Reflectg on Queer Cema's Goln Age: The Gay '90s

Contents:

• THEATER THE GAY 90S
• THE GAY 90S
• GAY 90'S
• MNECULTURE PODST | EP. 28: WHEN THE GAY 90’S CAME OUT
• SPECIAL REPORT: THE GAY 90'S

THEATER THE GAY 90S

In fact, there are many reasons queer people gravate toward particular songs, whether their relatable lyrics rell hardships often experienced by LGBTQ+ dividuals (Cyndi Lper’s “Te Colors, ” Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”) and help listeners feel ls alone or feature the beltg chops of a big-voiced diva á la Whney Hoton’s “I Wanna Dance Wh Somebody. ” Other songs receive queer anthem stat for tongue--cheek nods to g out (Diana Ross’s “I’m Comg Out”) or more straightforward referenc to gay cisg (Village People’s “YMCA”).

And let’s not fet about songs like ABBA’s “Dancg Queen” and Madonna’s “Exprs Yourself, ” which are beloved by the LGBTQ+ muny for promotg unabashed happs and celebratn — feelgs that many dividuals strive for suatns where their sexuali aren’t before Lil Nas X slid down a pole and gave Satan a lap dance one of the gayt mic vios of all time for “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name), ” artists like Crystal Waters and Ja Jackson released tracks the ’90s that reflected LGBTQ+ issu like homelsns and the AIDS crisis. Jt look at Lady Gaga, who beme the first person ever to say the words “lbian, ” “gay, ” “bi, ” or “transgenr” at the Super Bowl 2017 while performg “Born This Way.

” She also featured the Hoe of Xtravaganza her Blond Ambn world tour and later on the big screen Madonna: Tth Or Dare and has been creded wh troducg the world to a subculture now reprented TV seri like Pose and S, “Show Me Love”Not to be nfed wh gay in Robyn’s 1997 h of the same name, Rob S’s “Show Me Love” is a feel-good hoe track about searchg for te love after a seri of hardships, a ncept all-too-relatable to many LGBTQ+ Peniston, “Fally”Siarly, this 1991 dance h is another posive, upbeat song about “meetg Mr. By addg a shimmerg club beat and emphasizg the le “I’m gonna be okay / I’m gonna be alright, ” Thunrps perfectly crafted the track to be shouted along to on the dance floors of gay clubs for life.

THE GAY 90S

” Christa Aguilera, “Betiful”The empowerg lyrics of Christa Aguilera’s “Betiful” are pretty universal, but s mic vio featur a gay uple kissg ont of a judgg crowd and a drag queen nfintly embracg their inty, which wasn’t an everyday sight on TRL.

" It foc on the '90s, as the untry moved om the Reagan years to a Clton princy, the AIDS epimic was peakg, and the untry beme eply divid polilly over gay rights and other hot-button issu. CORNISH: It me to sound like the openg salvo to the culture wars over the rights of gay And signified Buchanan's succsful ph of the Republin Party further to the right.

GAY 90'S

And so for Bill Clton himself adm that he was wrong about gays the ary, he was wrong to sign the Defense of Marriage Act, says everythg that you need to know about his impact on the LGBTQ muny durg his princy and, ankly, the damage that his support of those polici and posns did at the time.

While The Boys the Band and Makg Porn are at the Theatre Buildg, Bailiwick Repertory’s annual gay- and lbian-oriented Pri Seri will be full swg next door through the end of Augt. “I thk people will be able to get a real sense of how gay theater has progrsed if they see The Boys the Band and then e to some of our shows as well. Rumors had been swirlg for years around Michael’s sexualy but nothg was ever nfirmed by him prr to this song’s release (shortly thereafter he me out as bisexual, before g out as gay further down the le).

MNECULTURE PODST | EP. 28: WHEN THE GAY 90’S CAME OUT

While there’s nothg explicly homosexual the play, many believe that the ma characters Vladimir and Estragon are an ageg homosexual uple, who are worn out and not engagg sexually any longer.

Nile Rodgers (om the band Chic), who was workg wh Ross on material for her album Diana, got the spiratn for the song after seeg multiple drag queens drsed as Ross at a gay-iendly New York Cy club. Sure, RuPl had already broken before this song and movie (see our number one song) and the mid-’90s were surprisgly gay-iendly — To Wong Foo was sandwiched between the release of two other celebrated and succsful mastream LGBTQ films, The Adventur of Priscilla, Queen of the Dert 1994 and The Birdge 1996. Although only reached number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, was a number one h on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play, large part bee so many gay men loved the song — after all, was fun, sexy, danceable and mpy.

Charts after a Facebook mpaign was lnched to get the song back on the charts rponse to a polician who blamed floodg and adverse weather on gay marriage.

SPECIAL REPORT: THE GAY 90'S

1990 was the year that the unrground gay ball scene sort of went mastream, thanks large part to this Billboard Hot 100 number one h om one of the most famo artists the world at the time. For those unfaiar, the New York Cy ball scene was an LGBTQ subculture where different ho — mostly Black and Lat gay, bi, lbian and trans people — walked (or peted) for trophi tegori such as Face, Body, Butch Queen Realns, Femme Queen Realns, miscellaneo drag and Vogueg. But I’m sure Ru uldn’t have imaged that 27 years later, not only would his song still be played gay bars, but people all over the world, both LGBTQ and our alli, would still be sayg l om this song, thanks to their cln a realy show lled RuPl’s Drag Race.