Question to gay DUers from an ignorant straight man.

[maveric]

Why the fascination and adoration for Judy Garland?
Excuse my ignorance, I'm just curious.

[Bertha Venation]

1. I'm gay and I don't know any gay people who have this Judy thing.

None. Could be a stereotype because of her song "The Man Who Got Away," great torch song done in drag by many a queen.

But I'm clueless as to how it got started. I think it's just a stereotype. Maybe one of the guys will come on and tell me I'm wrong. But as I said, I know no one.

[Dookus]

15. Bertha!

now you know one! me!

I fell in love with her the first time I ever saw Wizard of Oz as a child. I used to stay up late and watch movie musicals on TV all the time, and a Judy Garland musical was a special treat.

I know lots of gay men with the same attraction, but by no means is it all that common, especially among younger gay men.

[Deja Q]

2. Two reasons... and a hot link!

She lived a life of depression and lonliness. Sounds familiar to me.

She was also in "The Wizard of Oz", which has some parallels and whose own main point reflects ours: Dream for an ideal world, and be yourself no matter what the odds are!

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030909.html

[RoeBear]

3. Now if we could only find out...

...why the French love Jerry Lewis.

[DS1]

5. and the Germans love Hasselhoff

:wtf:

[Tyler Durden]

6. They had to counterballance all that culture...

...with SOMETHING.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

4. OK, Toad, explain the Cher thing.

[Deja Q]

8. Her daughter is a lesbian...

Sonny probably disowned her the moment she came out of the closet...

You remember Sonny, the hack no-talent half of "Sonny and Cher" who became a politician... a repuke go figure?

I haven't listened to enough of her music to know what her message is.

[Gildor Inglorion]

14. Au contraire....Sonny, believe it or not, was

loving, accepting, and supporting. Cher threw a hissy-fit and refused to believe it for a long time. Stereotypes don't always fit, especially when it concerns fathers and their daughters.

[Deja Q]

9. My, how you've changed!

:D

[Screaming Lord Byron]

11. Gotta love the Davros.

[PartyPooper]

7. Hence, the "friend of Dorothy" came into being as code for being gay.

This was at a time when it wasn't "cool" to be gay. In fact, it was downright dangerous (personally, professionally, and politically.)

[Deja Q]

10. As if it isn't these days...

I don't go prancing around to every stranger, saying "Hey! I'm gay! I just came out of the closet! Woo-hoo!!" (I'm gay, BTW...)

People still get taunted, evicted, fired, maimed, or murdered on the simple SUSPICION of being gay, forget any factual data behind the suspicion. x(

[maveric]

12. I thank you all for the enlightenment.

[Onlooker]

13. A few reasons

I'm no fan of hers, in part because my ex had 45 different Judy Garland records, so I heard enough of her music to last me about 10 lifetimes. But, here goes: Why Judy Gardland is a gay icon.
(1) Her father was gay and died while she was quite young, so she seems to have always had a real love of gay men.
(2) She had a tragic, indeed melodramatic life, which appealed to many gay men in an era when being gay meant you had to conform to a stereotype or you'd be alone, since no one would be able to identify you.
(3) She was perhaps the greatest entertainer of her era (and many people, both gay and straight, say that), so she was very admired and gay men, who still tend to be more involved in the arts and entertainment than straight men, gravitated to her simply because she was very talented.
(4) Gay people had a hard time finding heros up until at least the 1960s because of all the oppression and abuse directed towards them. Thus, they gravitated to whoever was most accepting.
(5) The Stonewall riots, which kicked off the gay revolution, happened on shortly after Judy Garland died. Not surprisingly, drag queens, who often imitated Judy Garland, were among the most courageous of the rioters. (Let's face it, to be a drag queen back then, you had to be brave.) Those riots helped keep alive the myth of Judy Garland.

All that said, I think her time is largely over in terms of the gay community. I think now that gay rights are more accepted, the real gay history is being discovered and Judy Garland's role is receding. Thank goodness!