[A.S.B.]

What is Judy Garland’s appeal among some gay men? Is this just another Hollywood myth, or is there some truth to it?

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Name : A.S.B., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 31, City : Seattle, State : WA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Roger D.]

Judy Garland played a very real role in the modern Gay Right’s movement. Prior to her death in 1969, Judy Garland was beloved by the New York City drag queen community. At that time the local New York gay bars were raided on a fairly regular basis by the local police force and it was not unusual for the raids to be humiliating and cruel.

On the evening of Judy Garland’s death, a bar in Greenwich Village, the Stonewall, was raided. The drag queens, already devastated by the death of their idol, finally rose up and fought back, successfully fighting-off the police. They had had enough! They could not even be left in peace to mourn Judy’s passing. The demonstrations continued over the next few evenings. Although there had been protests and demonstrations prior to this, the Stonewall rebellion is now symbolically celebrated internationally as the birth of modern Gay Rights.

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Name : Roger D., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 48, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Self Employed, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[J. Williams]

this is an interesting question to me personally and i’ve asked myself the same thing. i was in the early 60s a big Judy Garland fan — this was during the time of her CBS television series. I was devoted beyond reason, made an audio tape of every show, played back Stormy Weather house on end via my old reel to reel recorder. Had no real clue as to my own orientation and assumed I was straight – just out of high school but hadn’t tested any waters sexually at that time. Not a late bloomer, really a non-bloomer I guess. Later continued the Judy interest bought some albums, read with sadness of her death and continued to love her music. The vibrato, her own storytelling on those recorded TV shows; she really was a great entertainer. I married and was living a hetero life but later, in the 80s and especially with easier access to the internet, gay porn via USENET newsgroups more recently the Web found that the gay world was most likely the place I belonged. I could identify completly with gay culture, love to surf gay websites now and consider myself bisexual. Judy Garland — early on — but not in the context of any gay culture. Frankly I had no idea that she was a gay icon but something in her music, style, life clicked with me. She didn’t turn me toward gay interests but it’s almost as if I was hardwired from the outset to find something in her that worked for me. So, I agree there’s a connection because I see it in myself but can’t say just what that linkage is. And yeah, I liked Barbra Steisand also at the time — big brash female singers who sung of tragedy, loss and triumph. No real answer but I guess sort of a confirmation that Judy Garland had an inate appeal to some gays.

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Name : J. Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 55, City : shawnee, State : KS, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Joe Wilson]

noticed this question yesterday and today happened across an Atlantic Monthly article dealing with the same topic – why Garland appealed to gay men and what’s become of that connection in the 80s and 90s. Check it out in the August 2000 Atlantic Monthly. Gist of the article is that Garland as an icon for gay men has become an embarrassment and largely discarded as the stereotype of gay men as effeminate drag queens has shifted to masculine, buff, hard bodied cowboys, bikers and Gold’s Gym regulars. The writer’s explanation for Garland as the diva of choice in the 60s mentioned her own tragic life as metaphor for the duplicity of gay life itself in that era. Check it out at the library or Barnes and Noble, page 62, ‘The Queen is Dead’ by Michael Joseph Gross. Long article on the topic – almost like the author’s interst was piqued by reading the query here on YForum. You out there Michael Gross??

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Name : Joe Wilson, Gender : M, City : Millville, State : NJ, Country : United States, 

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