Why is Judy Garland the ultimate gay icon?

BBC ^ | 9/24/19 | Louis Staples

[RedMonqey]

According to the article, her father was bisexual as he liked to diddle young men on the side.
The poor girl never really had a chance.

[M1911A1]

Your TOS Geekery is strong. Respect.

[nickcarraway]

Probably not for millenial or Zoomer gays.

[TChad]

Here is my favorite version of her singing the song in 1943.

Here's my favorite cover, by Eva Cassidy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rd8VktT8xY

[Fiji Hill]

My favorite Judy Garland song is The Texas Tornado from the 1936 film Pigskin Parade which, in my opinion, is her best film. Much of it was shot on the campus of Occidental College, which is located on the western slope of Fiji Hill.

[ansel12]

Wow, she is fantastic.

[Fiji Hill]

Note the reference to "Over the Rainbow" in the song "Stairway to Heaven":

Over the rainbow,
That's where I'm going to climb.
Way up high where the bluebirds fly,
I'm going to love you all of the time.

[Fiji Hill]

In her version of Over the Rainbow from 1940, Vera Lynn sings the rarely heard verse, which does, indeed, sound like a Great Depression song.

[TChad]

Wow, she is fantastic.

She's one of my three favorite American singers. She was never a household name, because she was killed by malignant melanoma at age 33.

If you don't know her story, here's her wiki entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Cassidy

[ansel12]

Here she is meeting and singing to wounded troops in a hospital in 1968.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WI4wBMz1ts

[minnesota_bound]

I guess it was the fabulous sparkly shoes she wore.

[fieldmarshaldj]

War is hell.