List of gay icons

Sappho of Lesbos was an Archaic Greek poet known for composing sentimental lyrics about women. Perceived homoerotism in her poems have led to her becoming a symbol for lesbianism,[1] with her name and home island inspiring the terms sapphic and lesbian respectively. Her sexuality, and the themes in her poetry have been extensively discussed and reinterpreted by scholars.[2]

The 3rd century Christian martyr Saint Sebastian is one of the earliest known gay icons,[3] due to his depiction in artwork as a beautiful, agonied [sic?] young man.[4] Historian Richard A. Kaye states that "Contemporary gay men have seen in Sebastian at once a stunning advertisement for homosexual desire (indeed, a homoerotic ideal), and a prototypical portrait of a tortured closet case."[5]

In the 1890s, Irish poet Oscar Wilde, himself also called a gay icon,[6] was incarcerated and exiled for his sexuality, and adopted the pseudonym "Sebastian Melmoth" after the saint.[7] Gay playwright Tennessee Williams used the saint's name for the martyred character Sebastian in his 1957 play, Suddenly Last Summer.[8]

The 15th century martyr and patron saint of France Joan of Arc has become a queer icon in more recent years[9] due to her cross-dressing,[10] devoted celibacy, and consistent rebuffing of male advances.[11][12] She is consistently referenced in modern queer art and culture.[13] She is particularly important to the transmasculine and lesbian communities. Jane Anderson described Joan of Arc as a queer icon and symbol for young women.[14]

Prior to the French Revolution, opponents of the French monarchy regularly circulated pornographic propaganda alleging that Marie Antoinette was engaged in a lesbian relationship with the Princesse de Lamballe. While the rumors of Antoinette's sexuality were unfounded, they led to her being interpreted as an early lesbian icon in works by gay authors, such as Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness (1928) and Jean Genet's The Maids (1947).[15]

Judy Garland, for some authors is a premier example of a gay icon, as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Late singer and actress Judy Garland was immensely popular among gay men due to her camp sensibilities, and is considered "the quintessential pre-Stonewall gay icon".[16]

In the 1950s, the phrase "friend of Dorothy" became used as a slang term for homosexuals. This term is attributed both to well-known author and fellow gay icon Dorothy Parker, and to Garland's prominent role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz.[17]

Cher has been ranked in diverse listicles of the most prominent gay icons.[18][19][20]

Cher's eldest child, Chaz Bono, first came out as a lesbian at age 17, which reportedly caused Cher to feel "guilt, fear and pain". However, she soon came to accept Chaz's sexual orientation, and came to the conclusion that LGBT people "didn't have the same rights as everyone else, [and she] thought that was unfair". She was the keynote speaker for the 1997 national Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) convention, and has since become one of the LGBT community's most vocal advocates. In May 1998, she received the GLAAD Vanguard Award for having "made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for lesbians and gay men". On June 11, 2009, Chaz came out as a transgender man, and his transition from female to male was legally finalized on May 6, 2010.

Mariah Carey has demonstrated allyship since the early beginnings of her career. She has shown her love for her LGBTQ+ fans numerous times, including a 2003 performance at G-A-Y in London.[21] Furthermore, Carey also won a GLAAD award for Allyship.[22]

Kate Bush has been cited as an influence by respected artists like Sir Elton John, who is openly gay and credits Bush's music with helping him to overcome his alcoholism. Fellow gay icon Cher has also expressed admiration of Bush's work. Her debut single "Wuthering Heights" topped the charts and became a global success. The music video for the song in which she dances in the moors in a red dress has become iconic among the LGBTQ community. One of her less influential albums, Lionheart (1978), featured a song titled "Kashka From Baghdad", which regaled to the listener the tale of a gay couple living together in sin, which was quite revolutionary for its time.[23] Since 2016, Kate Bush fans have gathered in locations all over the world and taken to recreate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" video in an event dubbed The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever. Men and women in attendance to the event don red dresses or red in general and recreate the choreography observed in the video as a tribute. Bush, who has seen a clip of one of the events, described the tribute by her fans as "very touching and sweet".[24]

