Madonna as a gay icon

Madonna is an ally recognized as a gay icon. Madonna has been considered by "many" over the years as the "greatest gay icon", a statement seconded or confirmed by outlets such as '' The Advocate'' or '' Parade'' among others. She was introduced while still a teenager by her dance instructor Christopher Flynn, an openly gay man who became her mentor. Since then, Madonna has always acknowledged the importance of the community for her life and career, declaring that "I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for the gay community".

Madonna has consistently been a staunch advocate for the LGBT community throughout her career, being recognized by GLAAD Media Awards in 1991 (Raising Gay Awareness) and 2019 (Advocate for Change). Madonna's works often use gay culture as a symbolic repertoire, and she was tagged as "the first major mainstream artist to give gay images and themes explicit mass treatment and exposure".

Madonna has been recognized as a "pioneering ally" by academic and press accounts from outlets like ''The New York Times'' and Associated Press (AP), after a special emphasis in the AIDS crisis when the community was stigmatized and she was one of the very first artists to advocate for the cause. Using her popularity, she became "the first worldwide celebrity" of that era to do an interview with a national gay magazine, ''The Advocate'', according to themselves. Critic Stephen Holden labeled her interview with them as an "unprecedented frankness for a major star". Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD stated in 2019: "Madonna always has and always will be the LGBTQ community's greatest ally".

Madonna's influence impacted generations of LGBT people, as documented diverse authors. People from the community such as Matt Cain and Anderson Cooper have talked about her influence in their own lives, addressing their LGBT background, while for Ellen DeGeneres, Madonna was instrumental for her 1997 decision to Ellen DeGeneres#Sexual orientation and relationships, come out. Over the years, Madonna has been credited variously, for her role in bringing gay culture into the mainstream, including making lesbianism acceptable as authors such as Cain or Mark Bego claimed. However, she was also accused of "Cultural appropriation, appropriation", and criticisms came from diverse sectors including religious. In many aspects, the ''Australasian gay & lesbian law journal'', informed in a 1993 article that "nowhere has this issue been more hotly debated than in Madonna's 'relationship' with gay and lesbian subcultures".

Friendship and introduction

Madonna was introduced to the gay community while still a teenager. It was her ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, a gay man, who first told Madonna that she was beautiful and that she had something to offer the world. He also introduced her to the local gay community of Detroit, Michigan, often taking her to local gay bars and discotheques. Observing Flynn she was "conscious of understanding that there was such a thing as gay... It wasn't called that then. I just came to understand that he was attracted to men". Biographer Carol Gnojewski, wrote "some Madonna devotees tout Christopher Flynn as 'arguably the first Madonna-positive person'".

After moving to New York City in the 1970s to pursue a career in modern dance, Madonna would be surrounded by gay men, including art-world figures such as the plastic artist Keith Haring. Her immersion into the New York gay community became so complete that she began to wish that she were gay: "I didn't feel like straight men understood me. They just wanted to have sex with me. Gay men understood me, and I felt comfortable around them".

Christopher Glazek, explains: "Madonna has been intimately connected to a wide community of gay men for decades, as an artistic collaborator, as a political ally, as an employer, as a friend, and as a sister". Some examples includes her first book ''Sex (book), Sex'' when collaborated with a gay photographer, and included gay models. She repeated in interviews that her best friends are gay. After David Collins (interior designer), David Collins's death, Madonna penned a letter describing his influence on her life. Madonna has an openly gay brother, Christopher Ciccone, which the singer outed in an interview with '' The Advocate'' without asking his permission first.

By the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, media "romantically linked" her name with various women, including Sandra Bernhard, Ingrid Casares, and model Jenny Shimizu, nor confirmed or denied by Madonna. In 1991, Madonna told to ''The Advocate'' that she believed "everybody has a bisexual nature".

Advocacy and life as a LGBT icon

Madonna began as one of the first "notable" names in the entertainment industry to advocate in response to the AIDS crisis, HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. The period affected the community substantially. Eric Diaz of Nerdist considered her as "the biggest" and "relevant" among young people talking about these problems when government was ignored the "thousands of mostly gay men dying of AIDS".

Madonna has a long-lasting history advocating for the community, and "actively participating in gay culture" according to LGBT-targeted magazine ''Attitude (magazine), Attitude''. In this aspect, French academic Georges-Claude Guilbert, writes in ''Gay Icons'' (2018) that "Madonna has done little else in her career, camping like a gay man, quoting like a gay man".

