'Hello Yellow Brick Road' — SF Gay Men's Chos pays homage to Elton John and Oz :: Bay Area Reporter

OVER THE RABOW: THE GAY MALE OBSSN WH THE WIZARD OF OZ
WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; WHY OZ IS A STATE OF MD IN GAY LIFE AND DRAG SHOWS
THE ENDURG (GAY?) APPEAL OF 'THE WIZARD OF OZ': MISTER OF CULTURE
WIZARD OF OZ, THE: TIMELS FABLE (NEW MEANG, LGBTQ, GAY)
‘FRIENDS OF DOROTHY’: HOW JUDY GARLAND BEME A GAY IN
ON THIS GAY DAY: ‘THE WIZARD OF OZ’ WAS RELEASED
'HELLO YELLOW BRICK ROAD' — SF GAY MEN'S CHOS PAYS HOMAGE TO ELTON JOHN AND OZ

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

* the wizard of oz gay culture *

It's based on the novel by gay thor Gregory Maguire, who's wrten several other books about the Oz while many of will always go over the rabow wh Judy Garland, 's clear there will be plenty of other yellow brick roads leadg to Oz. 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?

WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?

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. 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 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”). 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. 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. 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.

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

After the suici aths of several young people the fall of 2010, cludg Rutgers Universy stunt Tyler Clementi, crowds gathered for a vigil New York’s Washgton Square Park, wavg rabow-lored glow sticks while openly gay Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson led them sgg Over the Rabow. The atmosphere around the theater was one of a relig procsn; all seemed like harmls fun; but, as wh all public spectacl gay culture – beyond the revelry was always a pervasively tragic overtone. Most remarkably, is the homosexual male intifitn wh Dorothy herself; perfectly embodied by the equally happy and sad Judy Garland – whose untimely ath 1969 advertently sparked the Stonewall Rts.

Along wh other glamoro, but ultimately self-stctive screen legends, like Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, and Marilyn Monroe, gay men saw Garland the mirror for their own manic-prsive reali: feigng a perfect exuberance to the adorg mass while gog home alone and nursg the fterg wounds. Furthermore, the three characters of the Srecrow, the T-man, and the Cowardly Ln, are also metaphors for the gay male fantasy: of fdg their perfected selv; nstantly dogged by a feelg of aquacy and missgns, that is forever and unntrollably throwg before your ey a sensatn that you are lackg; though cintly, as the characters fally fd out – was not wantg at all, but was wh them. Wh this year’s Osr race celebratg a batn of gay characters (Brendon Fraser The Whale, Cate Blanchett Tár), mp ins (Angela Bassett, Lady Gaga, Michelle Yeoh), and, Everythg Everywhere All At Once’s Stephanie Hsu, the first openly queer actor nomated for playg a queer character sce Ian McKellen 1998 (pl all the nods for Baz Luhrman’s Elvis, a movie that provis a one-word answer to the qutn, “Alexa, fe mp?

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

There’s no overt sexualy or romance of any kd here, and (probably) no tentnal queer dg, but such is the power of The Wizard of Oz and s star, all-time-one-off Judy Garland, that s imagery is synonymo wh gay culture. Friend of Dorothy has been slang for gay men for years (some chalk this up to Judy Garland, beloved of gay men everywhere, while others pot to the origal Oz books and the le “you have some queer iends, Dorothy”), Over the Rabow is arguably the most important song gay culture, as anyone who has heard Ruf Wawright sgg will tell you, and rabows themselv are part of the fabric of Pri.

The film broke new ground as a queer drama that was accepted by a mastream dience, though some have blamed private homophobia on behalf of Amy members for blockg what was expected to be a Bt Picture shoe- at the (2014) dir.

Matthew WarchThe very Brish (and very Welsh and very gay and very lefty) te story of a group of gay Londoners, based around the real life (and still there) book shop Gay’s The Word, who ci to raise money for a Welsh town h by the 1984 mers’ strike. Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn is on a journey through the multiverse that isn’t jt about savg a billn worlds, ’s about, ultimately, tly acceptg her gay dghter, Stephanie Hsu’s Joy. Nicholas Stoller The prsure of beg one of the first proper, mastream gay rom s gave this extremely likeable, funny and filthy film some performance anxiety at the box office, which is a shame.

WIZARD OF OZ, THE: TIMELS FABLE (NEW MEANG, LGBTQ, GAY)

Acrdg to one letter om 2001 the Los Angel Tim, the source is Dorothy Parker (1893–1967), a wty member of the Algonqu Round Table, who equently ved gay men to fashnable soiré durg the 1920s and 1930s. Daniel Harris’s The Rise and Fall of Gay Culture (1997) matas that Garland (1922–1969) served as a “lostone” for gay culture: “When Judy me onto the stage, we were the loust and most exuberant part of that dience.

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

Dee Michel’s Friends of Dorothy: Why Gay Boys and Gay Men Love The Wizard of Oz (2018) expands the spe to expla gay culture’s fascatn wh more than Garland—but the land of Oz self. Mickey Weems the Qualia Encyclopedia of Gay People not that Harvey Milk adopted this same exprsn to mpaign agast a proposed California iative that would have banned gays om workg public schools.

ON THIS GAY DAY: ‘THE WIZARD OF OZ’ WAS RELEASED

At a time when gay people om middle Ameri left their hom for more liberal stat like New York and San Francis, Dorothy wantg to pe her small town of Kansas was highly relatable to this mographic. The feelgs of a girl nfed to a place wh nothg but ignorance and trouble for her are very siar to what a gay man would have felt the homophobic society of early 20th century Ameri. Espg to a magil Land of Oz, although a romantic sentiment, is exactly what a gay person would want; a world where they are ee to be themselv, where they have iends who love them and a society that embrac them.