What mak Judy Garland a gay in? Experts expla what she and others have mon.

Contents:

• THE GAYS BEHD BARBRA (AND NEARLY EVERY OTHER GAY IN)
• BARBRA STREISAND TALKS GAY IN STAT & CALLS FOR EQUAL RIGHTS
• WHAT MAK JUDY GARLAND A GAY IN? EXPERTS EXPLA WHAT SHE AND OTHERS, OM DIANA ROSS TO MADONNA, HAVE MON
• GAY INOGRAPHY: CELEBRATG THE FILMS OF BARBRA STREISAND
• INTERVIEW: BARBRA STREISAND ON HER SCREEN EBACK, BEG A GAY IN AND NEW FILM ‘THE GUILT TRIP’
• GAY IN BARBRA STREISAND FDS GAY SEX DISTASTEFUL, SAYS LARRY KRAMER
• BARBRA STREISAND, THE QUEEN OF GAYS
• FOUR GAY MEN PONR THEIR SMIC ATTACHMENT TO BARBRA STREISAND

THE GAYS BEHD BARBRA (AND NEARLY EVERY OTHER GAY IN)

As I travel around the untry for my book Hello Geo: Beg Barbra Streisand, I've been gettg some surprised reactns om terviewers and rears about how many gay men helped shape Barbra's look, sound and stage prence at the begng of her reer. Isn't ironic, they ask me, that she would then go on to bee such a qutsential gay in?

BARBRA STREISAND TALKS GAY IN STAT & CALLS FOR EQUAL RIGHTS

In the early 1960s, when Streisand was jt startg out, gay dienc stctively regnized somethg very faiar about her, a shared sensibily. That was only logil, given that her sensibily had been nurtured by gay men, after all. Almost to a dame -- om Mae Wt to Lady Gaga -- the greatt gay ins have been mold early their reers by gay mentors and, before anyone protts that I'm makg too much of a claim here, let me add that, of urse, Streisand (and her fellow ins) first had to have that certa X factor, that magil star qualy, as well as heaps of talent.

But when we go lookg for the reasons why certa stars -- Streisand, Wt, Gaga, Judy Garland, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe -- have such appeal for gay men and spire such voted gay followgs, I thk we have to pay reful nsiratn to who and what fluenced them their formative I document my book, the young Streisand was surround by a triumvirate of gay men who ntributed enormoly to how she was first prented to the world. Her boyiend Barry Dennen (who would later e out as gay) was one of the first to regnize the gift of Barbra's voice and enurage her to pursue work as a sger. Another pal, Bob Schulenberg, polished her look, aimg for a more "godss-like" style and creatg Barbra's signature eye makp and early was this heavily gay-fluenced creature who walked onto the stage at the Ln, a gay bar, and wowed everybody prent.

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

Word spread quickly through New York's gay muni that this Streisand kid was special. Among those the dience who regnized somethg magil about Barbra was Arthur Lrents, one of the least disguised gay men to ever work the theater. This was the show that lnched Barbra on her swift rise to the longtime theater aficnados, however, Streisand's gay tutelage was acknowledged as merely part of a long tradn, one wh a very imprsive track rerd.

As a young, wi-eyed nocent Hollywood, Lucille LeSur was lucky that her first iend at MGM was top actor William Ha, who was unapologetilly gay and supremely talented at star makg.

Kathare Hepburn's early screen image -- tomboyish, fiant and subversive -- was mold by the gay director Gee Cor. Judy Garland, right om her days as a child star, was moled to the in she would bee by a seri of gay mentors who helped her velop her sgg style and stage persona.

GAY INOGRAPHY: CELEBRATG THE FILMS OF BARBRA STREISAND

Marilyn Monroe relied on gay choreographer Jack Cole not jt for dance mov but also for help how she looked, how she sound and how she alt wh the stud and the tradn ntued. Liza Mnelli had more gay godfathers than most, given all the gay men who surround her mother.

Bette Midler emerged straight out of the gay baths; who would she be whout Bce Vilanch? Madonna me out of the New York gay scene of the late 1970s and early '80s and has paid tribute to the formative impact of such gay iends as Keh Harg and Mart Burgoyne. Thirty years later Lady Gaga blossomed wh a siar i, fluenced by gay club kids and micians.

INTERVIEW: BARBRA STREISAND ON HER SCREEN EBACK, BEG A GAY IN AND NEW FILM ‘THE GUILT TRIP’

" Today practilly every new female celebry mak a show of her gay llaborators and fan base, tryg hard to cultivate gay inhood. If Streisand wasn't as spectacular as her early handlers -- gay and straight -- believed, then she wouldn't have bee the superstar she remas.

GAY IN BARBRA STREISAND FDS GAY SEX DISTASTEFUL, SAYS LARRY KRAMER

But shouldn't be surprisg to learn that gay men have played signifint parts the creatn of gay ins. What seems to be more te is that behd every great gay in is a gay man (or two or three or 20). Ined, there were gay women everywhere: the ont row, the upper cks, sightg celebri through shared boculars, buyg $40 tour T-shirts.

The existence of gay male fans of Barbra is well documented and highly visible, but the lbian muny, our fandom is jt as long lived, though not as well known. Although growg up gay Ameri is gettg easier wh every , still requir a measure of self-acceptance that many heterosexuals never have to mter, or at least not until later life. Whatever the e, ’s the reason those of who watch Stud 60 on the Sunset Strip are drawn to Christe Lahti or Sarah Plson rather than Amanda Peet (and yeah, don’t hurt that Sarah Plson is gay real life).

She has done two thgs that n be nsired the money shots of lbian in-dom: speak out support of gay rights, and play a lbian or lbian-ish role. Streisand’s gay-iendly résumé clus producg the movie Servg Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, lendg her name and art to var fundraisers (rangg om ostentat bash for polil ndidat to ls glzy like Jewish/Arab relatns), and havg a gay son. As ual, she had her vocifero crics, but Yentl ma her gay-iendls part of the cultural landspe and cemented her lbian in stat.

BARBRA STREISAND, THE QUEEN OF GAYS

Gay ins through the ag, clockwise om top left: Madonna, Liza Mnelli, RuPl, Barbra Streisand, Beyoncé, Judy Garland. (Photos: Getty Imag; llage by Nathalie Cz for Yahoo Life)Throughout the s, LGBTQ people have ed the term “gay in” to scribe a specific kd of public figure: typilly a larger-than-life diva whose life, work and allyship has ma a signifint impact on queer culture and s voted what mak a gay in, well, inic? “A gay in is somebody who reprents the termatn to be who they are — and [is] unapologetic for , ” Bce Vilanch, the legendary Hollywood wrer and culture cric, tells Yahoo Life.

” (Learn more about some of the most well-known gay ins the teractive AR, below.

FOUR GAY MEN PONR THEIR SMIC ATTACHMENT TO BARBRA STREISAND

Goln Age stars like Joan Crawford, who was reportedly bisexual, and Bette Davis were revered by queer fans not jt for their mpy performanc, but also bee they were surround by gay people their personal ’s easy to e blanket terms like “mp, ” “diva” or “glamor” when attemptg to scribe such ins, the gay-culture cric Michael Mto explas that not all of them explicly fall to the tegori — jt as all are not pop sgers or movie stars. The two women suffered those thgs … but they endured, they survived, " and wh humor, which Wilson lled "the life-rilient force of the gay muny. ") Or they n be royalty, like Prcs Diana, whose mix of glamour and activism has ma for an endurg reputatn as a gay in.