GAY TO Z: THIS MONTH, F
FASHION
Fashion has played a seminal role in shaping gay identities. Oscar Wilde sported an unnaturally green carnation to signify queerness to others. Since then, everything from suede shoes to strategic earrings have been used as cocky codes for receptive viewers. Leathermen from the 1960s used a “hanky code” to advertise specific interests – a light blue hanky in the back left pocket meant a blowjob would be appreciated, thank you very much. There was a time when a too-tight T-shirt, a whiff of Gaultier’s Le Male and a shiny pair of Doc Martins meant Mary was in the (fashion) house. But the straights adopt our styles so fast it’s become hard to tell us from them. Happily, the Millennials and their non-binary gender neutrality are taking gay fashion to exciting new places.
FIRE ISLAND
The gay American summer holiday destination par excellence, Fire Island in New York State has a special place in our history. The Village People wrote a song about it, Auntie Mame understood what it meant when a man frequented it, Tom Bianchi photographed it, and Rufus Wainwright declared that the Gay Messiah would materialize there. Little known, however, is that a crucial incident in gay history happened amid its famous dunes. One year before Stonewall (that’s 1968), there was a mass arrest of “sodomisers” on the island. Civil rights group, The Mattachine Society employed a blokey, straight attorney names Benny Vuturo to defend the 27 men in court. Rather than hiding in shame and copping pleas, Vuturo argued that the men were entrapped and that the police were wasting resources – 27 jurors agreed with him. Fire Island became not just a symbol of delicious debauchery, but of nascent gay pride getting ready to burn.
FAMILY
Family is something we gays can’t take for granted. Coming out is often twinned with a fear of losing the approval of our loved ones, and maybe not being part of their lives anymore. If this is the case, our gay pals become our “chosen family” and with them we are allowed to be ourselves on our own terms. From drag mothers to dancefloor daddies and shade spilling sisters, we blend elements of family into our own version of what we need to nourish us. For some, this new community compliments the family we grew up with, for others it’s a vital antidote to rejection and isolation. It’s no surprise that Sister Sledge’s We Are Family still fills a gay dance floor. Whether your family is the boys at the bar or your partner and kids at home, the hurdles of prejudice and inequality mean that there’s nothing accidental about our queer families.
FREDDIE MERCURY
Freddie’s 1985 Live Aid look is the epitome of macho camp – arm aloft, hairy pits, white vest, tight jeans, ’tache, leather-studded cuff. It’s an image that screams queer, butch, defiant, sexual. Ironically, Freddie Mercury never publicly came out – his sexuality wasn’t really discussed with bandmates, and he only confirmed he had AIDS on the eve of his death. Speculation on his private life shouldn’t diminish his queer icon status. His voice boasted a four-octave range that even Dame Shirley Bassey endorsed. As comfortable in full royal garb as he was wielding a vacuum cleaner in a mini skirt for I Want To Break Free, he was the ultimate showman with an incredible sense of fun and the cheekiest glint in his eye. Let’s not forget it was also he who, reportedly, smuggled Princess Diana, in man drag, into London’s iconic gay haunt, The Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Fabulous.