The Importance of Gay Icons

By Charles Karel Bouley

“So, what’s your grandmother doing tonight?” The 70+ year old icon Cher quipped as she darted backstage for her first of 14 costume changes over 18 songs spanning over 50 years of show business. She’s doing a short residency at the Park Theater at the MGM in Las Vegas (and a few other cities) and she’s having a blast.

“I love this next song, I did it on one of my final farewell tours, I can’t remember which one,” she jokes, acknowledging the fact that she’s retired a few times and yet here she is, slinging sequins and dangling bugle beads from strategic places while belting out ballads and dance hits to a crowd of old gays, young hipsters and everyone in between.

Meanwhile, “I’m back on the staircase Bitches!” The Instagram post proclaimed as it was revealed in April of 2018 that Bette Midler would return to close out a run of “Hello Dolly” on Broadway before it hits the road with Bernadette Peters and others in the role. Midler, also 70+, drove by the ticket lines (around the block) that formed when the website went down from demand, and posted a thank you on her social media.

On #TBT mega-diva Streisand posted a photo of her recording her first album in 1962, the year of my birth, with the note that she was recording a new album now, at 76 years old, and there’s rumors of her working with Ryan Murphy on a TV project and she still wants to star as Mamma Rose in her version of “Gypsy.”

The divas that helped create, establish, entertain and inspire a generation of gay men and women, THE generation that would tackle AIDS, Marriage Inequality and so much more, are aging. But they are not going quietly in to the night. They are working right on through and in doing so, are inspiring that very same audience to continue to remain relevant in their communities. While Beyonce wows Coachella, Diana Ross continues to Wow for her 40th year on the Vegas strip.

But inspiring, let alone entertaining the GLBT community these days is hard. That’s because we are a fractured GLBT community. Many millennials forget the lessons of old, or the people that taught them. Many don’t see identifying as “Gay” or “Lesbian” as even necessary. And they don’t have Gay icons… they have disposable celebrities that stand for little and say even less with their music or films.

Cher, Streisand, Midler, Minnelli, Ross, and now even Boy George as he judges the Voice Australia, they had and have a voice, but more importantly they gave voice to so many.

“I remember being told on my 40th birthday that I wasn’t sexy enough, that the leading man didn’t like me, didn’t find me talented enough… the first call on my 40th birthday,” Cher recalled. “And my kids come in and wish me happy day and I have these fabulous Hollywood tears running down my face from this phone call… and all I can think about is, gee, I hope I can recreate these tears one day. I did, in Moonstruck, and got an Oscar,” she laughed.

And so did we. Because as we age, gay men and women, in the gay community, as the New York Times runs an editorial about the “Age of Twinks” we can totally feel her pain and relate. It’s why she’s an icon, a gay icon.

And Gay icons are still important, especially the ones over 70. As are gay men and women, especially those over 50 who are often left out of publications, films, events… they become an invisible demographic. Well, not to Las Vegas… or musical theater.

I’ve interviewed many celebrities and along the way became a minor one. So when I was asked by GED to write up a quick interview with one, I thought, why not take the space and remind people what one really is, a gay icon, a celebrity that queers, lesbians, trans, everyone in between loved and loves and why they loved or loves them.

Cher reminded me that in the 60s she was rich, and in the 70s she had to do dinner theatre to pay off $256k to the IRS. That in the 80s she was told she was unattractive and in the 90s told her musical career was over. And yet, here she is.

And here we are. The Gay Community. We still exist, even though everyone wants to assimilate. There’s still gay media, like GED, even though it’s now cool for non-gay media to carry queer content. And there’s still stars that fight for everyone’s rights, including and especially ours, who have never feared entertaining for us (Madonna hugged men with AIDS in the 80s, laid in hospital beds in NYC next to them because no one would touch them, I will always buy her records, period). Do you hear about Selena Gomez doing that? Xtina?

Do yourself a favor, go see an icon. Grab a ticket to “Hello Dolly,” go to Vegas and see Cher, Diana, or Elton or any other great that wanders through. Because soon, they’ll be holograms. And the era of entertainment icons will be over because nothing lasts longer than a news cycle these days.

This Pride season go see a dance icon or two, a great lesbian rock band like Corday that’s been around for a while, DJ Dawna Montel or others, Chris Cox, go see a movie with more than 12 minutes of dialogue total. And remember, gays and entertainers have always had a great, close, loving relationship. People like Streisand, Midler, Garland, Cher, spoke to us, and sometimes for us.

And as for media, remember, Gay Media is as important as Gay Icons. A voice about our community, from our community, should always be supported.  Support this GLBT publication and pass it on.

Happy Anniversary GED Magazine. Thanks for keeping entertainment, and entertainers, in focus in our community.