20th century (selected)

Madonna made numerous statements in favor of the community. Most notable, in a two-part interview with '' The Advocate'' in 1991, Madonna criticized homophobia in the music industry. ''The New York Times'' critic, Stephen Holden deemed that interview, as an "unprecedented frankness for a major star". According to ''The Advocate'' themselves, it was the first time a worldwide celebrity did an interview with a national gay magazine. Madonna addressed homophobia again in an interview with ''Good Morning America'', saying: "I deal with a lot of issues… and what I think to be a big problem in the United States and that is homophobia".

21st century

In August 2009, during a show in Bucharest, Romania, during her Sticky and Sweet Tour, Madonna criticized discrimination against the Roma, also speaking against the discrimination of gays. In his 2008 autobiography Hit Man, record producer David Foster relates a meeting with Madonna where he expresses distaste at the sight of two men kissing; Madonna scowled and responded, "Two men kissing should be looked at as normal! You represent everything I'm trying to change."

In June 2010, Madonna released a statement criticizing the decision to jail two men in Malawi because they celebrated their union with a ceremony. Madonna's statement included the following excerpt: "As a matter of principle, I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. This week, Malawi took a giant step backward. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved. I call upon the progressive men and women of Malawi—and around the world—to challenge this decision in the name of human dignity and equal rights for all."

In November 2010, Madonna made a special appearance on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' to speak against the bullying of children and teenagers in general, including the bullying of gay teens and related recent suicides. In her conversation with Ellen DeGeneres, DeGeneres, Madonna reiterated how she became close to the gay community when she was a teenager, stating that she felt different in high school and found acceptance and sympathy among gay friends, particularly her dance instructor. She also said "In fact, I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for the gay community".

In June 2011, Madonna urged her fans to support same-sex marriage in New York, posting the following message on her website: "New Yorkers your voices must be heard. Tell your state Congressmen to support same sex marriage bill. All you need is love". The Marriage Equality Act (New York), Marriage Equality Act passed one week later, legalizing same-sex marriage in New York. The following year, 2013, Madonna asked her audience to "Vote No" on the 2012 Minnesota Amendment 1, Minnesota marriage amendment for Same-sex marriage in Minnesota, same-sex couples.

In March 2013, Madonna presented the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, Vito Russo Award to coming out, openly gay journalist Anderson Cooper at the 24th GLAAD Media Awards in New York City. Dressed as a Boy Scout, in protest of the Boy Scouts of America's Boy Scouts of America membership controversies#Position on homosexuality, ban on homosexual Scouts and Scout leaders, she gave a speech in which she stated that "things like bigotry, homophobia, hate crimes, bullying and any form of discrimination always seem to be a manifestation of fear of the unknown" and wagered that "if we just took the time to get to know one another, did our own investigation, looked beneath the surface of things, that we would find that we are not so different after all." She also said "you cannot use the name of God or religion to justify acts of violence to hurt, to hate, to discriminate." and called to start a revolution, asking the crowd "Are you with me? It's 2013, people. We live in America — land of the free and home of the brave? That's a question, not a statement." That year she joined a Human Rights Campaign's "Love Conquers Hate" to support Russian LGBT community. In 2020, she posted on her Instagram story encouraging her fans to sign a petition on anti-LGBTQ legislation. In a conversation with Reddit users, she answered several questions, including "If you were a gay man, would you be a top or a bottom?" and she said: "I am a gay man".

Madonna has given multiple surprise performances at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, including 2018, 2019 and 2022. In her 2018 speech, she said: "I stand here proudly at the place where Pride began. Let us never forget the Stonewall riots". At NYC Pride March, NYC Pride 2022, Madonna stated metaphorically that LGBT culture in New York City, New York City was "the best place in the world because of the LGBT culture in New York City, queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer".

Russian incidents

During her Russian stop of The MDNA Tour, Madonna loudly criticized the Russian gay propaganda law in front of a more than 10,000-audience. Her speaking out in favor of gay right and gay pride was a provocation aimed at getting a reaction from state officials. She indeed, drawn criticisms of the Russian government and causing gay-right opponents to sue her as the claimants argued that Madonna's performance would adversely affect Russia's birthrate and therefore its ability to maintain a proper Russian army, army. One of the claimants, Marina Yakovlyeva told the court: "In the coming years, this type of violation could become the norm. But we have created a precedent —any artist coming to our city will know now what laws exist".

