Rainbowland

By:  Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, and Oren Kleinman

In 2017, Miley Cyrus released her sixth studio album “Younger Now” with hits like “Malibu” and the title track “Younger Now”. Also on that album was a duet and collaboration with her god mother, the incomparable Dolly Parton, “Rainbow Land”. Miley said in a Grammy Interview that they wanted to make a song that could make a difference. Although Rainbowland wasn’t released as a single it became an anthem of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

However the story doesn’t stop there. In 2023, first grade teacher Melissa Tempel of the Waukesha School District in Wisconsin was first prohibited from singing this song with her first graders at their spring concert by a determination of the school district. After that decision by the district, Melissa spoke out and expressed her frustration on not being able to perform the song and in July 2023 was fired by the Waukesha School District Board of Education. District officials found that the song could be “deemed controversial”.

As of September 2025, a federal judge dismissed Tempel’s lawsuit but Melissa has filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.