Madonna celebrating Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019

Pop musician Madonna has become a preeminent gay icon.[25][26][27] The Advocate's Steve Gdula commented that "back in the 1980s and even the early 1990s, the release of a new Madonna video or single was akin to a national holiday, at least among her gay fans."[27] Gdula also stated that during this period, concurrent with the rise of the AIDS epidemic, "when other artists tried to distance themselves from the very audience that helped their stars to rise, Madonna only turned the light back on her gay fans and made it burn all the brighter."[27]

Kylie Minogue, known for her disco-infused dance music and camp style, is held in high esteem by her gay fans.[28][29][30][31] She remarks that her gay fans have been with her 'through thick and thin', yet was never specifically marketed to a gay audience early in her career. Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who is openly gay, described Minogue as "the gay shorthand for joy". She has performed at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party in 1994, 1998 and 2012, Palm Springs White Party in 2018, WorldPride 2019 in New York City and headlined the opening ceremony concert at WorldPride 2023 in Sydney.

Minogue encourages her gay icon status with comments including "I am not a traditional gay icon. There's been no tragedy in my life, only tragic outfits" and "My gay audience has been with me from the beginning ... they kind of adopted me." Her status as a gay icon has been attributed to her music, fashion sense and career longevity. Author Constantine Chatzipapatheodoridis wrote about Minogue's appeal to gay men in Strike a Pose, Forever: The Legacy of Vogue... and observed that she "frequently incorporates camp-inflected themes in her extravaganzas, drawing mainly from the disco scene, the S/M culture, and the burlesque stage." In Beautiful Things in Popular Culture (2007), Marc Brennan stated that Minogue's work "provides a gorgeous form of escapism". Minogue has explained that she first became aware of her gay audience in 1988, when several drag queens performed to her music at a Sydney pub, and she later saw a similar show in Melbourne. She said that she felt "very touched" to have such an "appreciative crowd", and this encouraged her to perform at gay venues throughout the world, as well as headlining the 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Minogue has one of the largest gay followings in the world.

Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty - all starring in The Golden Girls - each had a long and rich history of working with and for LGBT causes and each was an outspoken supporter whenever asked in interviews. The show itself also featured a number of gay-centric episodes, each portraying the queer character with kindness and compassion.

Bea Arthur had previously worked on her own television show, Maude which featured multiple gay-themed episodes. After her death in 2009, Arthur bequeathed $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, a New York City organization that provides housing for homeless LGBTQ+ youths.[32][33]

Meanwhile, as a supporter and advocate of LGBT rights, Betty White said in 2010, "If a couple has been together all that time – and there are gay relationships that are more solid than some heterosexual ones – I think it's fine if they want to get married. I don't know how people can get so anti-something. Mind your own business, take care of your affairs, and don't worry about other people so much." In a 2011 interview, she revealed that she always knew her close friend Liberace was gay and that she sometimes accompanied him to premieres to help him hide it.

Rue McClanahan was also a supporter of gay rights, including advocating for same-sex marriage in the United States. In January 2009, she appeared in the star-studded Defying Inequality: The Broadway Concert—A Celebrity Benefit for Equal Rights.[34]

Estelle Getty was said by friends Harvey Fierstein and Rosie O'Donnell, both notable members of the LGBT community, to have been heavily involved in HIV/AIDS activism and had lost close friends and family to the disease, among them her nephew Steven Scher (1962–1992), whom she cared for after he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and her Torch Song Trilogy co-star Court Miller (1952–1986).[35] She later helped to open a hospice for AIDS patients in Greensboro, North Carolina, her nephew's hometown, in 1996, called Beacon Place, which was still in operation as of 2023.[36]

Janet Jackson, 1998

Janet Jackson garnered a substantial LGBT following during the 1990s with her sixth studio album The Velvet Rope (1997).[37][38][39] The album was honored by the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum and received the award for Outstanding Music Album at the 9th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 1998 for its songs that dealt with sexual orientation and homophobia.[40] On 26 April 2008, she received the Vanguard Award—a media award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation—to honor her work in the entertainment industry in promoting equality for LGBT people.[40]

GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano commented, "Ms. Jackson has a tremendous following inside the LGBT community and out, and having her stand with us against the defamation that LGBT people still face in our country is extremely significant."[40][41]

Lady Gaga, who herself is bisexual, fought as an LGBT rights activist from the beginning of her career and has a large LGBT following.[42] She has fought against LGBT-related phobias, for marriage and adoption equality, the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell law, the protection of transgender people.[42][43][44][45][46]

