Talk:Gay icon/Archive 2

Diana Ross

It is ludicrous that Diana Ross is not included in this list. Here is an article from The Advocate. If we need more "proof", I'm happy to keep researching. I realize she's got a "either you love her or hate her" reputation with seemingly everyone so hopefully there is no bias preventing her from being listed here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Amaricanlife (talk • contribs) 04:14, 11 January 2008 (UTC) Here's more: [1]

No, it was merely the absence of sources identifying her as a gay icon. Now that you've found some, feel free to add her. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 05:15, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Fictional gay icons in media

I am thinking of creating an article based on fictional characters in the media, that have become popular with the GLBT community, almost to the point of icon status. Just trying to get a feel for whether this would be a relevant article with Wikipedians. Obviously, all entries would have to sourced correctly, rather than just adding people's personal choices. What do people think? Cattona (talk) 12:34, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Worldview

Right now I think this article is biased pretty heavily towards an anglophone and an Anglo-American point of view. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to improve this? Having just briefly skimmed, I'd say this article's equivalents in other languages would probably be a good start. Somewildthingsgo (talk) 20:55, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, there's List of terms for gay in different languages but I think improvements toward worldview would be to introduce sections on why there may fewer gay icons elsewhere and some sourced examples of who would be considered gay icons in other cultures. Benjiboi 21:16, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

This is part of my point - there isn't as much of a dearth of non-American gay icons as this article currently suggests. But I agree adding sources examples of such would be a good start. Somewildthingsgo (talk) 02:04, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, maybe start with the obvious. Are there notable (as in people with articles on wikipedia) that are consider gay icons by LGBT people that aren't exactly Anglo-American? To me these would help. We can start with a hit list then see if references can be found. In another vein it might be helpful to reference some thoughts that gay icons are primarily Anglo-American, I'd be willing to be some research exists on that. Benjiboi 08:05, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Just a follow-up here. I think the worldview tag can go. Many if not most of those listed are known throughout the world and anyone from the planet can be included if they meet the same requirements as the rest. It's also not the job of the article editors to add articles in different languages - that's up to the various language wikis (I think there's over 150 of them) which likely have a process to request an article if someone doesn't want to translate it themselves. Banjeboi 20:20, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

(ec) The list of entertainers now includes a few people relatively unknown in English-speaking countries, such as Carmen Maura, Mina, and Marianne Rosenberg. There's a paragraph about gay icons outside the English-speaking world. The politicians section includes Michèle Duvalier, Eva Perón, Imelda Marcos, and Vladimir Putin. I think it's safe to remove the {{worldview}} tag now. —Angr 20:28, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Other italian women who are gay icons include Loredana Berte, Patty Pravo, Mia Martini, and especially Raffaella Carra. The reference page used for Mina Mazzini's inclusion lists them. For Turk men there's no bigger gay icon than Ajda Pekkan. For Spanish audiences Thalia, Mónica Naranjo, Gloria Trevi and Paulina Rubio are also huge gay icons. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.97.144.2 (talk) 15:26, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Gay icons who are openly LGBT

If a person is openly LGBT and famous/notable, is that proof enough that they are a gay icon? Or do we absolutely need a reference?  — AMK1211^talk! 04:23, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

We need a reference. Being famous and gay doesn't automatically make you a gay icon. —Angr 04:34, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

revert war: Cyndi Lauper's image in the Response section

User:75.172.194.193 is replacing the image of Cyndi Lauper's participation in the Gay games in favor of a image of Madonna without any reasoning in his edit summary. I believe the image of Lauper should be kept simply because this is the only image of a notable Gay icon performing at a lgbt event. As such it has more weight than a generic image of Madonna performing. The Bookkeeper (_{of the Occult}) 09:34, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Ancient gay icons

I'm not sure that St. Sebastian is the earliest. Ganymede was definitely a homosexual icon long before. It depends, I suppose, on how you define "gay" here. If you take it as beginning in the 19th century with Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic Movement, then Ganymede wouldn't count, while if the definition is broader, then Ganymede would qualify. Your thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.141.115.113 (talk) 17:59, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

I was going to be snarky and mention Carol Channing here but that would be quite catty! Banjeboi 00:14, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Ironic icon or satiric deconstruction of an adversary?

First let me say I am not one of those who has a problem with the concept of having a gay icon article, nor am I among the editors who a trip to the history page shows routinely removing flavor-of-the month starlets and boybanders (or uncited but legitimate notables, such as Oscar Wilde). However, I have a hard time understanding how Anita Bryant is a gay icon, particularly when the footnote given for her inclusion [2] links to a controversial web article pushing the envelope by suggesting that Margaret Thatcher might be one. That article, of course, doesn't mention Bryant. A subsequent footnote [3] links to an article with this quote:

"Thirty years on, an unrepentant Bryant — who continues to praise the lord and damn homosexuality on her MySpace page — still remains an icon of hate and intolerance..."

While it would seem that quite a few of the inclusions on this page could be termed "ironic" icons, I think that the concept needs to be illuminated by an explanation of what an ironic icon means, as well as how anyone suggested to be one makes the grade. If drag queens lampooned Anita Bryant it was because she was a threat to their civil rights, and they were poking fun at the monster in a way they knew would get a few laughs and blow off a little steam from their audience, not to mention piss her off. Not every portrayal is an embrace. That is my own opinion, to be sure (and I am no drag queen), but until this article cites the opinion of someone who has made it into print in a reputable source (and an opinion which in itself is not intended to be provocative or ironic), the inclusion of Bryant is neither cited nor explained, and has no business being in a relatively brief encyclopedic description of gay icons such as this one. If anything, she is/was an anti-gay icon.

Further, the inclusion of Thatcher here is as a straightforward gay icon, when the citation proffers it is she who would be the ironic icon. If so, as such, Thatcher should be moved to the sentence describing the ironic icons, and—as I previously noted—that irony should be explained in the article. While it may well be notable enough to include in her own Wiki bio, not everyone for whom there has been a Spitting Image puppet, everyone who's been portrayed (with whatever intention) by a drag queen, nor anyone who's made a webcast of E! News Daily, is notable enough of a gay icon to be seriously and definitively described as such in the gay icon article. Abrazame (talk) 11:35, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I have included a ref to an article where Anita clearly repented her actions of the 70s. While she may have since changed her stance again, she did say she was sorry, and I have even seen a photo of her dancing in a gay disco with a gay man. As for Thatcher, she bores me, so change it to how you think it should read, keeping in mind that many do, in fact consider her a gay icon. Jeffpw (talk) 11:47, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Jeff, thanks for the above response. I wish I could read the article, but I'm fairly comfortable in not presuming that the 1980 Ladies Home Journal crowned Anita Bryant a gay icon. Neither did either of your other two links—which I did read, in full; has anyone else?—one of which said she was an anti-gay "icon of hate" and the other of which was the opinion piece positing potential ironic icon status (poorly in my estimation, but there you go) for Margaret Thatcher, making no mention of the similarly-coiffed Bryant. (Perhaps a previous editor here confused the two? I hope my sardonic edge comes off with the good-natured mirth with which it's intended.)

Your revert opined I have some agenda for my change, despite the exchange we'd already had here...I don't understand. Regarding Thatcher, I wonder if the writer of that piece would have a laugh, feel a bit queasy, be moderately disappointed in his readership, or all of the above, knowing that his provocateurism, if that's the word, has resulted in not starting conversations (indeed, you don't give your reasons for her inclusion, or explain the concept of ironic icon) but ending them, in its being cited to place Thatcher as exhibit A in an encyclopedia (as well as random other women of a certain age). He was pushing an avant-garde envelope, asking if Thatcher might be considered a gay icon given what he lamented as ridiculously lax standards for determining such, not telling us unequivocally that she was one. He ends his piece writing:

"Straight...men feared Mrs. Thatcher... And if that is enough to bestow the status of gay icon upon Cher - and believe me, it is - then history may yet prove it to be sufficient to crown the unlikeliest gay icon of them all." (My emphasis.)

Including her as such in Wikipedia is insisting we shall ignore the operating instructions for this verbiage we cite and give no credence to history, but declare it encyclopedically so, ourselves, now. Hell, why not? We've got tiaras to spare. This is, fittingly, a somewhat subjective article in Wikipedia, one which I support. We can tell ourselves it won't be itself cited in some other pop-cultural or infotainment or (gasp) dissertation or obituary—although we do know it will be mirrored a jillion times, and with the lines between media being blurred more and more each day, such media references of Wiki have happened.

Yet my problem isn't as much with Thatcher being cited as an ironic icon as it is with Bryant being cited as such. Again to agenda, I never give Bryant a thought unless prompted to; it's not like I'm carrying some unique, peculiar grudge, but I don't think one photo op at a gay rodeo makes her an icon. Similarly, while my attempt to follow up on the linked article's claim about her latter-day hate-filled MySpace page now ends up at a softsoapy fan site—which says nothing about her activism one way or the other—I'm inclined to interpret the LHJ article as her agent's damage-control puff piece on the stubborn heels of her losing her orange juice contract after being boycotted by many in the gay community, half of Hollywood, and a fair chunk of the rest of the population; and being shunned for her divorce by the very Christian groups on whose behalf she had become an activist and a lobbyist against gays in the first place.

I also don't think those two efforts, even if they were personally but selflessly initiated and deeply sincere, add up to the sort of repentance of which a public figure and (I'm guessing) talented person would be capable if she put her heart into it. (Witness Tammy Faye Bakker and her son Jay Bakker, or ... or ... Ebeneezer Scrooge?) That pendulum swung so far in one direction (where it lodged deep into the flesh of some and the public consciousness of most, and is still on the books and enforced in discriminating laws which diminish real people's lives today) that she would need to make quite a bit of effort to come back to center, much less swing far enough back the other way to make up for her years-long and very public, very political, and very personal crusade of fear-mongering, intolerance and lawmaking.

