Queers Uned: Word of the Gay: "My Judy"

Contents:

• HOW JUDY GARLAND BEME A GAY IN — AND WHY SHE ENDUR AS ONE
• GAY SLANG 101
• WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?
• WHAT MAK JUDY GARLAND A GAY IN? EXPERTS EXPLA WHAT SHE AND OTHERS, OM DIANA ROSS TO MADONNA, HAVE MON
• IS JUDGE JUDY GAY? HERE IS THE TTH
• ‘FRIENDS OF DOROTHY’: HOW JUDY GARLAND BEME A GAY IN
• IS JUDGE JUDY GAY OR LBIAN?

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

Many untri around the world have their own versn of queer slang, om Brish gay slang rived om the rhymg slang Polari to beki – the Philipp’ queer language that borrows om a slew of sourc, cludg pop culture, Japane, Spanish, and the untry’s lol languag.

But the Onle Slang Dictnary c 1960s gay male culture as the earlit known source, particularly rtoonist Joe Johnson’s characters “Miss Thg” and “Big Dick”, which appeared early issu of The Advote. Homosexualy remaed illegal across the Uned Stat the mid-twentieth century – that is, until Illois beme the first state to crimalize same-sex relatns 1962. In the 60s and 70s, gay men even had a “hanky ” – a system that volved wearg bandanas wh lors that signified whether you were a top, bottom, to BDSM, etc.

GAY SLANG 101

In the 60s, Lesch was the print of a gay rights anizatn lled the Mattache Society and me up wh the “Sip-In” – a monstratn held at New York Cy bars that banned service to out gay people. Lesch scribed nti as “agg or middle-aged homosexuals, offtim effemate character” and people of “settled meanor who utns agast temperate acts”. The drag fai beme a refuge for gay, trans, and genr non-nformg youth who were turned away by their own fai or experienced homelsns due to poverty.

WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?

While she was alive, Garland was a figure of tense adulatn among the gay muny; she herself was very aware that many of her most voted fans were queer.

As early as 1967, mastream publitns were discsg the profn of gay men attendance at Garland's ncerts and attemptg to dissect her particular appeal. 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.

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

" Nathaniel Frank, an expert on LGBTQ public policy and thor of Awakeng: How Gays and Lbians Brought Marriage Equaly to Ameri, ph the pot further. While neher Frank or Dyer n ppot how or why the term "Friend of Dorothy" entered the gay lexin, they both cred the beloved 1939 fantasy as playg a key role Garland's ntued ronance.

IS JUDGE JUDY GAY? HERE IS THE TTH

" Some have suggted that Garland's imable performance of "Over the Rabow" is part of what led to the rabow beg adopted as a symbol of gay pri. "A lot of the gay ins are mp the sense that she n be imated — there's a certa kd of exaggeratn her mannerisms that's very easily imated, " he says. " THE WIZARD OF OZ, Judy Garland, 1939 Judy Garland 'The Wizard of Oz' | Cred: Everett Collectn Another plited ponent of Garland's stat as a gay in was her own timacy wh gay men.

He rells a letter he once received om a gay Garland fan, which scribed the shows as moments that "gave you permissn to be gay public for an eveng.

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

" Dyer remas somewhat surprised by Garland's stayg power, particularly the face of more recent gay-ronant ins who have followed her, artists such as Kylie Mogue, Lady Gaga, and Madonna. That sense of 'There's somethg there but n't que be said' is such a part of the emotns her image and her performanc, that is dramatizg that very moment of movg om beg the closet to beg open about beg gay.

Pri, formerly known as Gay Pri, is a regnn of LGBTQ inty, affirmatn of equal rights, and celebratn of visibily, digny, and diversy the LGBTQ muny. While the word homosexual is still ocsnally ed some ntexts, you might have noticed that don’t make an appearance any versn of the LGBTQ acronym. As our age note on the term stat, “up until 1973, homosexualy was listed The Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM), psychiatry’s standard reference on the classifitn of mental illns.

And many feel that this word plac undue emphasis on sexual activy, or that sounds overly clil.” In fact, the term homosexual was liberately rejected by early gay rights activists bee, acrdg to The New York Tim, “they did not want to be intified as exclively sexual begs.”. Gay, on the other hand, n be ed to scribe a person of any genr who experienc same-sex attractn, although is most often ed to scribe a man who is attracted to men. On June 28, 1969, the New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a bar equented by gay and genr-nonnformg people (at a time when terms like LGBTQ didn’t yet exist).

IS JUDGE JUDY GAY OR LBIAN?

Partially rponse to Stonewall, 1970, queer activists New York Cy anized a march to Central Park wh the theme “Gay Pri.” A more prehensive history of the Stonewall Rt or the Stonewall Uprisg n be found our Pri Month explaer.

Queer lerally means “strange or odd om a nventnal viewpot,” and by at least by the late 1800s, queer was ployed as a rogatory term for an effemate or gay man. Vtage slang for a person attracted to the same genr, referrg to the actrs Judy Garland who married multiple gay men on purpose, so that they uld live their liv eely whilst unr the guise of heterosexual marriage.