Why Judy Garland is still such a gay in | SBS Voic

garland gay

'Over the Rabow' is jt the begng of Judy Garland's stat as an endurg gay in.

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WHAT IS A GARLAND GAY?

Judy Garland was one of the most inic and regnizable movie stars of all time. She also (might have) helped kick off the gay rights movement. * garland gay *

”More like this- Film’s most shockg moments- How Friends changed our ia of fay- The bt films of 2019 so farRoss is far om the only gay man to feel such strong affy wh Garland’s work and life. Gay magaze The Advote once lled her the “Elvis of homosexuals”, and a 1967 review of Garland's ncert at New York Cy’s Palace Theatre, Time Magaze observed that a “disproportnate part of her nightly claque” was gay.

The buzz surroundg the release, partnered wh the 2018 remake of A Star is Born – the inic showbiz drama that earned Garland an Amy Award nomatn 1954 – has brought her distctly gay legacy back to bpic Judy, Renée Zellweger plays Garland – and is a favoure for next year’s Osrs (Cred: David Hdley/ LD Entertament / Roadsi Attractns)To many gay men, Garland is the mother of all ins. Analysg her story, om upbrgg to ath, helps unrstand how and why some gay men look to famo women to help them navigate the town to Tseltown In 1922, Garland was born Franc Ethel Gumm – named after her parents Frank and Ethel – Grand Rapids, Mnota. In his book, Heavenly Bodi: Film Stars and Society, profsor Richard Dyer observ some gay men intify wh Garland’s rejectn of the ordars that she seemed sted for as a child.

WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?

* garland gay *

He theoris that turng out to be abnormal after beg “saturated wh the valu or ordars” is a pot where Garland and Dorothy’s stori align wh the experience of some gay men, enuragg those who perceive themselv as ‘different’ to gravate towards troubleGarland’s arrival as a major Hollywood star was plited by a seri of disastro personal relatnships, most notably wh herself.

” This physil secury is somethg that many gay men n intify wh, particular, as a mographic more likely to battle body dysmorphia, harm their bodi, attempt suici and suffer om eatg disorrs. In the book, Changg Gay Male Inti, Dr Andrew Cooper suggts that the body n be a plex battleground for many gay men: that the body be a key se for projectg a “succsful” sense of self to gay peers, but also for embodyg succs the ey of wir society. But the Osr end up gog to Grace Kelly, signallg that Garland’s Hollywood star was not gog to be reigned after this pot, the motif of Garland as a ‘survivor’ be central to her gay appeal.

GARLAND, TX GAY CY GUI – LGBTQ EVENTS AND GAYBORHOODS

The impact Garland had on her gay fans has never been up for bate. But this year, the film Judy, Garland's gay fans have fally been regnised for havg a strong impact on the sger return. * garland gay *

A Star is Born further blurred the le between her work and life, wh Richard Dyer intifyg this as the moment where Garland’s image of beg “damaged goods” be an sential part of her star persona and gay in stat. ”Gay men often reject gay cultural figur that they perceive as geared towards straight people – such as the st members of Netflix’s Queer EyeBut ntrastgly, the book How to be Gay, queer historian David Halper scrib a tensn wh the “mastream” that leads gay men to be “highly cril, if not ntemptuo, of their own artists, wrers and filmmakers”.

He draws a key distctn between gay culture – where “nventnal” whe gay men are domant – and gay subculture – where women, drag queens, queer people of lour and trans people are more visible. This some gay men to reject gay cultural figur that they perceive as geared towards straight people – such as, to e two very current exampl, the st members of Netflix’s Queer Eye and gay Democratic printial ndidate Pete Buttigeig. Instead many embrace subcultural – and their ey, more subversive – female narrativ like Garland’ seen the new film Judy, Garland found a new niche as a live sger towards the end of her life (Cred: David Hdley / LD Entertament/ Roadsi Attractns)So, pendg on which way you look at , “disintifyg” wh Garland is eher gay men’s way of feelg aligned to mastream culture – or, fact, rejectg in athIt is an unavoidable tth that Garland’s tragic and untimely ath has also ntributed to her stat as a gay in, makg her a timels figure.

“I THK YOU’RE GAY. THAT’S OKAY. YOU’RE MY SON, I LOVE YOU.”