Don't misunderstand me: I believe what you say about the article and the photo, and I believe you were affected by it, and were likely not alone in being so. Yet there's a mountain of press that says exactly the opposite, as you know, and her name is synonymous with strident anti-gay hate to this day. I'd be interested to learn more about her, if there's anything compelling to learn, but even if it's all heartfelt and true and then some, until there's a couple of reasonable, readable citations, or until we get all those pop diva-ettes and boybanders back up in here, and throw up photos of gay icons Jesse Helms and Dick Cheney, I don't see how Anita Bryant makes the grade in this fairly brief article (even if it ran to ten pages) as an encyclopedic archetype of a certain kind of gay icon. I'll bet I could rattle off a list of two or three dozen names of people I would personally consider gay icons to one degree or another (although I haven't had as personal an identification as some), and another two or three dozen I couldn't care less about but whom I would identify intellectually, and—if this were an issue for more than five or nine editors here (none else of whom have weighed in on this issue in the week I've had it up here or the months it appeared, perverse and unsubstantiated, in the article)—I bet I could get a witness or ten thousand for each and every one. Yet should they be singled out to appear in this article? (And, by the way, P-L-E-N-T-Y of the people now, once, and future in this article I have nothing but antipathy for, and think it sheer lunacy to idolize, but I'm not going to harsh on them and snipe them out of here, because if E! Entertainment says it, it must be true. Kidding again.)

I'm not trying to be disrespectful or tit-for-tat, but it would honestly seem to me to be the editor who cited Byant with an article on Thatcher in the first place, and you who are insisting she remain despite all this, who has the agenda: moving Thatcher away from the sentence on ironic icons despite the fact that was the whole point of her citation, while using Wiki to stage a Lewis Carroll-cum-George Orwell-cum-George W. Bush upside-down revisionist history rehabilitation of this dark figure Bryant, who asked for it once in a breezy household hints-and-celebrity makeovers periodical, while calling foul upon me. I'm not over on their bios trying to press some point or hammer out balance or justice or what-have-you. As a Christian I forgive them. As someone living in the twenty-first century I'm unthreatened by them. But as an editor I press to convince you and others of what I should think was self-evident: These citations you include [4] [5] do not support your reversion; Bryant should not be a candidate for this article.

You referred to her in an edit summary as "Our darling Anita." Speak for yourself. This is a link to an article your darling Anita features on her own website. [6] It's titled "Anita Was Right." Yes, right about that. Why not distance yourself from someone who praises you for doing something hateful, intolerant, and which you regret...unless you haven't really repented after all. And here is a portion of a 2005 article in the Tulsa (OK) World[7]:

"Bryant has faced her share of controversy since 1977, when, after almost 20 years of celebrity and admiration, she crashed into controversy by helping form the Save Our Children movement in Florida, a crusade against homosexuality and gay rights. It is a topic she doesn't shy away from; she includes it on her resume, on which she says she stood up 'to the vilest and most (scurrilous) public abuse for the sake of family, values, simple decency and her faith in God.'"

A pie in the face is no way to treat a lady, but no lady treats a gentleman the way she has treated the gay community, and you know the gay community has had viler and more scurrilous public abuse, some if not directly from her then as a result of her whipping up such a homophobic hysteria. If you and others sincerely consider a woman like that a gay icon, I would like to understand why. I suppose it would be cheeky to say I would like to know if you understand why. But I think it's editorially irresponsible to require anything less than that a reader must understand why, if you're going to put it into an encyclopedic article.

The way this article becomes more than fluff, more than a rundown of the covermodels on People magazine (or Ladies Home Journal), or more than a sabotaged folly, is if we show the point of icons, of what their intentions were and what we inferred, of what the effect has been, good, bad and indifferent, of what we get from them and what they get from us, and do it in a citable way that carries some weight and isn't just some he-said-she-said-someone-else-said scrapbook. That's my agenda, that no one is misled; the essence of truth as it can be cited and attested to, and resonate in a purposeful way, so this article can finally live up to its potential. I'd prefer we weren't comparing true icons to publicists' marketing savvy, or people who went above and beyond in an inspiring and compelling way to media whores who are just playing the game...but then, perhaps whores and game-players are some people's icons, so if so let's look at that for what it is...and, of course, the ironics, and whether that's a sadomasochistic relationship or a disconnect with reality or a distillation of two or three qualities to the denial of all else, or however someone notable can be cited as dissecting it. The broader the spectrum the better, vapid pretty people and brilliant artists and altruists and martyrs alike, as long as we're providing an explanation and not simply promoting celebrities down the years. (Although of course being celebrated is an important part of it, and then maybe we can go deeper than the usual suspects with that, to get some esoteric nuance alongside the obvious and those whom everyone likes.) That's why I applaud the stated intentions and efforts of The Bookkeeper, and many of the edits these past couple of years that have sought to improve and deepen the article and pare away the nonsense. Can you see my point—or make and cite a more compelling case of your own—and we be friends? Truly. Abrazame (talk) 19:25, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

The New York Times, says she repented, and she is quoted as saying the church needs to move towards acceptance and lovf of gays. That, coupled with the many, MANY Anita drag queens I've seen on Halloween on the Castro and other places, leads me to conclude that she Is, indeed, a gay icon, of sorts. An ironic one, as she is listed, but an icon nonetheless. There are now 5 refs for this one figure. Do what you want, but to claim she isn't someone who is iconic (for many different reasons), tells me you're not being objective about the article. Jeffpw (talk) 09:05, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree. The reason I modified the LEAD was specifically for Bryant. The fact that her name became synonymous with anti-gay hate speech and was apparently mocked by so many in the gay community for it undoubtedly defines the word "iconic" which you and I and everyone working on this article are trying to establish. As I stated below, almost every person who has been labeled a "gay icon" has been given the title for varying reasons, but one thing they all have in common is that if you are lgbt, you should automatically know who this person is. Lets not forget, Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer were both named gay icons and then completely disregarded by the community on the basis of Christianity vs homosexuality (Summers career in particular was all but ruined by the controversy which is also something I plan to expand), but both are still recognized to this day as Gay Icons. When my LAMBDA Student Alliance and I hosted our Gay Icon Project (I stole the title from a former editor on here) at my college, Summer was one of our featured icons. Our club advisor who has been openly gay for decades was taken aback and asked me "Is she still a Gay Icon?"The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 09:25, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Jeff, I changed the section on Bryant to a single reference which I believe best describes her iconography to the Gay community. I believe the example cited by The Advocate makes it clear just how deeply she embedded herself with the gay rights movement. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 18:04, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Fine. I only added so many because I saw sourced material being deleted with "as per discussion on talk page", whrn said discussion hadn't yet occurred. Jeffpw (talk) 23:59, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

So now your definition of gay icon is any public figure who is associated with homosexuality at all, from any angle?

Jeff, this thread is the discussion. You participated in it before the edit which seemed to take you by surprise, and it continues. You objected to me making the change I had previously announced, yet you have felt free to re-add it without discussing the substance of my points here first. You added references to her stated intention to no longer be an anti-gay political activist, and to her claim she felt more live and let live at the time (which is a relative thing, considering how far to the extreme her feelings had been), though I had already told you I did not doubt that she made such statements. (Though I have still seen no "apology".) The point is, A) those statements were not borne out by the references I cited (Did you read them? What do you think they say about her "apology"?), and B) there is still no reference to her being called a gay icon, not even in jest or with irony or conservative agenda. If she is to be represented in a subsection on anti-gay icons—people who are notorious among the gay community, as opposed to idolized or embraced by them—I would have no problem, as that is what the reference you cited called her, an icon of hate and intolerance. That's a recent reference, too, by the way, that wasn't made back in the day. That's not the vague superficiality of most of these other references, that's specific, and it's not ironic; that's sincere, and it's not a little bit out of the purview, it's diametrically opposed to what a gay icon encompasses. Jeff, I've seen some great edits you've made to this article and I applaud you for them, but please, read those references you gave and those I gave; visit her website and follow those links. And then, please, could you address the points I have made here? C'mon, guys, not everybody who expresses an editorial observation is trying to develop an adversarial relationship.

