiring or heartbreaking stories, and they need to be told.
With everything happening around the world—from Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act to anti-trans legislation in the U.S. and the UK—how do you keep going without losing hope?
WALLENBERG: I draw strength from our queer history. We as a minority have faced persecution before, and we’ve survived. Our rights didn’t come without a fight. And just as quickly as they came, they can go. Nothing is constant, the pendulum swings back and forth. It’s always been like that. During some times in history LGBTQ+ people were celebrated, and at other times persecuted. Things can change. So we need to be vigilant. We can fight back and actively resist the pendulum swinging back on us. We won’t go away!
What would you say to young queer creatives who want to make a difference but don’t know where to start?
WALLENBERG: Just do your thing—be fearless, loud, and proud. Your art is your voice. You are in a position to express yourself through your own creativity, a wonderful medium, but you don’t need to have all the answers right away. Sometimes just being and expressing yourself is the bravest action you can ever take in life as well as in art. The world needs your voice!
Lastly, what’s next for you and Rainbow Riots? Can we expect more global collaborations—or maybe a return to some of the communities you’ve worked with before?
WALLENBERG: Thank you! I am proud to reveal that I have been invited as a keynote speaker at World Pride in Washington DC which will be very exciting! Also, me and Lady Bunny are gonna perform the track for the first time in front of a live audience at an event hosted by the Swedish Embassy! I am also gonna host a discussion panel at the Washington National Theatre about drag as a form of resistance, featuring huge global drag superstars like Bob the Drag Queen. It’s gonna be amazing and I am so excited!
In a world where queer lives are still criminalized, erased, and attacked, Petter Wallenberg’s work reminds us that joy is not frivolous—it’s revolutionary. Whether through disco beats or community workshops, his art radiates a clear and defiant message: our love is the way it’s supposed to be. As Pride unfolds across the globe, let that be our anthem—not just for June, but for every day we dare to live out loud.
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Featured Image: Image Courtesy of Petter Wallenberg. Photo by Jonas Norén.