For starters, says one expert, “A gay in is somebody who reprents the termatn to be who they are — and [is] unapologetic for ." * garland gay *

” But s later, you don’t have to look far to see how Garland was the first a ntug leage of ‘tragic’ female celebri who have acquired the stat of gay would e to a Judy Garland ncert and then scream at her when she was too dnk to fish – Dr Michael BronskiElements of Garland’s story n be found that of Diana, Prcs of Wal, and her mistreatment at the hands of the prs; Prcs Margaret, wh her ongog substance issu, and marriage to an exploative man who was moured to be gay; and Brney Spears, whose child stardom culmated a very public divorce and mental health stggl. As Dr Michael Bronski, a Harvard Universy profsor and the thor of books on queer history and gay culture, asserts a recent article on the dark si of “stan” (superfan) culture: "There is a long history of gay male fan culture latchg onto famo women and then turng on them.

Whether ’s Katy Perry beg, as journalist Brian O’Flynn wr, “gay Twter’s punchg bag”, or gay fans drsg as ‘bald Brney’ for Halloween and turng up to meet-and-greets drsed stume om Spears’s famo 2007 breakdown, gay men n be creasgly fickle towards famo a former child sat who has endured mental health stggl, Brney Spears is one of many female celebri whose experienc rell Garland’s (Cred: Alamy)Idolisg the women is one thg, but we shouldn’t treat them like playthgs for our entertament. And om the streets of Wisteria Lane to Big Ltle Li and the Real Hoewiv anchise, pop-culture enurag to love female characters when they’re screamg hysterilly, so we n nnse their pa to hilarly mp GIFs and say “yassss kween” as they smash up their is a huge part of what draws gay men towards women like Garland. Gay for Good is a group that seeks to mobilize and energize the LGBTQ muny North Texas to teract wh their muni by volunteerg time to var social projects and chary anizatns.

HOW JUDY GARLAND BEME A GAY IN — AND WHY SHE ENDUR AS ONE

In honor of Dorothy Gale herself, here are 10 facts about about the late actrs, sger, gay in, and all-around Garland would eventually velop a reputatn for beg unreliable, she worked her whole life—startg at the age of 2 years old, when Garland (then “Franc Gumm”) ma her stage but sgg at the movie hoe owned by her father.

WHY JUDY GARLAND IS STILL SUCH A GAY IN

Trans activist Sylvia Rivera, a key figure the early gay rights movement, later said of the hours before the police raid that led to the Stonewall rts: “You uld actually feel the air. ” Historian David Carter trac the Garland-Stonewall nnectn to a Village Voice article om years later that troduced the “Judy Garland’s funeral led to Stonewall” myth as a way to “attack and disparage” gay people.

For reasons possibly unrelated to her sexualy, Garland also beme a gay mastay via the phrase ‘Friend of Dorothy, ’ which gay men ed to intify each other the 50s (siar to today’s ter trend of young queer women of askg each other if they ‘listen to girl red’).

WHAT MAK JUDY GARLAND A GAY IN? EXPERTS EXPLA WHAT SHE AND OTHERS, OM DIANA ROSS TO MADONNA, HAVE MON

The term referenced Garland’s portrayal of Dorothy Gale The Wizard of Oz, largely bee Dorothy’s journey to Oz “mirrored many gay men’s sir to pe the black-and-whe limatns of small-town life … for big, lorful ci filled wh quirky, genr-bendg characters who would wele them.

‘FRIENDS OF DOROTHY’: HOW JUDY GARLAND BEME A GAY IN

From the groups of gay men that would flock to her performanc the 50s and 60s, to her reverence as an inic ‘mp’ symbol, to her eher tthful or speculated bisexualy, Garland harbors meang for the LGBTQIA+ muny, and has left a legendary legacy of gay importance her wake. The term "Friend of Dorothy, " referencg her The Wizard of Oz character, beme popular among gay men to self-intify, and mors still persist that was Garland's 1969 funeral that sparked the epoch-fg Stonewall rts, the begng of the morn gay-rights movement. Richard Dyer, who first wrote about Garland's stat as a gay in 1986's Heavenly Bodi: Film Stars and Society, suggts that her reer followed a trajectory of self-disvery, siar to those of many of her fans.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GARLAND GAY

Why Dorothy's red sho serve their stat as gay ins, even changg tim.

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