Bookkeeper, Gaynor and Summer were gay icons before they became born-again Christians. They became gay icons because they recorded disco music that was uniquely embraced by gays, above and beyond the rest of the genre. If the argument is that Bryant was a gay icon for her music prior to her anti-gay crusade, then let's have that citation and make that point. But you posit the definition of gay icon as if you are lgbt, you should automatically know who this person is, I beg to differ. We could—and future editors will—add hundreds of people who are clearly not gay icons if you give that as the criteria for inclusion in this article. Frankly—and I mention this only because of your words—I think one real irony inherent in the concept of gay icons is that most of the people LGBT people should know (of) are not the people they do know. I had no freaking clue what point was being made when Eisenhower and Einstein and some race car driver were a part of this article a couple years back, and when I asked the person who added it for clarification, his answer was fairly cryptic. I thought I knew generally the point he was making, but I wasn't sure how what he said was going about doing that, or how to edit the sentences to better make his point. However, I didn't make an effort to delete them or rewrite it or push the point with him, because it was clear that it was unclear, and it was clear nobody was going to quote that or any other part of that article, or be misled by it. I hope you realize that the reason I'm pushing this point now (and will likely make others in the near future) is not because I'm a dick or an antagonist, but because I support what I understand to be your intentions and would like to make your/our/others' execution brings those intentions to fruition in a way solid enough that it isn't going to be pecked apart into nonsense by 1,001 editors in the coming days, weeks and months—or, as I have mentioned before, cited in someone's obituary, or otherwise mis-educating people. I hope we can do this as allies, and I hope we can get other allies to give substantive and informed contributions both to discussions here and entries to the article. Abrazame (talk) 20:36, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think of you as a dick or an antagonist and I never will. I understand your point and frankly I really don't care whether she stays in or not. The life long religious-driven homophobia I've experienced from my family may be reflexive of my, how can I say, morbid curiosity with Bryant (seriously, what was she on?) But like, I said, I really don't care. And I don't say that to disregard your POV which you took so much time to carefully explain, its just that I seriously don't care (based on Wikipedia:Don't-give-a-fuckism). I don't think the article can be damaged with or without her inclusion. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 00:51, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

I give a fuck. She was, is, and will always be associated with gay emancipation. At one point she had FIVE supporting references. Some may not like her including out of "political correctnesss", but an icon she remains. I responded more fully on Abrazame's page, but I feel my reasoning is clear: She is ref'd as an icon, and for historical reasons must remain, regardless of how that makes her, her followers, or knee-jerk reactionaries feel. Jeffpw (talk) 01:14, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Nancy Sinatra!

Dear god! We must all turn in our gay cards if she doesn't get added soon! Banjeboi 11:34, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Done! Nancy is someone we all should be proud to embrace, if only for the hairdos and miniskirts. Jeffpw (talk) 11:45, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Forgot to thank you for doing this! Banjeboi 00:15, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't see why we should be proud to embrace a one-hit wonder who wouldn't even be that if her last name weren't Sinatra. —Angr 18:52, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

OMG! Those are fighting words! Before you malign one of the camp saints you may want to watch the 1967 musical-variety special Movin' With Nancy complete with singing commercials for RC Cola - with the "mad, mad taste" and some of the campiest outfits and abuses of polyester ever! The video for "Up, Up and Away" is on YouTube but the DVD is an import from Asia and worth it. You will be shocked and delighted. Banjeboi 22:44, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Angr, you may also want to get your facts straight, and check to see that Nancy had other songs than "Boots: Mississippi, Somethin' Stupid and So long, Babe, off the top of my head. Just because you don't have the knowledge doesn't make it as if it never happened. Besides, she has a ref stating she is a gay icon and likes it. Jeffpw

While there are dozens of gay icons who have a bajillion hits, there are hundreds of others (including some of those) who are most remembered for only one or two projects. This isn't a popularity contest or a top ten list. You could argue Coretta Scott King sang only one song, but how beautiful the song, and how wonderful when she welcomed us to join the chorus. Abrazame (talk) 20:49, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

listing reasons for gay icon status?

what do you guys think of converting the modern examples list to a style like the List of LGBT persons etc type articles use, with 1 name per line (followed by an explanation for why they are a gay icon). (Either within this article or in its separate List of Gay icons article if you think it would clutter this article too much) I think it would help in the case of some people that aren't LGBT to explain why they are icons to LGBT people. --User0529 (talk) 11:54, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

I think that's a great idea, and would certainly broaden the knowledge of the average reader. The fact that each name (should) contains a reference makes it clear, but not everybody bothers to read refs. Jeffpw (talk) 11:57, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

If you'll take a peek at my sandbox, I've been slowly trying to work the entire Modern Examples into prose by separating icons by decade, so the article can be written in chronological order. Most of my editing at the moment is focused to WP:JANET, so if anyone would like to expand on what I have in my sandbox, by all means feel free to continue my work there. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 12:02, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

I've made some changes, though a lot more need to be made to eliminate the list format altogether. However, it should be easier now to expand each section into prose. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 11:41, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

I like the idea, as well as the chronological order, but bear in mind there are a lot of sticklers for citations. What seems like common sense and general knowledge to some is heresy, anarchy, or just an excuse to be pedantic to others. On the other hand, the benefit of this is people get the chance to delve deeper when their interest is piqued, readers don't have to take things with so many grains of salt, and people with skewed agendas have to justify tilting articles in their fave's favors. (Speaking of which, all due respect to the Great and Powerful Cher, but it seems more appropriate to have Judy Garland at the head of the article to give it some perspective. And I am someone who was born well after she passed, doesn't have a single Judy Garland disc, and probably has half a dozen Cher discs!) Abrazame (talk) 12:08, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Oh I agree. I intend to expand each section with credible sources, including the context of why notable icons were so revered during those time periods, so citations shouldn't be an issue. If the article is to proceed to GA or FA, there would need to be a great deal of prose and citations anyway. As long as editors continue to contribute, it should be fine. Madonna, Janet, Cher, Judy and Barbara will probably have the greatest amount of information, seeing as how there is already enough information on them to have their own gay icon articles. I disagree with the idea Garland has to be at the beginning of the modern image section, seeing as how her image is now the main image for the entire article. However, as the article progresses, there should be enough text to move the Cher image in the 1970s-1980s section. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 12:23, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

IF you do so, please split it off as a different article - as a list article. That dang list is distracting from and overshadowing the purpose of this page - to define and explain what a "gay icon" is and place the phenomenon in a historical and cultural context. The purpse is not be a directory of examples; that's why we have lists as separate entries on WP. - Davodd (talk) 23:06, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

The five woman I mentioned already have enough into to have their own article, three already do. My point was in addition to the historical context/definition of "gay icon" each individual icon has a unique impact on the definition, as pretty much every person listed on this page is given the title for a different reason. Eventually, the entire page should be turned into complete prose, its already half way there. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 23:34, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Ex-gays on gay icons

Do we really want to consider A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality a reliable source? The quote from this book says more about its authors' inability to think outside stereotypes than it does about the actual significance of gay icons to gay children and teenagers. —Angr 11:26, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

hence the point of its inclusion. If we are to keep the article neutral and not take a stance on what can and cannot define a gay icon, shouldn't there be commentary from outside the gay community? Doesn't the LGBT social movements article have a section devoted to its opposition? While I personally believe the authors logic is flawed, it still offers a point of view on why gay men find certain people iconic, even for some of the same reasons LGBT activists do. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 11:48, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

But there should scholarly commentary from outside the gay community, not just tired stereotypes from people who wouldn't be able to set up and test a sociological hypothesis if their lives depended on it. —Angr 11:56, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

If there is consensus to remove it, I'm not going to fight to keep it, but I should point out the entire article is essentially one massive stereotype with little scholarly or academic input as professionals in these fields of study have little to no interest in the subject. Gay icons, as one can see by reading the entire article are routinely defined by the consensus of fandom, not sociologists who have a vested interest in Queer studies. Even all the reliable sources I've added to the article are by columnists or literary writers who are openly gay, but are not experts in the field of sociology or psychology. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 12:09, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I think it helps a bit but should be cleaned up and add some wikilinks where needed. Banjeboi 19:49, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

"In other cultures"

"Scottish singer Jimmy Somerville" and "English singer Dusty Springfield" don't belong in the paragraph suggesting gay icons come from outside the English-speaking world, as of course they both come from within that world, speaking English as a first (and quite possibly only) language, singing in English, and initially and primarily successful with English-speaking audiences. Abrazame (talk) 18:42, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

true enough, feel free to move it. Otherwise I'll get to it from some point today. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 18:57, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Removed ugly tag

I removed the worldview tag because there are many on the list who are from other countries than the USA: Marie Antoinette (France), Abhishek Bachchan (India) Willeke Alberti (Netherlands), Carmen Maura (Spanish) ,Mina (Italian) ,Dalida (Egyptian/French), Marianne Rosenberg (German), Oscar Wilde (British), Marlene Dietrich (German),Quentin Crisp (British), Dusty Springfield (British), Freddie Mercury (British), Kylie Minogue (Australian), Annie Lennox (British) ,Joan Collins (British), Martina Navratilova (Czech), David Beckham (British),Princess Diana (British) Michèle Duvalier (Haitian), Imelda Marcos (Philippina), Margaret Thatcher (British) and Vladimir Putin (Russian). Sure, we can and will find more, but I think the list is broad enough to warrant the removel of that tag. Jeffpw (talk) 04:59, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, that's weird. I already removed it on June 23. How did it get back? —Angr 05:17, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

It was re-added today a few hours ago. No reason was given. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 06:54, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, this has be addressed although more input is quite welcome. Banjeboi 16:21, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Re: recent (july 2008) work on article

just wanted to drop a note to Bookkeeper and other editors that have been working on this article that it really has come a long way in the past week or 2 and looks great (particuarly the addition of the prose and photos) User0529 (talk) 16:28, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! There's a lot more work to be done though. Hopefully I can get it to GA by the end of the month. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 21:22, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

modern examples section

IN looking at that long list of names yet to be written about, I wondered if a paragraph should be inserted mentioning that the term is now so ubiquitous as to be almost meaningless in its current form? I mean, all these one hit wonders who God knows will have any staying power being given Icon status makes the whole idea seem...well, trivial. And it is definitely not trivial. Thoughts? Jeffpw (talk) 04:47, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

I was thinking about that too - it's getting to the point where anyone who's ever had more than two gay fans gets the label "icon" stamped on them. But, as usual, we have to make sure this fact is already discussed somewhere else in print first. —Angr 05:08, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

I was looking at ref #79 in that list section at the end. These are the credentials for the ref: Chris Evans is a junior at Marymount Manhattan College, studying Communications. He hopes to enter the television and film industry once he graduates, and continue his obsession with Johnny Depp and Christina Aguilera. It would seem to me that this ref fails WP:RS, and until some other refs for those individuals are found, they should be deleted. I won't be doing it, but come on people, Katherine Heigl??????? Jeffpw (talk) 05:15, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

With the exception of Paris Hilton, no one from the 2000s list is a one hit wonder and most have proven they have staying power. And there is no doubt all of them have made a dramtic impact on popular culture regardless of being named gay icons. Most have made a impact on LGBT social movements as well. Christina's single "Beautiful", Lace Bass coming out (a majority of gay icon were only named such because there sexual orientation was the subject of speculation, so why would Bass make the term meaningless?), Beyoncé will be making music till the day she dies, Margaret Cho is openly bisexual, Kathy Griffin is one of biggest self-proclaimed fag-hags in entertainment, Jake Gyllenhaal's historic role in brokeback mountain, Anne Hathaway has been called the new age Julie Andrews, Gwen Stefani has been in the recording industry for decades and is a lesbian sex symbol and her band No Doubt sponsors HRC, etc.

