Gaga featured for 25 Great Gay Moments in Music

With her equality anthem "Born This Way" and . . . well, nearly everything she says, does and wears, Lady Gaga has proven herself to be this era's gay-friendliest pop star. But Gaga goes well beyond celebrity gestures and digs her paws into real political action. First came her rallying cry at the National Equality March on Washington in March 2009. The 2010 MTV VMAs followed, where U.S. service members affected by the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy accompanied her on the red carpet. Later, she appealed to her millions of Twitter followers to ask the New York State Senator to vote yes for the Marriage Equality Act. And since 2009, Gaga has teamed with Virgin Mobile to help combat homelessness among gay youth. At every U.S. show in the last four years, Virgin has pledged up to $5,000 for a local gay youth homeless shelter in each city to match $1 donations made by concert-goers. Gaga has also notably taken her vocal support of LGBT youth on the road this winter with her Born Brave Bus, which was part of her Born This Way Foundation's campaign in partnership with Campus Pride, GLSEN and other youth empowerment groups. -- Monica Herrera, Andrew Hampp, Jessica Letkemann.