Pride month is coming soon, and we have many reasons to celebrate it. Hollywood has always had a community, especially nowadays, where we have more representation and more roles for queer actors.
Moreover, Hollywood has produced gay icons whom the world has loved. We have listed down four (4) queer icons who the world has loved.
Lady Gaga
Can’t see your poker face online slots ph? For our first person, we’ve chosen Mother Monster! Lady Gaga has always been vocal about her sexuality, even from the start of her career. She came out as bisexual during an interview with Barbara Walters, expressing that this is who she is and has always been. She started the Born This Way Foundation in 2011, and for years, they have helped out thousands of queer children and teenagers.
James Dean
Hollywood actors sometimes have great charm and fantasy that surround them, making people wonder about their sexualities. James Dean was one of those cases. He had an ambiguous and experimental take on sexuality which made him a queer legend. James Dean, according to Randall Riese’s book The Unabridged James Dean: His Life and Legacy from A to Z, said the legendary actor was not homosexual but was “certainly not going through life with one hand tied behind (his) back.” Nicholas Ray, the director of Rebel Without A Cause, said that Dean was allegedly bisexual. Dean’s notorious East of Eden audition cemented a thousand fanfictions.
Dean was also linked to Pier Angeli, Eartha Kitt, and William Bast. Bast would later go on to become his first biographer.
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury being queer was not exactly a secret. Mercury was known for his glam rock and androgynous style alongside looks from New York’s underground gay club scene to mainstream fashion. Unfortunately, he was one of the first celebrities to lose his life to the AIDS epidemic, but as the iconic Queen song goes, Don’t Stop Me Now, Mercury continued creating music before his death. Mercury’s birth name was Farrokh Bulsara. As Persian and Indian, he was one of the BIPOC LGBTQ icons on the list.
Many people choose to ignore and erase Mercury’s bisexuality, especially given he was close to Mary Austin, whom he was involved with for years. When he died, he left her his house. He had also been a godfather to her eldest son.
Judy Garland
Judy Garland is another gay icon. She had a legion of gay followers. Moreover, her father was closeted and gay, while her two husbands were potentially queer, and she had many gay friends. Her tragic and trademark song, Over The Rainbow, helped propel a movement that would change the queer community. Moreover, what makes Judy Garland endearing is that she represents everything a queer icon should be due to her strong will and hunger. Despite everything people did to make her fade into irrelevance, she did not disappear.
Wrapping Up
Hollywood has its legends and stars, and queer icons. As much as they remain icons to be admired, we cannot deny that they deserve an environment that respects and treats them as humans. Their legacies, however, still live on.