As I've stated before, the article is based off of pop culture, not academic study. I've seen one academic source in reference to the term "gay icon" the rest are based purely on the basis on "who gay people like the most". Everyone loves Judy, but she didn't actually do anything to promote LGBT equality; Most gay icons according to this article haven't. Even Coretta Scott King has never been officially given the label "gay icon" despite her involvement with LGBT Rights (I notice there was no argument to remove her from the article despite this fact). In fact most activists will never be given the title simply because they are not celebrities. In short, if you are going to give a paragraph about the ambiguous meaning of the term (or lack of meaning all together), it should apply to the entire article, including the grand old icon of the 40s 50s and 60s, not just the newbies. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 05:17, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

The point it, being a gay icon used to mean something. Now it has become so over-used as to lose its importance. Perhaps that trend should be noted, as well as the fact that there are more because the LGBT community is now becoming more visible and vocal. Jeffpw (talk) 05:21, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

I agree with the fact that the term has become meaningless. And Coretta Scott King is in fact mentioned in the article before the time of this discussion, in the politics section. Icarus of old (talk) 05:30, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

That wasn't my point of mentioning King, at all. I was the one who added her this article months ago. My point was that there is no direct reference which labels her with the exact words "gay icon" despite her long term endorsement of LGBT rights. My point is that the label "gay icon" has never had any significant meaning so there shouldn't be undue emphasis that it has somehow lost meaning within the last ten years. The opening paragraph in the modern examples section makes the argument the term has always been meaningless. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 05:39, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

...because there has never been any consistency in gay culture until globalization, at which point localized gay icons were lost amidst broader cultural figures available on the Internet and TV. So yeah, it has recently become pretty meaningless. Gay icons, if your logic for references follows, should then only consist of pop icons. Consider people's actions and words, not just what some reference states. Primary sources (King's words and speeches) constitute such status, rather than Sony or Hollywood. Icarus of old (talk) 05:44, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, references are all we are supposed to be using for this encyclopedia. If there is a rule for this article that anyone listed on this page must have been labeled a "gay icon" with those exact words, then half the people on this list would probably be removed, including Coretta Scott King and Anita Bryant for the exact same reason. Despite their impact, neither has been labeled with the exact words "gay icon". So yes, logically this article should only consist of pop icons. That's not my goal, but you can't just nit-pick the article to death, keeping what you (and by "you" I mean anyone) personally consider to be crucial while disregarding obvious fact. If you are going by academic study, there has never been any indication that the label "gay icon", in those exact words, has had any meaning.The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 06:01, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

I do think "gay icon" used to mean something quite unusual. There were a handful of women (Judy, Barbra, Cher, and really very few others) who some gay men venerated with practically religious fervor. Some people have claimed that Judy's death triggered the Stonewall riots. I don't know whether that's literally true, but it's certainly plausible. Most of the people described as gay icons nowadays don't inspire anything like that kind of devotion - I suppose Heath Ledger was as much a gay icon after Brokeback Mountain as Jake Gyllenhaal, but no one started rioting in the streets when he died. "Will & Grace" can show Jack having a virtually Marian apparition of Cher in a dream, but Sarah Jessica Parker in that capacity would have been preposterous. (BTW, Superman should really be moved to the "fictional" section rather than being stuck between Mink Stole and George Takei as if he were an actor.) —Angr 06:07, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

I personally agree with some of these reasonings, but the fact is this entire debate is original research because there is no evidence to back up any of these claims. As I've said numerous times this entire article borderlines on original research. I'd be more than willing to change the article accordingly as long as there is published information to back up these theories on what gay icons have more value than others, or that the term has any value at all. The only published information indicates the opposite. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 06:21, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

And by research, you obviously mean stocking the references section with commercialized crap from Out and Starpulse. What credible sources! Why doesn't the article just keep space open for whomever else Out Magazine decides to elect the ever-enviable "Gay icon" of the year? Who cares about the Lambda Literary Awards or any other gay person of note who actually did something positive for the community? Just splash on the glitter. You say, "Well prove me wrong." I say prove yourself; those sources are commercial garbage. Try a real gay icon: British author Alan Hollinghurst, or American playwright Doug Wright, or any of the apparently "non-notable" lawmakers who have actually contributed more than some songs that they made money from. Icarus of old (talk) 07:56, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

And here is one worthy of the name:

http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790ee47db4c186ef7881941a67bcb57f46ccd9b18db88f7aa089425c14b92b27ae98&fmt=H Lewis, B. The Queer Life and Afterlife of Roger Casement. Journal of the History of Sexuality v. 14 no. 4 (October 2005) p. 363-82 Icarus of old (talk) 08:12, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

You just proved my point. Are there any sources which specify those individuals using the term "gay icon"? That's the biggest problem this article faces. You seem to ignore the fact that I've stated repeatedly, that I have yet to come across scholarly and academic sources which use the terms "gay icon" in their publications. We wouldn't even be having this discussion if the article were called "important figures in LGBT history". However, the name of this article is "gay icon" and unless I've overlooked a wide variety of information, sources such as Out and The Advocate and Lesbian News are the only publications I've seen that use that exact terminology. Its not as if I'm stopping you from adding information to the article. If you find credible sources, by all means be bold. I've spent the last two weeks up until 4:00am going through through google books, google, yahoo, and EBSChost research data base and the only sources I've found that use the term gay icon to identify people are predominately LGBT magazines. I'm sorry if I've wasted my time here. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 08:28, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

(unindent) You haven't wasted your time, Bookkeeper, and nobody is carping at you. You've done a brilliant job here, as have the many who have rescued it from deletion on more than one occasion. We're just seeing if we can find a more exact definition which would exclude every pop star of the 21st century. By the way, I did manage to find a scholarly ref for Jackie O, which absolutely identifies her as a gay icon :-) Jeffpw (talk) 14:21, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

But Bookkeeper, Wikipedia is not a task-master or a place for self-verification. You choose to put in all of these hours, and I ask, what benefit for the gay community at large? If a straight person read this article, he/she would walk away thinking gay people to be vapid and commercially narcissistic. An article can be short and concise; it doesn't need to bear every mention of every person to whom the label has been applied. Icarus of old (talk) 17:54, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Not to mention, in all your hours of searching, did you explore any variations on the term, or just isolated yourself and the article to the exclusivity of the term? (i.e. academia at large accepts "queer" as a better designation than "gay") You're trying to constrict the article and the subject into a very small little box, which only leaves room for pop garbage. Maybe terms like "gay heroes" or "queer icons" or "LBGT icons" would yield more fruitful results. And don't look to Wikipedia for "Whoa-is-me" for time spent editing; there are many here who spend far more time on many more diversified subjects than reigning supreme as content king for a pet article. Icarus of old (talk) 19:54, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Don't get snarky, Icarus of old; wrinkles ren't necessarily a testament to wisdom. Jeffpw (talk) 21:14, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Nor are they not. Icarus of old (talk) 21:45, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

I've spent a lot more time and energy on other subjects on wikipedia as well. My only reason for bringing up the exact amount of effort I put into this is because you seem to be under the false impression that I haven't done any research on the matter whatsoever. Any I don't consider this to be a "pet" article. Any article I devote time and energy to I give an equal amount dedication. and to answer your question google book search yields 154 results for "LGBT icon" and 857 results for "[queer icon]" whereas it yields 1111 results for "gay icon". "Gay heroes" yields 1780 but those results are based on LGBT activism, particularly by people who were actually LGBT. Hence the dilemma of the article; if "icon" only deals with the visual representation within the gay community (Judy Garland) and "heroes" predominately indicate activism (Coretta Scott King), do we group both subjects together under the same article? Or does it require a separate article altogether? The reason I'm being so meticulous is because if this article ever hopes of passing FAC, all of these questions are going to be addressed. Why do you think this article was nominated for deletion twice? The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 04:44, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

I apologize for being so rash earlier. I think we both want some of the same things out of this article. You have done a really good job on it so far, but I think we should provide a synthesis of the "pop" gay icon and gay activist heroes, both of which should be central to the idea of what a gay icon is. I mean, the article isn't called "Gay pop icon" and "icon" as a term is vague anyway. I'd like to see more of a balance between camp and community, because in reality the gay life takes a lot from both. Once again, sorry for coming off as an ass; I'd really like to see a mature article that we can both agree on. Icarus of old (talk) 06:14, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Thankyou for that. All I want is an article that is as factually accurate as possible. The last thing I want to see is an article that has a clear and decisive definition of the term "Gay icon" that we came up with ourselves rather than documenting the term for what it actually is. Maybe the exact label of "gay icon" is nothing more than a pop culture phenomenon. If it is, we can't change that definition with this article - thats not what wikipedia is meant for. If being a "Gay icon" is something of substance, we have to work hard to find references that indicate it as such. I'm not trying to be the enemy either, I just want to remain as neutral as possible. Oh, and I'll work those two references you and Jeff listed into prose at some point tomorrow. And I will be looking with a bit more scrutiny through all references I find for a better distinction of the phrase - not just who it happens to be applied to. hugs all around. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 06:46, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Bravo.

