Why is Judy Garland the ultimate gay icon?

BBC ^ | 9/24/19 | Louis Staples

[DallasBiff]

On 25 March, 1969, Judy Garland took to the stage at the Falkoner Center in Copenhagen. As she reached the crescendo of Over the Rainbow – the song which made her a global star aged just 17 – it was unknown to the audience that they were watching her final live performance. Four months later, 47 year-old Garland was found dead in Chelsea, London, after accidentally overdosing on the drugs she had self-medicated with since childhood. One of the headlines would read: “Judy’s voice stilled. The rainbow is gone.

[Jim W N]

Gay men want to be tragic divas?

They either follow tragic divas or want to be tragic divas or both...

[Jim W N]

Gay men want to be tragic divas?

They either follow tragic divas or want to be tragic divas or both...

[Jim W N]

Double dipper. Sorry.

[Jim W N]

So Vincente Minnelli was a queer? Didn’t know that.

[Jim W N]

She seemed like a sad, lost soul.

[x]

She was an icon two generations ago — to the point where it became a cliche.

I’d be surprised if today’s homosexuals had much interest in her.

[ChessExpert]

Who says that she was a gay icon, and why? Because she sang “somewhere over the rainbow”?

[ealgeone]

If I recall her song was one that gave America some hope in 1939. The Depression was still happening. WW2 was kicking off.

Very understandable why the country would take some comfort in the song.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Wow, no kidding!? I watched Judgement at Nuremburg for the first time earlier this year and had absolutely no idea that Irene Hoffman was played by Judy Garland! What a great performance she gave.

She's listed in sixth place on the IMDB cast listing.

[SuperLuminal]

And the historical revisionism continues unabated...

[Political Junkie Too]

I think gay men just liked her cabaret club acts

That's what it really comes down to.

Mostly, they liked her show outfits/costumes, and recreated them in their drag shows.

Garland didn't have the classic female form like Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, or other wartime female icons. She wasn't the most feminine looking female star, so the male characteristics of the drag performers were softened by looking like Garland in their shows.

I think the same thing is true for Cher, which is why many drag performers dress as her, too. Cher has a history of flamboyant costumes and a face with masculine features (IMHO).

-PJ

[Responsibility2nd]

She's listed in sixth place on the IMDB cast listing.

 

It was an all-star movie. From 1961. I find it incredible that William Shatner is still alive.

 

 

She's listed in sixth place on the IMDB cast listing.

 

It was an all-star movie. From 1961. I find it incredible that William Shatner is still alive.

 

 

[Angelino97]

The song is vague enough that people can interpret it in their own way. People during the Depression, and gay men, both fantasize about what’s “over the rainbow,” but their fantasies differ considerably.

[dakine]

Don’t care what folks say.

I’ll always have a crush on Judy Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louis”

My favorite Movie Musical...

[x]

It was a little secret he learned from Flint the Immortal on Holbert-G917.

[john drake]

I believe he was bi-sexual or enough to play the cover well to at least help produce Liza who is a dead ringer for her father.

[RedMonqey]

Why gays love Judy garland?

It’s the ruby shoes! Homos love sparkly shoes!!!

[daler]

Judy’s father was allegedly gay, which wasn’t all that stylish back in the 1920’s.

[Rinnwald]

Did you ever notice, after you grew up, that all the Village People DallasBiff works had a gay theme?

[ansel12]

“””If I recall her song was one that gave America some hope in 1939. The Depression was still happening. WW2 was kicking off.
Very understandable why the country would take some comfort in the song.””””

Here is my favorite version of her singing the song in 1943.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hABGhMiPk