When I am asked to donate a painting to the Pacific Pride Foundations Royal Ball, I try to conceive of a subject that will appeal to guests its annual fundraiser. The first year I donated an original painting of Harvey Milk, last year I donated an original painting of the Stonewall riots, and this year, Im donating this original portrait of Judy Garland. So how did Judy Garland become a gay icon? It probably started in large part with her portrayal of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. Her journey from Kansas to Oz mirrored many gay men’s desires to escape the limitations of their small towns for big, colorful cities filled with open-minded people who would accept them. Indeed, in the film, Dorothy immediately befriends and protects those who are different, including the Cowardly Lion (in a very camp performance by Bert Lahr). The Lion identifies himself as a sissy and exhibits rather effeminate mannerisms. In the 2001 documentary Memories of Oz, film director John Waters remembers seeing the Wizard of Oz as a child: “[I was] the only child in the audience that always wondered why Dorothy ever wanted to go back to Kansas. Why would she want to go back to Kansas, in this dreary black and white farm with an aunt who dressed badly and seemed mean to me, when she could live with magic shoes, winged monkeys and gay lions? I never understood it.”
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:25:54 +0000
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