Just wanted to note the VAST improvement in this article. Great job!. - Davodd (talk) 21:59, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

smile! The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 00:35, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Mitzi Gaynor

Another to add, specially for her TV specials complete with dozens of dancing boys and Bob Mackie costumes. Banjeboi 18:27, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

*half asleep with bloodshot eyes* Do you have a source for that?? hehe. I should take a break from this article, I'm literally having lucid dreams that I'm editing Gay Icon while I'm asleep. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 00:33, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

These might help. Banjeboi 01:04, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

• Nothing like a dame named Mitzi: Gaynor to be saluted by a Castro Theatre extravaganza
• Puttin’ on the Mitz
• Glitter and be great

Here's a google book ref that definitely claims Mitzi as a gay icon in South Africa. Jeffpw (talk) 08:22, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Vikki Carr

Just a suggestion, but I don't see how Vikki can be omitted from this article. Here's a ref showing her as a gay icon, and though this may be WP:OR, anyone viewing this who doesn't immediately see her as an icon for the gay community must be blind indeed. Jeffpw (talk) 19:53, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

There are lots of people still missing or underrepresented: Tallulah Bankhead and Maria Callas are mentioned only in passing in a quote, and Audrey Hepburn is also conspicuous by her absence. —Angr 20:26, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Bot report : Found duplicate references !

In the last revision I edited, I found duplicate named references, i.e. references sharing the same name, but not having the same content. Please check them, as I am not able to fix them automatically :)

• "pinklist" :
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3431.html |title=Gordon Ramsay 50th most popular gay icon |last=Grew |first=Tony |work=Pink News |date=[[2007-01-05]] |accessdate=2007-08-01}}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3431.html |title=Gordon Ramsay 50th most popular gay icon |last=Grew |first=Tony |work=Pink News |date=[[2007-12-29]] |accessdate=2007-08-01}}

DumZiBoT (talk) 16:38, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

LMP

What about Lisa Marie Presley and the lesbian community?74.73.176.161 (talk) 03:17, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

If you read an online source we can take a look at we can always list her. I still intend to get this article to GA someday, I've just been busy with school and fighting Prop 8 in California. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 03:37, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Morrissey?

I was surprised to see that Morrissey is not listed. Cvislay (talk) 00:35, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

We would need a good source that he is a gay icon to start. I known he toys with sexuality issues in the British tradition but was/is he an icon as well and can we source it. -- Banjeboi 23:51, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Tori Amos

I'm shocked that Tori Amos isn't among the list of icons. She has one of the biggest gay followings around. She should be included. (Uhhuhhim (talk) 05:44, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

If you have a source showing that she is one, feel free to add her. —Angr 06:58, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Protection

I highly suggest this article gets at least semi-protection because of how much this article is prone to vandalism. ~♫☆PianoWizzy☆♫~, who resides at pianowizzy.co.cc :) 21:26, 17 April 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by PianoWizzy (talk • contribs)

I don't think the vandalism is bad enough to warrant semiprotection at this stage. My usual rule of thumb is that if an article is routinely getting vandalized at least 5 times within 24 hours, it's time to semiprotect. —Angr 21:41, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

"Gay icon"-related article titles

I was about to move the Madonna as gay icon article to "Madonna as a gay icon" when I discovered I had already done so last year, and the move was undone citing previous discussion. When I asked, I was pointed to the talk page of the Judy Garland as gay icon article (currently located at Judy Garland as a gay icon, where a discussion took place last year. The entire discussion (which was closed as "no consensus") consisted of 1 support and 2 opposes: certainly not enough to assume we've reached consensus on the entire range of "icon" articles.

As far as I can tell, we currently have three "as (a) gay icon" articles (categorization is another issue):

• Madonna as gay icon
• Judy Garland as a gay icon
• Janet Jackson as gay icon

"As gay icon" is newspaper style (as in "Judy Garland reflects on life as gay icon") rather than the type of construction common in Wikipedia articles. To illustrate this, the "Gay icon" section of the main Judy Garland article begins, "Of particular note is Garland's status as a gay icon." It was argued in the previous discussion that leaving out the indefinite article is grammatical; I'm not sure this is true in this case. The indefinite article indicates that the subject is one of a group: a, not the gay icon. Imagine if instead of "gay icon" the title were "Judy Garland as celebrity." Perfectly acceptable in a newspaper, but not in an encyclopedia (Wikipedia as encyclopedia?). Exploding Boy (talk) 16:06, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

• Neutral Honestly I could care less either way, I've looked at both sides of the argument and don't see any problem with either format. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 00:26, 28 May 2009 (UTC)
• Comment I'm not terribly bothered either although titles of articles have thier own guidelines so we could look to those for direction. Beyond that I say call in the grammarians. -- Banjeboi 00:32, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Harvey Milk

Article does not contain a mention of Harvey Milk. It is very strange... -- Ivan Simochkin (talk) 15:59, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Putin

Vladimir Putin is a gay Icon because he took of his shirt and posed for the camera? Really? Am I missing something here?NewDestroyer (talk) 06:43, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Dispite the attempts of some in the media. Vladimir is no wear close to a gay icon. He's not even that cute. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.182.219.192 (talk) 21:35, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

I agree that this sole, frivolous, perhaps even sarcastic mention should not be considered to meet the threshold when we're talking about as serious a subject as the President of Russia. In other words, if he truly were a gay icon there or anywhere, he's the sort of widely covered internet-age figure about which that would figure into more than a yearly episode of going shirtless on vacation. U.S. presidents including the current one remove their shirts without being added to this article. If Putin took his shirt off while quipping that he owes it to his gay fans, then maybe we could take this as what it is—an ironic, not a political, example. Irony is that Vladimir Putin is listed under Political examples when he has apparently made no political efforts or sacrifices on gays' behalf, while Harvey Milk—who did—is not. Abrazame (talk) 05:21, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Tina Turner

You cannot have an article about 'gay icons' without Tina Turner; she is a gay magnet. --PaulO (talk) 07:30, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

As always, when someone says "Why doesn't this article mention X?", the answer is: "Find reliable sources describing X as a gay icon, and they can be added." It's that simple. +Angr 09:11, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

St. Sebastian.

I'm going to quibble about an unqualified statement that "St. Sebastian was the first gay icon." Perhaps the words, "among the first" would be more appropriate. It may be possible to make an equal claim for Narcissus, for example, to represent "first" gay icon, citing the very same reference work. [[8]] It can also be argued that Narcissus was "at once a stunning advertisement for homosexual desire (indeed, a homoerotic ideal), and a prototypical portrait of tortured closet case," beloved by the gods regardless of gender, spurning Echo for his own, male image reflected in the pond. Did DaVinci, for example, not idealize the male form of classical mythology? In the same section, a more ambiguous approach is used to introduce Marie Antoinette as a dykon, and rightly so, I think. But what happened to Sappho? Marckadrian (talk) 10:56, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi is definitely a gay icon. Does anyone disagree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.34.131.125 (talk) 12:27, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

I came to the talk page just to put this. She is definitely a gay icon. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.58.137.241 (talk) 22:42, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Could we deduce from this article that she is? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27939377 97.39.168.244 (talk) 00:47, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

No, we couldn't. Unveiling a statue at the dedication of a job training center in her district honoring Harvey Milk doesn't make Nancy Pelosi a gay icon, it makes her a politician. Look for something about the gay community's support of her in response to her voting record on gay issues. If the source doesn't actually call her a gay icon, though, it would have to give a strong supportive case for such status in other words. (Ideally it would do the latter as well as the former.) Abrazame (talk) 11:05, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Michele Duvalier?

Are you serious? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.77.213.136 (talk) 06:08, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

There are some people who would add the name of anyone who's ever been on a shopping spree. I've removed the name as it was unreferenced. Thanks for the heads-up. Abrazame (talk) 22:40, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Beyonce

Beyonce is NOT a gay Icon. The source which was provided was a Small Survey in the U.K. Overall, she isn't acknowledged by the gay community like fellow Divas (Janet Jackson, Madonna). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.163.196.221 (talk) 21:22, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

She's definitely not as significant as Janet Jackson (who incidentally is already mentioned in the main body of the text and therefore does NOT need to be mentioned again in the list), Madonna, Cher, and others, but she is in the cited source, so there's no good reason to remove her. —Angr 22:24, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Most of the people on that list arn't even Gay Icons. Like I said, it was a small survey (Opinion) and you need a bigger course to classify Beyonce as a Gay Icon. If you type in either of Madonna or Janet's name and add Gay Icon to it. A bunch of sources will pop up. Not for Beyonce and I'm gay. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.163.196.221 (talk) 00:01, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Actually, the only thing we need is a verifiable source attributing the title to the individual in question. The "validity" of her reputation as a gay icon is irrelevant, unless, there are a number of reliable sources disputing such a claim. And even in that case, the attribution and dispute would still be documented. The Bookkeeper (of the Occult) 09:00, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Black gays love her. She incorporates the gay culture into her own fashion and performances. She has drag queens in her videos. She reference gays in her songs. She lets gay stage her shows. Really.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.40.22.242 (talk)

Interesting to note that her song "If I Were a Boy" is considered quite sexist among a large group of people. In general, I don't think the gay community is very supportive of sexism (especially when it's that blatant). Since the recording of that song, I know quite a few queers who will tear a strip off someone for calling her a gay icon (or if you refer to her as anything above ignorant).