To Western viewers it reaffirmed, if it did not actually initiate, the connection between liberal gay rights issues and Pussy Riot. Miriam Elder, correspondent of ''The Guardian'' in Moscow said that Russia "attempted to silence the world's biggest pop star", documenting that some Russian politicians attacked Madonna, with a senior official calling her a "moralising slut". Madonna's Facebook page prior her performance, and that was used in her against, stated:

Referential works

Several of Madonna's songs and projects addressed homosexuality and were grounded in queer sensibility. Erin Harde is cited in ''Catching a Wave'' (2016) saying that Madonna has supported the gay community by using "Camp (style), camp" values to pay respect to the community. In this aspect, Muri Assunção from ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' explained that Madonna has been fighting for acceptance and pushing the gay agenda with her art since the release of her first single "Everybody (Madonna song), Everybody" in 1982. Her videos and concerts often portray same-sex couples, often with herself as a part of them. Michael Musto also explained that she turned many of her concerts into a "gigantic gay bar".

In ''Good As You: From Prejudice to Pride – 30 Years of Gay Britain'' (2017), editor Paul Flynn documented that Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour, Blond Ambition tour was the first time British gay and girls "got to claim ownership of the thrilling communion and euphoria of a stadium show". The tour was followed by her 1991 documentary ''Madonna: Truth or Dare'' in which "several generations of gay men reported was the first time they had ever seen their own desires represent [...] onscreen". Seeing the dance troupe in her 1990 tour, wrote Jeremy Atherton Lin in ''Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, Gay Bar'' (2021), "amounted to my first impression of gays". Craig Takeuchi from ''The Georgia Straight'' explains many recognized this era from Madonna, as a number were "living in an era prior to the internet and had never seen gay men or gay kissing on screen before".

Especially in Madonna's work of the 1990s, gay culture is used as a symbolic repertoire. The documentary ''Truth or Dare'' and music videos for her songs "Justify My Love", "Erotica (song), Erotica", and "Vogue (Madonna song), Vogue" addressed all of these. The music video for "God Control" was reminiscent of the Orlando nightclub shooting, 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.

Critical reception

In 2017, Louis Virtel from ''Billboard'' commented that Pride Month "is not the same without Madonna and her music". In 2005, '' 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".

"Vogue" is known as a gay anthem, and for scholar Georges-Claude Guilbert is "her gayest song" in many ways. The song featured in many LGBT-related listicles. For example, the staff of ''Billboard'' included the song among the "60 Top LGBTQ Anthems of All Time" that defined queer culture. A years prior, ''Rolling Stone'' editors including Suzy Exposito and Rob Sheffield placed the song among their "25 Essential LGBTQ Pride Songs". Around 2012, LGBTQ magazine Out (magazine), ''Out'' included various Madonna's albums in their list of "The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums" of all-time, in which it was addressed record's impact for the community. They explained that "Papa Don't Preach" had a "profound meaning for gay men of the Reagan era" and that "Holiday (Madonna song), Holiday", it is arguably "still the number 1 road trip song for gay men". ''Queerty'' editors, included ''The Immaculate Collection'' in their 2022 ranking of albums essential in shaping LGBTQ culture, further describing the compilation as "a must for any gold star gay’s record collection".

Commentaries

Madonna-relationship with gay community has attracted commentaries by media and scholars. Michael Musto said: "Her pride, flamboyance, and glamour reach out to gay guys as much as her refusal to be victimized strikes a chord in lesbians". Musto also said that Madonna offers a more quitable model, different from Judy Garland, identified as a Judy Garland as a gay icon, gay icon/tragic figure. Musto goes on to say: "We finally seem willing to release Judy Garland from her afterlife responsibilities of being our quintessential icon". Judith Peraino, music professor at Cornell University described that Madonna and sexuality, Madonna's hypersexuality has had particular resonance with gay men. In ''Madonna's Drowned Worlds'' (2004), professors wrote that "the gay attraction to Madonna includes her ubiquitous transformations of image, liberated sexuality and elaborate and often campy stage antics". Boy George described Madonna as "a gay man trapped in a woman's body".

