What's the gayt part of "The Wizard of Oz"?

Contents:

• WHICH ACTORS THE WIZARD OF OZ WERE GAY?
• THE ENDURG (GAY?) APPEAL OF 'THE WIZARD OF OZ': MISTER OF CULTURE
• WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?
• THE GAYS
• WHAT'S THE GAYT PART OF "THE WIZARD OF OZ"?
• CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; WHY OZ IS A STATE OF MD IN GAY LIFE AND DRAG SHOWS

WHICH ACTORS THE WIZARD OF OZ WERE GAY?

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. 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”).

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

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.

WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?

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. 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 GAYS

Which actors The Wizard of Oz were gay? That om terpretg the three central male characters Srecrow (Ray Bolger), T Man (Jack Haley), and the Cowardly Ln (Bert Lahr) as gay men revolvg around a mpy heroe (Judy Garland’s Dorothy). Are there gay paras The Wizard of Oz?

Oz imagery is equently seen LGBT pri paras, wh dividuals drsg as characters, floats g Oz as a unifyg theme, and anizers choosg Oz for the theme of the para as a whole (the 2003 Europri Para, held Manchter, England, clud gay men drsed as characters om The Wizard of Oz). I had the chance to chat wh Jerrod Carmichael at the Emmys, where he opened up about beg a role mol for LGBTQ youth after he me out as gay April his HBO Max special “Rothaniel. 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.

WHAT'S THE GAYT PART OF "THE WIZARD OF OZ"?

​ ​— Ruf Wawright, gay sger and poser.

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

—Gregory Maguire, gay thor of Wicked: The Life and Tim of the Wicked Wch of the Wt.