I don't know how she's ever done anything substantial to earn the title of "gay icon" (aside from being a female pop star... not every female pop star who doesn't hate gays is a gay icon though). However, what really voids this artist from being a gay icon is how little backing her name has in this article. Her name is linked to one article that lists her under "gay icon" (which by the way, isn't really much more than a small scale poll and it also doesn't give detailed info on how the poll was conducted or how many options the voters had - for all we know, they had 50 predetermined names and everyone just picked the order). It seems obvious to me that a gay icon needs to be someone who has become popular within gay culture, has had multiple articles and/or awards that declare them "Gay Icons" (or term of comparable stature) and has also inspired and/or enabled the gay community to do things they could not do before (be it through Judy Garland touching the hearts of many queer fans while singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", or Ellen Degeneres being openly gay and fighting for LGBTTIQ rights. Beyonce, however, has only one of those things (she has an average amount of obsessed gay fans for her profession - still nothing compared to Lady Gaga, Britney Spears or Madonna though).

Her music consists of hits that are really popular in the gay community (because club kids can dance to them and they also rank high on the pop charts (pop music tends to have a large gay following)) and then they die off and people forget they exist. You just don't get gays replaying "Naughty Girl" as much as they replay "Justify My Love" because she's never really moved the community enough to care. That makes her a popstar. It doesn't make her a gay icon. - Saisoe (talk) 14:53, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Problems

This entire entry is full of unscholarly and spurious points. A preliminary example: "Wilde—Irish author, humorist and 'dandy'—was about as 'out of the closet' as was possible for the late 1800s, and is himself considered to be a gay icon." Strange wording (does it mean to say he considered himself a gay icon?) and, for the most part, not true (Wilde was flamboyant but was, in fact, not as "out of the closet" as quite a few of his contemporaries). In addition I find the Marie Antoinette passage immediately following to be thoroughly unconvincing. The concocted affair between her and Lamballe was read as salacious by the majority (it was a bald smear campaign). In any case it did not effect a cult of sapphic Marie-Lamballe-ites. Further, the Hall reference does nothing to prove Marie was an icon (shall we include a definition of this word here for future contributors unaware of its meaning?), but merely that she was an object of sympathy. Antonia Fraser, whose biography on M-A is cited primarily here, does not make any explicit or implicit claims in her book for the woman's status as a lesbian icon.76.67.60.176 (talk) 02:45, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

I tend to agree with the foregoing comment. This article could be greatly condensed. At present it is baggy, woolly and wanders into polemics. A list of putative gay icons could be provided under a separate rubric. Everybody got to be somewhere! (talk) 23:30, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Most of it needs to be re-written (or at least reshaped). It's too subjective and it is filled with artists that are not gay icons (in certain places it's turned into a list of successful female pop stars instead). Gwen Stephani is in there. Really? Why? Because she had a few hit songs? I don't see pop artists from the 60s on the list unless they've earned it, but for some reason every single 21st artist is now a "gay icon". Saisoe (talk) 15:01, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Sebastian

I removed the Sebastian refrence. The text "his shirtless physique" comes off as "weasel words," and this would be controversial for a religious figure. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.204.66.136 (talk) 01:17, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

"Suicidal"?

"The majority of gay icons fall into one of two categories: the tragic, sometimes suicidal figure or the prominent pop culture idol." In my opinion the word "suicidal" is too strong and denotes some very specific tendencies. The link to "suicidal crisis" is not very helpful either. I suggest "suicidal" is changed to "self-destructive", which describes icons like Garland much better.--Desiderius82 (talk) 17:01, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, particularly upon reviewing the source, which introduces the term as springboard for a brief, blithe anecdote that was ultimately not about being suicidal but about a facility for gallows humor in the aftermath of such an adverse episode, then pivots away; changed to martyred as that is a word used frequently in this article. Abrazame (talk) 07:15, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

Gareth_Thomas_(rugby_player)

How about Gareth Thomas? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fmountford (talk • contribs) 21:13, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Rihanna

Rihanna is not a gay icon. The exact same reasoning I provided for Katy Perry also also holds ground with Rihanna. She may be a fashion icon or whatever but she is not a gay icon. SOrry. --Logicalfoundationisdoubt (talk) 00:11, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Katy Perry

Shouldnt Katy Perry be included in this article?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ritu saga (talk • contribs) 21:34, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

= an "icon" who rose to fame in 2007? why not Lady Gaga as well? By the same token, where are John Waters and Divine? Where is Boy George? Jimmy Sommerville? Why Estelle Getty and not Beatrice Arthur (who championed civil rights on "Muade" long before "Golden Girls")? Some time with The Celluloid Closet seems in order. Harvey Fierstein? Truman Capote? Myra Breckenridge? Raquel Welch? Lily Tomlin? Alexander the Great? Andy Warhol? Keith Haring, Michaelangelo, Sal Mineo... I know the response will be, "find a credible source," but this isn't my article, and it shouldn't be difficult to find sources claiming Divine is a gay icon. And there may even be video of Capote describing himself as a fag on YouTube! (yes, I know Myra Breckenridge is a fictional character). ;-)

Marckadrian (talk) 11:02, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

@Marckadrian: I believe it is now common understanding that Lady Gaga IS a gay icon (at least for now). Her statements on homosexuality and her popular appeal have catapulted her to the center of the gay community in a way I haven't seen since Madonna. There is a feeling that "Gaga has our backs" and I believe she qualifies quite a bit more than other celebrities on the list (ex. Shakira? She doesn't have a link to an article about her... it leads to a random blog devoid of even her name).

@Ritu saga: Someone who makes money off singing the lyrics "You're so gay and you don't even like boys" shouldn't be considered a gay icon (especially considering the way most gay people view her song "I Kissed A Girl"... she rode "The Gay Card" all the way to the bank because it made her "edgy" and then she ditched us half way through her album by throwing in homophobic comments). - Saisoe (talk) 15:24, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

No, Katy Perry not only does not follow the gay icon phenom criteria, but why or how is she a gay icon? She has never ventured out into gay culture nor has she ever been implicated with anything gay on her rise to fame or while in fame. Her saying that gays should have rights is not enough. She needs to be celebrated by gays which she is not. The community has never been outspoken for her or has ever been interested in her. The reason Lady Gaga is called a rising gay icon is because she has said various times that she owes her beginning to the gay night clubs and night life. And not only that but the gays have reacted positively to her. She has preached gay rights since the beginning of her career and the gay community has loved her since. GLAAD has since awarded her many awards due to her advocacy for gay rights. Logo constantly sings her praises the only gay network. That is why she is a gay icon. --Logicalfoundationisdoubt (talk) 00:12, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Ted Haggard?

Can somebody please explain to me why Ted Haggard should be a "gay icon"? The article on Wikipedia says that he is a gay rights opponent. I just wonder since when opponents can become icons? Or probably here is a mistake?--85.182.48.21 (talk) 11:32, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

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Gay icons in India

I deleted the reference to Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan as a Gay Icon as he is nowhere close to be something like that in India. In fact, in a country that denied until recently the existence (and still does) of a gay community there are no real gay icons in the sense we understand it outside India and in comparison to figures of the stature of Madonna, Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand, etc. I live in India, so I know what I am talking about. Most of the self-promoted actors and actresses of the so-called Bollywood are, for starters, completely unknown by the general public outside South Asia and most of them would be terrified by the idea of playing a serious gay character, let alone be identified as a "Gay Icon". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.162.3.99 (talk) 13:27, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

The material is reliably sourced; your opinion is disallowed original research. AV3000 (talk) 13:51, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

Prince

Prince woldn't must be here, because he looks like a girl, but he is not gay. Please, quit his name of the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.80.198.202 (talk) 15:39, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Read after me, and inwardly digest. You don't have to be gay to be a gay icon. Any questions, see me after. Britmax (talk) 16:06, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Gwen Stefani

just curious. how come that Gwen Stefani is in the list despite her collaboration with Bounty Hunter in the single "hey baby" and the album "Rock Steady"?

In what way do these collaborations stop her from being a gay icon? Britmax (talk) 16:09, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Adele

How is Adele a gay icon? Just cause some snobby old lady says so? Okay people not everything that has a pulse is a gay icon. Seriously the list is ridiculous and the sources that are supposed to prove that these people are gay or rising gay icons are a load of BS. You need sources that show that the gay community is reacting positively to them. Not just some paper from some site calling them "THE NEW GAY ICON." --Logicalfoundationisdoubt (talk) 00:23, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Agreed. It's like every young, famous Pop star of the last 10 years is a Gay icon. WTF? 66.66.118.16 (talk) 22:09, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

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Fran Drescher

She is one, yes? MarkMc1990 (talk) 05:08, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Gay icons - 2000 and forward list

These lists of celebrity gay icons is pretty out of hand. Honestly, this listing does nothing to forward the article; it does, however, looks clunky and unnecessary. I'm going to prune a bit. Icarus of old (talk) 23:27, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

What about...?