Academic Pamela Robertson from University of Notre Dame, wrote in ''Guilty pleasures'' (1996), that critics argue that many gay men and lesbians identify with "Madonna's power and independence". In ''Madonna's Drowned Worlds'' (2004) professor Santiago Fouz-Hernández proposed that the relationship Madonna "has formulated with lesbian (sub-)cultures is unique and of interest in itself". Prior years, in 1994, Sonya Andermahr from University of Northampton asserted that Madonna's popularity among lesbians is due to her self-determination and autonomy.

Queer theory

Many academics in queer studies have identified Madonna as a symbol. A group of her Madonna scholars worked in queer theory, while her queer literature available, is pretty much confirmed by Joanne Garde-Hansen of University of Warwick in ''Media and Memory'' (2011), saying "much academic attention on Madonna has analysed her output in terms" that includes queer theory.

Scholar Michael R. Real in ''Exploring media culture: a guide'' (1996) summed up that studies of Madonna by Cindy Patton, Patton (1993), Henderson (1993), and Schwichtenberg (1993) read her contribution from within the interpretative communities of gay and lesbian culture, further describing "they find densely coded references with rich meaning for gays and lesbians in Madonna texts".

Criticisms

Madonna has faced a variety of criticisms. At first instance, she was "accused" for using the gay archive for her own gain and for heterosexualising it. In this aspect, some feminists criticized her pluralistic queernes because it questions the concept of "woman" and homosexual identities and ignores differences. In many aspects, the divided perceptions was remarked by a 1993 article in ''Australasian gay & lesbian law journal'', describing it as "nowhere has this issue been more hotly debated than in Madonna's 'relationship' with gay and lesbian subcultures". Dick Hall, assistant headmaster at The Lovett School discussed with MedicineNet the Britney Spears-Madonna influence in the raise of the term Celesbian.

Christopher Glazek also explained that Madonna have been accused of "getting rich on the Cultural appropriation, appropriation and mining of gay subcultures". In this vein, many of Madonna's critics have seen her adoption of homosexual and ethnic subcultural practices more as an appropriation of the style than convincing politics. "Vogue" alone attracted criticisms of appropriation, where in its video served up both real voguing and stylized non-voguing. Like with other public figures, Madonna has been accused of queerbaiting. Madonna was also criticized by public figures that includes Janeane Garofalo when defended Eminem's homophobic statements in the early-2000s.

Michael Musto notoriously "spoofed" Madonna, as a mainstream public figure talking about gay awareness was not a favorable thing in his view. Musto said that the term "gay ally" gets tossed around too much, as "if we're supposed to turn somersaults of joy just because someone famous thinks we're actually acceptable human beings who deserve equal rights". However, Musto disregarded some of his criticisms on Madonna, as said in a 2015 retrospective, that "she's more like an honorary gay man. She's one of us". In fact, he remembered that in a 1994 ''OutWeek'' cover story, he declared that Madonna "was more influential than any politician out there when it came to equality because her yay-gay gestures were truly changing our landscape in significant ways".

Madonna, caused reactions after a TikTok video posted on October 22, in 2022 with the on-screen caption, "If I miss, I'm Gay"; she then throws the panties toward a nearby wastebasket, and "intentionally" failed. Samantha Chery from ''Washington Post'', noted her video was posted two days early of the National Coming Out Day.

Alternative views and conter-suggestions

In 2015, Christopher Glazek suggested that censuring Madonna for "ransacking gay subcultures could be viewed as just another variation on the time-honored practice of devaluing the accomplishments of female recording artists by attributing them to male collaborators". In 2018, Darren Scott of ''The Independent'' wrote that Madonna doesn't "play up" to her gay fan base, as she also realises they are much smarter than that. Scott also adds that she has not, for example, ever needed to write a song that was "intended" to be a "gay anthem" from the outset.

By 2017, Tom Breihan from ''Stereogum'' describes: "Madonna also loved LGBTQ culture, to the point where she's often been accused of exploiting it. And as one of the most photographed people in the world, it's easy to see how she would've been drawn to voguing". In 2022, ''The New York Times'' critic Jon Caramanica also commented both Beyoncé and Madonna have received "some criticisms by queer critics who find their work appropriative", but he denotes that "Madonna is still demonstrating her ongoing, deep engagement with queer culture". Guy Babineau from LGBT-focused publication ''Xtra Magazine'', in 2008, lumped Madonna with contemporary industry colleagues such as Michael Jackson and Prince to say all benefited from their popularity in gay clubs, and he further argues "and all riffed on queer culture to some extent —each affecting an androgynous, outrageous and supercharged sexual persona —only Madonna credited the gay community. In fact, she glorified it".