Highly regarded by the LGBT community due to her work with gay men suffering from AIDS,[47][48] Diana, Princess of Wales, is considered to be a gay icon.[49][50] The hardships she faced during her life within the British royal family and her struggles with bulimia have been cited as factors to which members of the LGBT community can mostly connect.[51][52] Writing for Them, David Levesley described Diana as "a symbol of the familial oppression many queer people know all too well," and added that "[queer people] admire her for how long she lasted in the face of a shitty situation. Is there anything more queer than a fabulous woman trapped in a bleak household?"[51] James Greig from Vice also held a similar viewpoint, stating that "her status as a tragic diva aside, it's undeniable that Diana made real, material changes to the lives of LGBT people – particularly through the work she did around AIDS."[52] In an article for Newsweek, Desmond O'Connor wrote that Diana's work with dying HIV+ gay men was crucial for reminding "the people of Great Britain that their 'untouchable' sons deserved to be loved."[53]

In 2009, a panel including Sir Ian McKellen and Alan Hollinghurst chose Diana's portrait to be shown in the Gay Icons exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London.[47] In October 2017, the Attitude magazine honoured Diana with its Legacy Award for her HIV/AIDS work. Prince Harry accepted the award on behalf of his mother.[54][55]

Sir Elton Hercules John, famously known as Elton John, is perhaps one of the most famous, publicly queer musicians of all time. During 1976, he announced publicly that he was bisexual and remained open about his sexuality to present day, happily married to his husband David Furnish since 2014. Aside from his musical career, he is also the founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation which was created to give support and aide to those in need as well as to "prevent infections, fight stigma and provide treatment with love, compassion and dignity for the most vulnerable groups affected by HIV around the world".[56]

In 2011, The Advocate called Lea Salonga a "major gay icon" for being "very vocal in her support for LGBT equality, both here [the U.S.] and in her native Philippines."[57]

The song "Reflection," which she sang in Disney's Mulan (1998), has become viewed as an anthem for queer audiences. On October 12, 2009, during a benefit concert for victims of Typhoon Ondoy, Salonga referenced the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., and firmly stated, "I believe that every single human being has the fundamental right to marry whoever they want."[58] In February 2016, Salonga publicly criticized Filipino politician and former professional boxer Manny Pacquiao for his views on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.[59] Over the course of decades, Salonga has spoken and performed at several fundraising events for HIV/AIDS.

Although Wolverine has primarily been depicted as straight in mainstream Marvel continuity,[60] his relationships with male characters like Cyclops and Nightcrawler have been highlighted for homoerotic elements.[61][62][60] An alternate version of Wolverine featured in X-Treme X-Men (2012 – 2013) was depicted as gay and in a relationship with Hercules, two characters sharing an on-panel kiss in issue #10.[63][64] The character has proven popular with queer fans,[65] and has been described as a gay icon.[66][67]

Since his creation, He-Man's homoeroticism, implied homosexuality, and adherence to multiple gay stereotypes has resulted in the character and show drawing a queer audience when the cartoon first aired,[68] with the character being viewed as a gay icon.[69][70]

Xena has enjoyed a particular cult status in the lesbian community. Some of the lesbian fan base see Xena and Gabrielle as a couple and have embraced them as role models and lesbian icons.[71][72] Xena's popularity was successfully utilized by Subaru when trying to establish a healthy base of lesbian customers: one ad had a car with the license plate "XENA LVR" (Xena lover).[73]

A subject of much interest and debate among viewers is the question of whether Xena and Gabrielle are lovers.[74][75] The issue is left deliberately ambiguous by the writers. Jokes, innuendo, and other subtle evidence of a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle is referred to as "lesbian subtext" or simply "subtext" by fans.[72][75] The issue of the true nature of the Xena/Gabrielle relationship caused intense "shipping" debates in Xena fandom, which turned especially impassioned due to spillover from real-life debates about same-sex sexuality and gay rights.[74]

Many fans felt that the sexual nature of Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was cemented by an interview given by Lucy Lawless to Lesbian News magazine in 2003. Lawless stated that after the series finale, where Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay". "There was always a, 'Well, she might be or she might not be' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me. Now it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was 'Nope, they're married, man'."[76]