Cyndi Lauper, shown Nov. 11, 2009, in New York, will give a free Toronto concert in July during Pride Week. Cyndi Lauper, shown Nov. 11, 2009, in New York, will give a free Toronto concert in July during Pride Week. (Carlo Allegri/Associated Press)

Cyndi Lauper, who has been an outspoken advocate for gay rights, will give a free concert in Toronto during Pride Week this July.

Lauper will perform on one of eight city stages hosting musical acts during Pride Week. More than one million people are expected for the festival June 25 to July 4.

"It's an honour to always have the genuine affection of the gay community," Lauper said in a statement. "They have never turned their back on me and I will never turn my back on them. We've had a long and enduring love affair."

Lauper, who burst on the scene with the hit single Girls Just Want to Have Fun in 1983, will release a new album in June, a followup to Bring Ya To The Brink, which came out in 2008.

In 2007 Lauper created the True Colors Tour, bringing together artists like Erasure, The B-52s, Indigo Girls and Deborah Harry, and she is also founder of the True Colors Fund, which works to advance equality.

With Lady Gaga, she is spokeswoman for the 2010 MAC Viva Glam Campaign, which supports people living with HIV/AIDS around the world.

Lauper will appear on Celebrity Apprentice on March 14 and later this year launches her own reality show.

The July 3 concert will be held at Queen's Park.