Oz - "Friends of Dorothy: Why Gay Boys and Gay Men Love The Wizard of Oz" by Author Dee Michel

Contents:

• THE ENDURG (GAY?) APPEAL OF 'THE WIZARD OF OZ': MISTER OF CULTURE
• CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; WHY OZ IS A STATE OF MD IN GAY LIFE AND DRAG SHOWS
• OVER THE RABOW: THE GAY MALE OBSSN WH THE WIZARD OF OZ

THE ENDURG (GAY?) APPEAL OF 'THE WIZARD OF OZ': MISTER OF CULTURE

Requt By: Steven BTT Man and Srecrow a really gay romantic piic smut. It is, of urse, mon knowledge that Judy Garland is a gay in — beloved and worshiped by gay men of a certa age and class — but what else explas the ubiquo referenc to “Oz” drag performanc and the nam of bars and bs terg to the muny? It would be a mistake to nfe a discsn of The Wizard of Oz to a certa class of gay men, but seekg a pot of orig, there is a domant narrative of queer history which “Oz” and Garland were important parts of a mostly whe, middle-class, urban gay male subculture by the 1950s.

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; WHY OZ IS A STATE OF MD IN GAY LIFE AND DRAG SHOWS

The orig of the exprsn “Friend of Dorothy, ” which beme a phrase ed by gay men to intify themselv to each other, is lost to history — may have predated this era, and may not even refer to Garland’s role the movie, but the belief that do is wispread (another possibily is that refers to Dorothy Parker, who was also a iend to gays). Acrdg to “Oz” scholar Dee Michel, who is wrg a book on “Oz” and gay men, there are certa beliefs about the film and the LGBT muny that persist spe of a lack of clear historil evince. “The beliefs, ” he said, “overlap and rerce each other and have bee part of gay folklore, creasg our sense of history and rercg gay inty.

Some disparagg remarks about gay men attendg Garland ncerts were prted reviews the late 1960s. Other prt referenc to “Oz” as an unrground culture shared by gay men seem to show up the 1970s and ’80s, lookg back and attemptg to expla the appeal of the film.

The explanatns often take the form of an intifitn of gay men and others wh a girl om a small muny who is misunrstood by her fay, who is whisked away to a place where she be iends wh characters who seem like they uld be gay men (pecially the Cowardly Ln, who refers to himself as a “sissy” and “dandy ln”).

OVER THE RABOW: THE GAY MALE OBSSN WH THE WIZARD OF OZ

The story beme a metaphor for the real-life dreams and experienc of gay men who left middle Ameri for the gay muni of New York Cy and San Francis, which were analogized to Oz or the Emerald Cy. There is, of urse, also the unique place occupied by Garland among gay ins.

Garland’s stggl seemed to mirror those of gay men at the time, and she was admired for risg above her problems performance, although as she noted herself, she was never able to get over the rabow her life off the stage or screen.

Neverthels, gay folklore and film ntue to tell the story, que possibly imposg the perspective of whe, cisgenr gay male historians on an event that was largely the work of queer and trans people of lor. Ten years later, at the 1979 March on Washgton, acrdg to Michael Bronski, lbian sger Holly Near end her set wh Over the Rabow, llg the gay natnal anthem. The Wiz, a Broadway mil produced by a black gay man and adapted as a film starrg Diana Ross, occupi an important place both black and gay culture, as evinced by the muny-watch parti and Twter rpons to the recent live broadst on NBC.