In the early-1990s, professor Lisa Henderson at Pennsylvania State University conversely agreed that in the gay press, Madonna becomes a queer icon and her sensibilities and ironies "resonate with particular power in lesbian and gay imaginations". She quotes Down Shewey who interviewed Madonna for ''The Advocate'' as saying: "Hollywood doesn't really get Madonna. She doesn't fit any past models of Hollywood stardom". Shewey continues arguing that "the gay world... gets Madonna in a big way".

Impact and legacy

Her impact and likeness in the LGBT community have been remarked by numerous Gay press, LGBT publications and mainstream media alike since the 1980s.

International press gave Madonna diverse related Honorific nicknames in popular music, nicknames and epithets in her career. In ''Queer'' (2002), editor Simon Gage explained that a UK gay magazine always referred to her as "Our Glorious Leader"; he also called Madonna as "the biggest gay icon of the 20th century". In 2022, a contributor from LGBT magazine :es:Shangay Express, ''Shangay Express'', discussed her as "Queen Mother Madonna". In 2019, Samuel R. Murrian of '' Parade'' confirmed that she "is considered by many to be the greatest LGBTQ icon"; he further describes "Madonna's unique, historic connection to the LGBTQ community". Scholars Carmine Sarracino and Kevin Scott in ''The Porning of America'' (2008), wrote that the singer "gained particular popularity with gay audiences, signaling the creation of a career-long fan base that would lead to her being hailed as the biggest gay icon of all time". In 2012, '' The Advocate'' named Madonna "the greatest gay icon". Writing for Nerdist in 2018, contributor Eric Diaz called Madonna as perhaps "the biggest musical LGBTQ icon of all time", at least to an entire generation. The staff of BBC Mundo deemed her as the "quintessential gay icon".

Madonna is also referred to as a queer icon and icon of queerness. Theologian Robert Goss expressed: "For me, Madonna has been not only a queer icon but also a Christ icon who has dissolved the boundaries between queer culture and queer faith communities". Musicologist Sheila Whiteley wrote in her book ''Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender'' (2013) that "Madonna came closer to any other contemporary celebrity in being an above-ground queer icon".

Recognition of her activism

She donated money and time to Philanthropy and activism of Madonna, various charitable organizations helping the AIDS crisis and community, although she spent perhaps more time as a vocal advocate. Her global reach was almost unparalleled; Guy Babineau from LGBT-focused publication ''Xtra Magazine'' mentioned other predecessors like Cher and Bette Midler but explained that "neither spoke to the awakening albeit confused sexual freedom of young women and gay men in the era of the AIDS the way Madonna did". Darren Scott from ''The Independent'' cited that straight were horrified at the depiction, but Madonna would publicly lay into homophobic people in interviews and in the early 1990s, it wasn't "cool to do so". In a contemporary view, gay journalist Don Baird writing for LGBT newspaper ''San Francisco Bay Times'' in 1991, said: "Never has a pop star forced so many of the most basic and necessary elements of gayness right into the face of this increasingly uptight nation with power and finesse. Her message is clear -Get Over It- and she's the most popular woman in the world who's talking up our good everything".

Eric Diaz describes her advocacy during 1980s, as saying she "grabbed a bullhorn and shouted from the rooftops that she was not only a strong ally of the gay community, but that she also owed her gay mentors and friends for the person she had become". Guy Babineau reminds there were "gay-er" pop stars when Madonna debuted such as Elton John and George Michael, but he argues it would be years before they "fessed up" and no many knew about "Freddie Mercury (Queen) until he died of AIDS". Similarly, Diaz explains that many gay pop stars hid "their sexual orientation from the wrath of a homophobic public". In comparison, Christopher Glazek said Madonna "became gay" by association. Madonna's sexual image, as well as her affiliation and activism for the LGBT community and the AIDS epidemic, sparked rumors that she was a HIV-positive. In 1991, Richard Rouilard from ''The Advocate'' recalls, "I think this particular rumor is entirely AIDS-phobic and homophobic [...] It's a backlash at Madonna for being so actively involved in AIDS and championing gay people, both in her movies and in her interviews".

