Tegan is the one in white, Sara is the one with the hot hair.
  • Tegan is the one in white, Sara is the one with the hot hair.

I know I'm a walking lesbian stereotype, but I don't care. I heart Tegan and Sara. A pair of gorgeous gay twins with deep grainy voices, going bananas on the guitar? Stop. I'm swooning. And I know I'm not in the minority in the LGBT community—I know plenty of queer ladies who adore both Tegan and Sara Quin, fantasize about sleeping with either of them, and at some point, in a drunken state of mind, have considered getting a tattoo reminiscent of the tree image on Tegan's forearm. Deny it all you want, queers—you know it's true.

But the thing about falling into the lesbian stereotype is that Tegan and Sara don't fall into many musical stereotypes. Sure, plenty of their music is about love and heartbreak and relishing the beginning stages of a relationship, but it's the particulars that make their music memorable—like the overwhelming naïveté and sensuality in "Nineteen," or the bitterness of standing next to the phone waiting to confirm a breakup in "Call It Off."

You can blast their social-justice anthems like "Clever Meals" and identify—despite your sexuality, race, religion, or gender—with the song's sense of self-acceptance and equality, and shout out lyrics like "And as I stand here screaming in despair/I say yes, this is my life/And yes, you should care."

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Tegan and Sara play Bumbershoot Sunday, 2 pm, at the KeyArena.