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Post subject: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a 'gay icon'?
 Posted: Jul 24, 2007 - 03:15 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 24, 2007 - 08:00 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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Ummmmmm... cuz it's in Slate?
That and the article is just wrong in so many ways. I remember the Bakker scandal. I remember the "reviled woman" segment of her biography. I knew lads who kept a magazine picture of the then Mrs Bakker folded in their pockets. "Why?" you might ask. To whip out and display toward excessively catty compatriots, usually with the declaration, "Back! Back, you evil queen!" The effect was a bit like something out of a Dracula movie -- you may defend against Nosferatu with a cross, but you defended against catty queens with a picture of Mrs. Bakker. So reviled was she at one time that her name was a by-word for.... well... the most common use was, "Oh dear, you look way too Tammy Faye. Please go stand somewhere over......... there." As I recall, it was always "way too," never "a little bit Tammy Faye" or "rather Tammy Faye" or even "that's pretty Tammy Faye." Nope. Any amount of Tammy Faye-ness was automatically "way too Tammy Faye." You could definitely say that the woman was not held in high esteem in my neighborhood at that time.
Then, quite suddenly it seemed, she was doing advice columns for young Gay boys in XY magazine. What's more... her advice DID. NOT. SUCK. Now, I'm told she had a daytime talk show prior to that gig.... Never saw it (it would have been inherently WAY too 'Tammy Faye' for me).
Ms. Messner either transformed somehow into a "class act" or managed to survive a couple decades of scurrilous calumny with enough dignity to be revealed as an inherently "class act." I see something of the "PFLAG Mom" in her change. That she is well-loved by more than a few Gays is easily demonstrated by the flow of eulogies in the Gay blogosphere. (Compare and contrast with Mr. Falwell's death -- both Messner and Falwell made the Gay news with their deaths; Tammy Faye Messner's was received with something approaching grief.)
Now, no less an authority than MSNBC has declared Ms Messner a Gay Icon.
I think not.
She was (and remains) well-liked. The strange minds of the straight media seems not to get what it is, this thing called a "Gay Icon." Apart from Judy Garland and Princess Diana, I cannot think of any bona fide Gay Icons who have died within living memory. It tends to be a bit of a deal. Picture, if you will, the sudden and very unfortunate death of Kylie Minogue. Or, if you are brave, the sudden and tragic demise of Cher. Personally, I don't dare speculate on just what the reaction would be, but I am fairly certain it would not be an outpouring of touching, sensitive death notices on the Gay blogs. |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 05:19 AM
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Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
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| The mascara! |
_________________
Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless - each of us with his or her right upon the earth; Each of us allowed the eternal purports of the earth; Each of us here as divinely as any is here. ~ Walt Whitman
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 07:28 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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I HAVE theorized that she was, at times, a sort of "anti-drag-queen." Her defiant insistence that she liked the way she looked, thank you very much did much to endear her to others who have an acquaintance with defiant insistence. For me, at least, it was her advice column. As I said, the advice was loving and graceful and actually fairly decent advice, without ever once drifting into the usual sales-pitch. She had somehow morphed into a genuinely likable person.
When 250 Tammy Faye impersonators parade down a city street with a herd of choreographed go-go boys in tow I will admit that she has become a Gay Icon. |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 07:57 AM
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Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
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| Oh my...you would have LOVED "A Night of a 1,000 Barbras" at one of the colleges here. LMAO! In truth, there were like 40 Barbra impersonators, but they went through something like 10 outfits each that night. So, there were roughly 400 Barbras. |
_________________
Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless - each of us with his or her right upon the earth; Each of us allowed the eternal purports of the earth; Each of us here as divinely as any is here. ~ Walt Whitman
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 08:43 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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Still... it is well known: Cher, Liza, Barbra -- all have impersonators. It sometimes seems that the brighter your star as a Gay Icon, the more impersonators of you can be assembled in one time and place. I have not heard that Tammy Faye has any at all (which many people would frankly consider a blessing).
I propose an event -- Five hundred Chers, three hundred Barbras, and yes... all 200 of Kylie's Impossible Princesses march down the street. The music is loud and house. The stables of 2Xist, 2Winks, Ginch Gonch, and Aussie Bum are cleaned out for the day to provide a suitable retinue of choreographed go-go boys. There is, of course, glitter. |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 09:31 PM
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Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
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All proceeds benefitting...The Gay Republic!
Now, that'll keep a lot of people wondering...and intrigued. |
_________________
Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless - each of us with his or her right upon the earth; Each of us allowed the eternal purports of the earth; Each of us here as divinely as any is here. ~ Walt Whitman
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 04:32 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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| Oh! Proceeds! I completely forgot about money. If we're charging, add a legion of Madonna impersonators to the thousand others, plus at least three gaggles of muscle boys (no underwear twinks for our Madonna impersonators, nosiree!). Just how many muscle boys constitute a "gaggle" is open for further discussions. The foam party afterwards, of course, will be charged separately -- no checks, no plastic. |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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Post subject: RE: So how *did* Tammy Faye become a
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 04:52 AM
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Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
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| Well, only ONE check...a clothes check! |
_________________
Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless - each of us with his or her right upon the earth; Each of us allowed the eternal purports of the earth; Each of us here as divinely as any is here. ~ Walt Whitman
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 28, 2007 - 10:58 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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| Well, Digital Spy claims to have The top 10 gay pop icons in a list... |
_________________
"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 29, 2007 - 05:20 PM
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Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
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| Ahem...I'm sure every homo worth his fairy dust has his OWN list...LOL. |
_________________
Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless - each of us with his or her right upon the earth; Each of us allowed the eternal purports of the earth; Each of us here as divinely as any is here. ~ Walt Whitman
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 29, 2007 - 09:42 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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Ahem...
10 -- yes
9 -- um... no
8 -- no... her recordings are in many a 'mo's cluttered CD collection, but no
7 -- DUH
6 -- nah
5 -- who?
4 -- yes, as it happens
3 -- not yet, Sweetie
2 -- Double DUH
1 -- surprisingly enough, very much yes
A fifty percent accuracy rate does not strike me as particularly good. |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 30, 2007 - 05:39 AM
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Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
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Barbra, yes!!!
Christina, no...beautiful voice but she has yet to contribute in any concrete way to our struggle.
Kate Bush...please don't underrate our intelligence. Stevie Nicks, Deborah Harry, Melissa Etheridge, K.D. Lang, Diana Ross, Chrissy Hynde or a hundred others would have been more worthy.
Cher...she was born gay,
Britney...the author is either still a teenager or caught in that twilight between teenagedom and self-searching twentysomethinghood.
Shirley Bassey...yes, I'll take her any day over Christina and Britney.
Dusty Springfield...she was a big, Catholic 'mo!
Dame Elton John...her membership is pending (the jury is out due to her outburst at Tina Turner who SHOULD have been on the list).
Madonna...I will not risk my gay card by voting against her.
Kylie...puh-leeze! Only in Australia! |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 30, 2007 - 06:51 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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Having educated myself on the identity of this 'Dame Shirley,' I will readily agree that she is more worthy of Gay Icon status than Christina or Britney (neither of whom merit nomination). Still, while skilled singers of torch songs have a leg up in the process, she ain't no Gay Icon. She may have a better shot at it than Elton John does.
I note with amusement that Rain gives this particular list a 40% accuracy rate. At last -- a harsher critic than yours truly! |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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