Retrospective and post-AIDS crisis

As she continued her advocacy, many reviewers praised her long-standing contributions. By 2015, Glazek held that "it's hard to think of any celebrity who has done more than Madonna to promote public awareness of gay culture". In ''Listening to the Sirens'' (2006), music professor Judith A. Peraino proposes that "no one has worked harder to be a gay icon than Madonna, and she has done so by using every possible taboo sexual in her videos, performances, and interviews". Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, stated in 2019 that Madonna "always has and always will be the LGBTQ community's greatest ally". Years prior, by 2015, Andy Towle discussed her as "the Most Pro-Gay Pop Ally of All Time".

The Associated Press in a 2019 published article for ''USA Today'' called her a "pioneer for gay rights". The staff of ''The New York Times'' also called her "a pioneering ally" in 2018, recognizing her post-AIDS crisis advocacy and describing:

Her advocacy has also been recognized in ceremonies awards. GLAAD Media Awards awarded Madonna in 1991, with the GLAAD for Raising Gay Awareness. In 2019, the organization gave her the GLAAD GLAAD Media Award#Special awards, Advocate for Change, for which she became the second person and first woman to receive the award. In 2017, British LGBT Awards placed her among the Top 10 LGBT Music Artists.

Attributed effects on culture

Editors of ''Sontag and the Camp Aesthetic'' (2017), commented "in many ways, Madonna contributed to making gay mainstream" and "part of this contribution was her colonization of queer male, non-white subculture to the benefit of modern queer". For Constantine Chatzipapatheodoridis, she has been contributed in the socio-artistic evolution of queer culture worldwide. Craig Takeuchi from ''The Georgia Straight'' attributes to Madonna's period of her ''Truth or Dare'' film along with the Blond Ambition Tour for "brought gay culture to the mainstream". British writer Matt Cain attributed her for bringing gay culture into the mainstream as well. Writing for ''20 minutos'' in 2019, José Casesmeiro gave Madonna a "fundamental" role to normalize the collective.

C. E. Crimmins in ''How the homosexuals saved civilization'' (2004), called Madonna a "pioneer" explaining that in the 1980s and 1990s, she was "the first homosexual icon to interact with her audience sexually (well, unless you count Judy Garland's marriages to gay men)". In this area, Gina Vivinetto from ''The Advocate'' held in 2015, that since the 1980s "Madonna has been giving visibility to LGBT eroticism". Darren Scott goes further saying Madonna changed the way people perceived gay sex.

Alex Hopper of ''American Songwriter'' as do others, explained that Madonna contributed to bringing ballroom culture and voguing into mainstream pop culture. Louis Virtel of ''Billboard'', celebrating her contributions to the LGBT community, said that Madonna accomplished something astounding with "Vogue": She ushered an audacious, unapologetically queer art form into mainstream America, and that means gays everywhere got to witness (and recognize) a rare kind of performative ebullience. For Hopper, she revived an "entire movement" when she performed this song at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. Music critic Kelefa Sanneh, said that she "helped define LGBT culture in New York City, gay nightlife in New York".

Lesbianism

Mark Bego commented that her exploration of traditional gender roles has helped make lesbianism acceptable to mainstream society. In a 1989 article for ''Gay Community News (Boston), Gay Community News'', Sydney Pokorny refers the duo Madonna and Sandra Bernhard that inspired such devotion from lesbians.

Lucy O'Brien cited an editor from Lesbian-targeted magazine Diva (magazine), ''Diva'' whom described "Madonna became meaningful in the early nineties with that lesbian chic thing [...] There was a hunger to see ourselves reflected in popular culture, and she made us visible". Writer Thomas Dyja in ''New York, New York, New York'' (2022), also lumped the public dilliance between Madonna and Bernhard along with Martina Navratilova and k.d. lang for ushering the lesbian chic. Torie Osborn, executive director of National LGBTQ Task Force asserted: "[She's] the first major woman pop star who's out and proud and fine about it. It signals a whole new era of possibility for celebrities". Osborn also credited k.d. lang in bringing a new peak for Lipstick lesbian.

An author described Madonna, as the archetypal femme lesbian, ''femme'' lesbian, regarded both the champion of sexual feminism and the pirate of traditional lesbian feminist lifestyles.

