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

Contents:

• WHAT MAK A ‘GAY IN’?
• WHAT IS A GAY IN?
• DEFINITIONS FOR GAY INGAY IN
• 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

WHAT MAK A ‘GAY IN’?

Ricky Mart — who announced he was a “proud homosexual” 2010 after years of speculatn, cludg an famo terview wh Barbara Walters that Mart recently said still hnts him — ro a wave of succs driven largely by a loyal female fanbase eager to watch him shake is “bon-bon. Puttg asi the song’s associatn of love wh a “crime” beg juxtaposed wh a lyric like “Greet me wh the ey of a child, ” “Father Figure” se Michael stg himself the role of a proxy parent, an trigug but perhaps predictable velopment given the prevalence of “daddy” culture the gay muny.

“Seventeen” is clearly about sex, but ’s also about the kd of self-disvery that gay men of Michael’s generatn were equently prived of their formative years.

Sivan, who’s 26, has said he uldn’t relate to Michael growg up, and the unapologetic, joyo portras of queer sire that he and Lil Nas X nvey their mic feel far removed om the srce, thly veiled songs about the gay experience that existed around the time they were born. Michael’s long-awaed third album, 1996’s Olr — the release of which cid wh my own sexual awakeng at the height of the AIDS epimic — rerced the myopic visn of gay life as one of danger, sadns, and misery that my generatn was tght school and by the media. Many of the gay men who survived the plague have variably suffered a form of PTSD, triggered by the naggg spicn that they unjtly ped ath while their lovers and iends perished.

WHAT IS A GAY IN?

Openly gay sger Adam Lambert has lled g out “an act of fiance, ” and while Michael was given ltle choice the timg and manner of his own, he was far om ntre the mic vio for “Outsi, ” released jt a few months later to promote his first greatt hs album. After g out, Michael stantly beme a gay in, but he was a reluctant one, tormented by the ath of his first love and stgglg to rencile the fact that the massive succs he’d achieved was staed by pretendg to be someone else.

Ultimately, Ges Kyrias Panaytou may not have ever found the gay Shangri-la that Lil Nas X scrib his vio, but “Montero” might not have ever existed whout him. And if you bat for the other team, why should an adaptatn of a 34-year-old documentary about two crazy-t ladi livg a cmblg, racon-fted Hamptons pile send shivers of ecstasy up and down your hotblood homo spe?

Do shaved-head lawyers Dolce & Gabbana swimmg tnks rry black briefs full of vot to some unmarked gay bar where John Waters, Rsell Simmons and Cher mull over the mers of the homo-ne? Spottg a gay in is like beg double-joted or ridg a unicycle: to laymen is imperceptible, but to gay men 's like, well, 's actually pretty simple: gay men of a certa age have an affy to people who, like them, have faced adversy, and who, like them, have had to fight to bee the person they want to be.

DEFINITIONS FOR GAY INGAY IN

Let's not fet every gay person Ameri is livg a untry where their ernment do not nsir them to be worthy of the same rights as any straight person, so you n unrstand why beg able to intify wh your tribe is a joyo and liberatg thg. If there is a smugns, an excln the anotg of gay ins while others may not even gus that they ronate wh , perhaps 's bee for so long we have been acctomed to secrets, s and a need to feel that there is somethg we have that is special and here's my beef: isn't the slavish votn to certa figur by a whole muny slightly menacg and spooky, even fascistic? As an activist for LGBT rights, she has been an outspoken cric of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy the US ary which prohibs gay and lbian servicepeople om beg open.

WHY IS JUDY GARLAND THE ULTIMATE GAY IN?

Diana was of the most fervent advot for those afflicted wh the HIV/AIDS, pecially the early years of the disease’s onslght, and she did this at a time when few others would – a time when gay men beme public enemy no. Those who were ma to feel “different” by a society that was largely homophobic uld intify wh Diana’s suatn life, and most uld admire her for the fiant poise and grace wh which she handled all.

Harvey Milk was a trailblazg openly gay polician who, as a member of San Fransis’s Cy Board of Supervisors, champned gay rights before beg assassated alongsi the cy mayor by a disgntled polil rival. This English sger/songwrer is not only one of the hottt pop divas around, but she has also been a mastay favore of gay culture sce her rise to pop promence 2012.

What mak the acplishment even more admirable is that she had to overe ocsnal homophobia om the lol electorate – somethg which seems to be a fact of life even supposedly progrsive Chigo. Lightfoot was honored as one of the grand marshals of the Chigo Pri Para 2019, and 2020 she was named by Queerty (an onle magaze verg LGBT liftyle and news) as one of the 50 hero “leadg the natn toward equaly, acceptance, and digny for all people, ” honor of the 50th anniversary of the first gay pri para (which took place on June 28th, 1970 NYC).

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

Asi om his role as the groomg expert of the Queer Eye reboot, Jonathan has starred the web seri Gay of Thron, and is the host of his own podst, Gettg Cur wh Jonathan Van Ns, which won the iHeartRad Podst Award for Bt LGBTQ Podst. YouTuber, televisn personaly and LGBT rights activist Jazz Jenngs seems to have been sted to make a posive mark on the world for gay, lbian and transsexual . Nohels, Alan’s cisn to e out as a gay man has no doubt served as spiratn and an example for untold numbers of young people out there who might be stgglg to fd acceptance.