Natalia Kills, Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Diamond Rings, Cascada, Bella Thorne, Jessie J, Marina & The Diamonds, Ayumi Hamasaki, Girls' Generation, Alexandra Stan, Zac Efron, Dev, Cher Lloyd, Carly Rae Jepsen, BoA, Neon Hitch, Leona Lewis, Frank Ocean, Rita Ora, Ashley Tisdale, Inna, 4Minute, Kerli, Channing Tatum, Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, Little Boots, Ladyhawke, Florence + The Machine, La Roux, Oh Land, Sofia Vergara and Jesse Tyler Ferguson have very large gay followings. Ayumi Hamasaki has been a gay icon in Japan ever since her debut in the '90s. Natalia Kills, Lana Del Rey, Little Boots, Zac Efron and Neon Hitch have spoken out in support for the gay community. Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Bella Thorne and Cher Lloyd have spoken out in support of gay youth. Frank Ocean and Jessie J are openly bi-sexual. In Romania, Alexandra Stan and Inna have a huge gay following. In South Korea, Girls' Generation, BoA and 4Minute have gay followings. Ladyhawke is openly lesbian. Jesse Tyler Ferguson is openly gay. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Unicornsrglitttry (talk • contribs) 16:14, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

What about them? Britmax (talk) 10:19, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Tony Blair

I've heard (on a few separate occasions) that he is big amongst the 'trendys' in the gay community, but I cannot find any citations to that effect on the Internet. Can anyone help? Is this really true?? Thanks. (Sergio) 70.238.223.4 (talk) 16:30, 7 May 2013 (UTC) Hi Sergio. I think its because he bent the uk population over and .....well you can imagine how this sentence would finish.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.97.43.133 (talk) 12:56, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

The idea of gay icons can be an offensive stereotype

Imagine being a gay person who has their own, individual, independent taste in movies, etc. Mightn't you be a little bothered or even offended by the persistent insistence that all gay people share certain affinities or tastes? If there are reliable sources for this point of view, then it must be included in Wikipedia. But I, for one, would like to express a differing point of view. David Spector (talk) 14:06, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

Gay icons around the world

I don't know if this has been asked/requested before, but would it be an idea to include gay icons from around the world? I know, this is the English-lanuage wiki, but English still remains the Nº 1 foreign/second language for most of the people around the world. A (sub)section might be appropriate, wouldn't it? 「Robster1983」^{☞ Life's short, talk fast ☜} 20:52, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

Mention of Chaz Bono in the section on Cher

Could we fix the references to Chaz to the proper gender and identity as transgender? I realise he first came out as a lesbian which is what prompted Cher to enter the lgbt rights movement, but that isn't his identity now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.14.109.94 (talk) 15:21, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Freddie Mercury?

I find it hard to believe that with all the people listed, Mercury is not one. He is mentioned in the archive in 2006, but was not included because of no citation. I'm not the greatest at finding good citations (especially when it comes to something as subjective as an "icon"), but I hope that someone will agree that he should be included and select a proper cite from this google search. Freddie Mercury gay icon

--01:29, 6 September 2015 (UTC)Jctoad (talk)

Wow that does seem a glaring omission. I've added some information to the article now. If someone could check over my sources and/or add information, I'd greatly appreciate it. – Zumoarirodoka_(talk)^(email) 22:59, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Very nice Zumoarirodoka Thank you. I noticed that for some reason your #54 link to the Times just takes me to the main page of the Times despite the address you used being correct for the url of the article. However for some reason my link here with the same url works??? [9] There was an extra space at the end of the url which I thought was the problem but it didn't fix it. Must be some sort of formatting error in your cite but I'm not sure what. Not that it should make any difference, but Firefox is my browser. If all else fails, I do find that [10] brings up the link as the first search result. Unfortunately, I can't read the full article as it is only available to subscribers.
I do agree with listing Freddie in the 70s category, but I think he had an even larger LGBT fan base in the 80s. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thinking that you should include some note that his power continued through the 80s and continues today as we can see in your cite 58 about gay groups to rally on what was to be his 60th birthday.
I'm sure you cited this better than I could have. Both technically and because being a heterosexual American, wasn't sure what would be an authoritative source on this subject. I only got to this page because I was wondering why Judy Garland was so beloved by the community.
'News of the World' was the first record I ever bought. Queen was my fav band for many years. When I found out that Freddie was dead I cried. That was the day the true power of AIDs hit home for me. --Jctoad (talk) 01:37, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

Ah, thanks for telling me about the broken URL: I must have been using an old URL, probably lifted off Freddie Mercury's main page on Wikipedia. I've updated the URL now, so hopefully it should work? And don't worry: I'm not sure as to whether these sources are the best myself, a lot of them were taken from the article on Freddie Mercury's Wikipedia page, plus a few extra from glbtq archive and a few other sites. Anything you could add to the article would be greatly appreciated anyway, and if it's controversial, uncited or whatnot, that's what the talk page is for

With regards to the dates, I was unsure about where to categorise Freddie Mercury, but I have added that his LGBT fanbase grew in the 1980s. Again, any more references that anyone could bring to this would be appreciated. Thank you in advance – Zumoarirodoka_(talk)^(email) 20:43, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

Imelda Marcos

Marcos was recently added, but the supporting ref used NYTimes doesn't mention anything that supports the claim. And her bio article doesn't mention anything either -- 70.51.202.113 (talk) 05:53, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

Golden Girls

Surely The Golden Girls should be included under the fictional section? Several episodes featured LGBT characters in a positive light, and the show has retained a huge gay following. One episode even advocated for gay marriage, well before its time. And it's known the actresses themselves (particularly Bea Authur) were LGBTI supporters.120.21.153.60 (talk) 12:12, 1 October 2015 (UTC)

United States Women's National Soccer Team

How aren't they in the sports section??? Abby Wambach, who kissed her wife after winning the 2015 Women's World Cup. Alex Morgan, who has a cult following in Tumblr, was picked in 2009 for the national team and became the youngest player to date, and appears in the cover of EA's FIFA 2016. Carli Lloyd who is FIFA World Player of the Year (2016). Please someone write them in for god's sake. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gabythenerd (talk • contribs) 22:21, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

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• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110603193142/http://blog.rhapsody.com/2011/03/gayicons.html to http://blog.rhapsody.com/2011/03/gayicons.html
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140519165135/http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/gay-lesbian/features/198/tina-arena-spectacular to http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/gay-lesbian/features/198/tina-arena-spectacular
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20170102082640/http://m.dallasvoice.com/garth-brooks-back-good-gay-folks-10200687.html?mobile-redirector-transfer=true to http://m.dallasvoice.com/garth-brooks-back-good-gay-folks-10200687.html?mobile-redirector-transfer=true
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111204053203/http://www.pinkisthenewblog.com/2011/04/christina-aguilera-is-honored-on-the-gay-walk-of-fame/ to http://www.pinkisthenewblog.com/2011/04/christina-aguilera-is-honored-on-the-gay-walk-of-fame/
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20170401143825/http://teamlocals.co.uk/rugby-legend-and-lgbt-icon-thomas-gareth-comes-to-portsmouth-guildhall/ to http://teamlocals.co.uk/rugby-legend-and-lgbt-icon-thomas-gareth-comes-to-portsmouth-guildhall/

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Source

• http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/09/29/meet-the-greatest-lgbt-icons-over-70-years-old/ -- Softlavender (talk) 17:43, 29 September 2017 (UTC)

Arabic gay icons

Shouldn’t there be gay icons from the Arab world in this list? Haifa Wehbe, Maya Diab, etc. All and all: this list should be transnational, not only English/European based imho. 217.123.76.65 (talk) 02:14, 20 August 2019 (UTC)

The section on the 2010s is terrible.

"Popular singers including Adele, AFTERSCHOOL, Agnes, Christina Aguilera, Lily Allen, Namie Amuro, BANKS, Azealia Banks, Sara Bareilles, Kaci Battaglia, Natasha Bedingfield, Belinda, Beyoncé, Björk, BoA, Tamar Braxton, Havana Brown, V V Brown, Brown Eyed Girls, Kate Bush, Colbie Caillat, Mariah Carey, Cascada, CHVRCHES, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, Cheryl Cole, Sheryl Crow, Dal★Shabet, Danity Kane, Lana Del Rey, Dev, Celine Dion, Fefe Dobson, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Emblem3, Caro Emerald, Paloma Faith, Sky Ferreira, Fifth Harmony, Florence + The Machine, Frankmusik, Girl's Day, Girls Aloud, Girls' Generation, Alison Goldfrapp, Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Kat Graham, Ariana Grande, Haim, Ayumi Hamasaki, Angel Haze, Neon Hitch, Natalie Horler, Jennifer Hudson, HyunA, Icona Pop, India.Arie, Inna, Janet Jackson, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessica, KARA, Bridget Kelly, Kerli, Kesha, Natalia Kills, La Roux, Ladies' Code, Lady Gaga, Avril Lavigne, Leona Lewis, Little Boots, Cher Lloyd, Jennifer Lopez, Demi Lovato, Marina and the Diamonds, Bonnie McKee, Bridgit Mendler, Jake Miller, Nicki Minaj, Róisín Murphy, Kacey Musgraves, Sanna Nielsen, Of Monsters And Men, Oh Land, Rita Ora, Orange Caramel, Paramore, Peaches, Katy Perry, P!nk, RAINBOW, Bebe Rexha, Rihanna, Robyn, Emeli Sandé, Britney Spears, Alexandra Stan, Ami Suzuki, Taylor Swift, Bella Thorne, Ashley Tisdale, Uffie, Carrie Underwood, Brendon Urie, V Factory, ZZ Ward, Betty Who, Gin Wigmore, Hayley Williams, Amy Winehouse, Wonder Girls, MADEMOISELLE YULIA, Yuna, Zendaya, 2NE1, 4Minute and many others, are major gay icons of current times.[42][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][128]

Christ almighty. I don't think there's another article on Wikipedia that drops so many blue links with so little context or reason. "And many others" - it's not even comprehensive? I mean hell, it's pretty loosely defined anyway. Which raises another point - icons are supposed to actually stand out as icons of the movement. Name dropping every celebrity that supports gay rights is not the same thing.