Influence

Madonna's influence in the community has been much quoted. An author described Madonna "changed the lives of millions of her young, LGBTQ fans". Ben Kelly of ''The Independent'' felt that "for many, she was the accepting mother they never had". Sarah Kate Ellis said: "Her music and art have been life-saving outlets for LGBTQ people over the years and her affirming words and actions have changed countless hearts and minds". While Michael Musto was ambiguous towards Madonna's advocacy and influence at some point, he recognizes her importance for gay men as a mainstream figure who interceded on their behalf. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' also remarked "her music and advocacy has positively affected the lives of LGBTQ people". In this regard, Madonna told: "It's a total reciprocation because, like I said in my speech (2019 GLAAD Media Awards), they made me feel not afraid to be different. And then I made them feel not afraid to be different".

Various figures from the community such as British journalist Matt Cain and musician Arca (musician), Arca, have discussed Madonna's impact in their lives addressing the LGBT background. The lattermost expressed: "I don't know if I can't overstate how major Madonna's music and persona were in my household". Christopher Bergland, commented that a 1983 performance she made at a small gay club on Lansdowne St. in Boston, changed his life. Anderson Cooper noted the importance of Madonna to him and said during the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards:

Commemorating her 60-years old birthday in 2018, ''The Advocate'' dedicated an article of love letters to Madonna that included commentaries from their staff, with many talking about Madonna's influence on them. Editors of ''Queer Media Images: LGBT Perspectives'' (2013) explained that thanks in part to the good press by Madonna, Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl" gained popularity quickly.

Madonna topped KBGO's rank of the "stars that helped their LGBTQ+ Fans Come Out" list in 2021. Wesley Morris of ''The New York Times'', said that maybe he knew was gay because of ''Madonna: Truth or Dare''. Agence France-Presse also referred to that film that inspired many to coming out. Ellen DeGeneres said that Madonna was instrumental in her 1997 decision to come out. Rosie O'Donnell similarly credited Madonna to help her become more comfortable in her own skin about her LGBT life.

Depictions

Madonna have been depicted in diverse LGBT-media content. In a general sense, Bimini Bon Boulash wrote "would any queer inspiration be complete without the Queen of Pop herself?". In 2016, to pay tribute to her contributions to the LGBT community, contestants of the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 8), eighth season of reality competition show ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' were asked to render some of prominent Fashion of Madonna, Madonna looks on the runway. In effort to address the criticism the runway received for its repetitiveness, it was brought back for RuPaul's Drag Race (season 9), season nine. In RuPaul's Drag Race (season 12), season 12, the reality show paid tribute to Madonna again as the contestants performed in ''Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical,'' a musical that chronicled her major accomplishments and contributions to the LGBT community. Madonna's influence shaped ''Pose (TV series), Pose''s season two, as ''Billboard'' reported.

''Glee (TV series), Glee'' dedicated to Madonna an episode named "The Power of Madonna" and released their first EP, ''Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna''. In Brian Tarquin's book ''The Insider's Guide to Music Licensing'' (2014), it mentioned the importance of Madonna for their producers and the challenges they faced and weeks of negotiation with Madonna's team. Both episode and soundtrack were well received, and it was commented "If you do justice arguably to the biggest female act in the world, people will respond". Her episode was the first time the music on ''Glee'' was turned over in its entirety to one performer as well.

LGBT-targeted publications such as ''The Advocate'', ''Attitude (magazine), Attitude'', to DNA (magazine), ''DNA'' have created listicles about "Madonna's gayest moments". Other publications like ''HuffPost'' addressed similar lists. In the letter sections of LGBT magazine ''Out (magazine), Out'' of February 2005, a reader stated that she "positioned herself to be a gay icon before it was cool to be one".

Critic' lists and publications

See also

* LGBT history
* Madonna studies
* Madonna and sexuality

References

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External links

Madonna's official site

Madonna
at GLAAD

Madonna
at '' The Advocate''

Madonna
at ''Out (magazine), Out''

Madonna
at ''Gay Times''

Further reading

Vogue Boy: Reeling in Pride: 10 years ago, his video dancing to 'Vogue' at Hampton Beach went viral
— ''The Portsmouth Herald''

Beyond Madonna: A More Colorful Picture of Queer History
— ''Wired (magazine), Wired''

I Made It Through the Wilderness: On Gay Fandom, and Growing Older with Madonna
— Pitchfork (website), ''Pitchfork''

{{LGBT, state=collapsed, culture=expanded

Madonna, Gay icon
Cultural depictions of actors, Madonna
LGBT-related music
LGBT culture
Articles containing video clips