I feel that this article would be much better served by explaining how increasing numbers of celebrities are becoming icons of (and supporters for, if you insist on including everyone in that ridiculous list) the gay movement. Then describe a few of those that have had the greatest impact, and how they have done so. Essentially, what happens in every section before you hit the 2010s.

Thoughts? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.150.95.176 (talk) 07:37, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

I think we need to have a rule of thumb limit on the number of examples you can use for anything. (And, when you think about it, that is what this list is). Then you would avoid this hopeless "shopping list" of random examples that bedevils articles when people add "just one more, because "it's their favourite/ one they know/was just on the telly/ whatever". Britmax (talk) 08:02, 25 October 2014 (UTC)

Personally, I think the section needs to go, full stop. By its very definition, the subject of this article is "Gay Icon", and "icon" is only attributable to long-standing, sustained recognition. This article should be subject to WP:RECENTISM. Rattling off a list of names according to personal taste isn't an option. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 23:36, 25 October 2014 (UTC)

• One solution is to require a notable, reliable-source citation stating, after each name, that the person has become a gay icon. I mean it's probably a no-brainer that Lady Gaga for instance has been recognized as such in notable reliable sources. That can be sourced and cited. Anyone else that can be so reliably sourced can be included, but the rest can be deleted. Softlavender (talk) 01:54, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

Well, in her case, that isn't RECENTISM and would be well documented as she's built up her career over a number of years... but Björk and Kate Bush as gay icons of the 2010s? Did anyone who added people they'd probably only just heard of actually research them in any capacity? In fact, a number of them already had burnt-out careers by the 2010s. I suppose that makes David Bowie a gay icon of the naughties! The list is ramshackle and provides no context. No RS, no entry. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 05:10, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

To repeat, the solution is to require a notable, reliable-source citation stating, after each name, that the person has become a gay icon. Anyone that can be so reliably sourced can be included, but the rest can be deleted. Softlavender (talk) 07:01, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

• I definitely agree with the person who made this talk section. Whoever wrote this section seemed to have just listed every pop singer he/she could think of that may have said something about supporting the legalization of gay marriage or whatever but that doesn't make them a gay icon. Probably could have just said, Lady Gaga, Macklemore, Azealia Banks, and maybe Ariana Grande as gay icons. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.84.222.21 (talk) 03:20, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Should probably require at least two RS for every entry to keep the number of names in check, or separate the stuff out into a separate list article, or both. I agree it's got ridiculous and out of hand. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 14:04, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

• This article makes is making its rounds on gay Twitter, largely because of the hilarious problems outlined above dating, evidently, to at least 2014 (although apparently edits from an SPA this year have exacerbated the problems). Bear with me as I possibly violate MOS:SELFREF and/or WP:ORIGINAL, but as a gay man, I feel like it's pretty obvious nonetheless: Abe Lincoln is not a gay icon. Neither is Nelson Mandela. Or Tom Hanks. So clearly some stuff needs to be fixed.

I agree that a lot of it is a WP:RECENT issue. Also, as far as I am concerned, clickbait listicles of 100+ people from obscure LA entertainment media do not really meet WP:RS standards anyways. Based on the rough consensus above, I'm going to start clearing out names, keeping only those that are referred to in multiple sources as gay icons per se for now, not just "this person famous and likes/is liked by gays". Being gay + famous is not a sufficient condition, either. Sorry, Zach Quinto. Any issues/comments/concerns with my deletions in the coming days can be discussed here. WhinyTheYounger (talk) 03:37, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Gay icon standards

TL;DR This article is kind of a joke and I am proposing some rough standard by which people are added and included. Please comment support, opposition, and/or suggestions below. I will begin deleting people on this list over time after consensus on a standard has been reached.

This was not how I envisioned spending my afternoon off, but it's a labor of love. As the section at the top of this page demonstrates, this article has long been host to some pretty outlandish claims of gay icon status (some of those I have deleted or who are still on this list: Abraham Lincoln; Nelson Mandela; Tom Hanks; Angela Merkel; and many others--they may be great people, but for me at least, they are pretty intuitively not "gay icons"). I stumbled upon the article after seeing it made fun of on Twitter. The current standard for inclusion as far as I can tell: "This person is/was LGBTQ, or LGBTQ people like them, and there is at least one thing on the internet linking their name and the phrase 'gay icon.'"

So the standard I am proposing is as follows. For a given figure, there must be multiple reliable sources that:

1. are not simply online polls or listicles (see: reliable)
2. engage with the work/actions/life of the figure specifically in the context of their impact on and/or influence by the LGBTQ community (i.e. not just "gays like your music!" (we gays like a lot of music) or "this person was gay and influential" (lots of influential people are/were gay (like Jeffrey Dahmer) or might have been gay (like Zhou Enlai) (neither of whom are gay icons))
3. for at least one, directly mention the phrase "gay/queer icon" or similar in their discussion of the subject

The above standard would definitely include many of those listed--Gaga, Madonna, Harvey Milk, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, etc. But I'd venture the majority of those listed here, especially in the 2010s section, will not make the cut. I started deleting some names, but I realized such a massive change in the article should be at least discussed publicly first. Any insight appreciated. Happy Pride Month, lol. WhinyTheYounger (talk) 18:55, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

FWIW, as likely the first gay president, Lincoln is certainly a gay icon. I think just insisting on multiple RS’s that confer an icon status should help. Gleeanon409 (talk) 07:50, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

I don't think there's any historical consensus like that on the Sexuality of Abraham Lincoln; it's at best speculation, though I may be wrong. Either way, does that really qualify him as a gay icon? What besides being gay + important would make him one? WhinyTheYounger (talk) 13:01, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

FWIW, LGBTQ Lincoln scholars seem to think so, no-LGBTQ scholars can’t imagine such a thing. No matter, we need the RS anyway. Gleeanon409 (talk) 16:09, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

I support these standards for inclusion, and suggest that we remove most references to "Top 10 Gay Icons" et cetera. This article should explain and document the term, not indiscriminately list every pro-LGBT celebrity/politician. As such, we should try to select the few definitive, notable, and well-sourced examples of people commonly described as gay icons, and eliminate the rest. RoxySaunders (talk) 20:46, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

The Great Purging of Examples

Per the policy on "indiscriminate collection of information", I am going to be BOLD and start removing the overwhelming majority of person examples on this page who do not seem exceptionally noteworthy or relevant. This is not to negate the hard work of the editors which added this material, but being mentioned once in a blogpost, or simply being an LGBT celebrity should not warrant inclusion. The past discussions here seems to support the consensus that this article can be improved by deleting this indiscriminate content.

Readers looking for a list of every notable LGBT musicians should seek the relevant category. Editors looking to add information regarding a particular celebrity/politician's notable contributions to the LGBT community should write about it on that person's page.

These deletions could possibly be autoflagged as vandalism, hence this explanation. RoxySaunders (talk) 23:14, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

This edit has become more or less a sweeping rewrite of this article, intended to give proportional weight to the critical examples of gay icons without spiralling into a hot mess of links and indiscriminate examples. In order to narrow the scope down the utmost archetypal examples, I only included celebrities who have had an article or section written about them in the form "X as a gay icon". Candidates included Judy Garland, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Cher, and Lana Turner. This is probably not a perfect criterion for establishing which gay icons are the most notable. It deliberately excludes many, many notable LGBT allies, activists, despite there existing reliable sources for any and all of these examples. Still, I think it's a good enough distinction to limit the number of people listed on this page. For archival purposes, the previous version can be viewed here, in case you wanted to restore some portion of the previous text. RoxySaunders (talk) 01:07, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Added a note regarding criterion for inclusion

This article's lead section is steadily creeping back toward a sea of blue links and indiscriminant examples, which I think dilutes the quality of this article and is generally bad. This article cannot, and should not, attempt to serve as an exhaustive list of all modern celebrities who have been referred to as Gay Icons at some point, especially as that list will inevitably contain primarily straight, cisgendered, Americans.

Per the advice at WP:ENDURE, I have inserted the following hidden text to the lead, in order to "warn against tempting but undesirable edits":

 <!-- PLEASE DO NOT ADD PERSON EXAMPLES TO THIS PAGE unless their status as a gay icon is established by '''multiple reliable sources''' (not lists, polls, etc), and their legacy as such is so '''extremely and monumentally notable''' that failure to include them would diminish this article's quality. This article aims to provide a handful of illustrative examples. THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST of celebrities who have been called gay icons. -->

I feel slightly uncomfortable singlehandedly imposing restrictions on how this article should be edited, but (based on the previous discussions) and the steady influx of edits which simply add the name of a single famous person, I believe some preventative measure like this is in order. Thousands of celebrities have been called gay icons, even by reliable sources. Therefore the criterion for the inclusion of any example of a celebrity gay icon on this article must be very, very strict.

If you are looking for a list of every notable LGBT-related celebrity/activist, see Lists of LGBT people. If you want to ensure that your favorite celebrity's Gay Icon status is well-represented on Wikipedia, please add this to that person's Wikipedia article with reliable source.

If you feel this warning is too strong, or this criterion is too restrictive, please revert and discuss. Best wishes, RoxySaunders (talk · contribs) 20:43, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

A little too sparse

I can see from the history that there has been a problem here with too many names of famous LGBTQ+ people. However, at this point there are only three modern examples provided - Judy Garland, Madonna, and Janet Jackson. This oversimplification gives the reader an erroneous sense that the pool of contemporary gay icons is thin, being composed primarily of American women. Surely there have been gay icons who have been men, trans, and from a variety of countries around the world.

I agree with the need for criteria for inclusion - an endless list of names is not helpful. How about adding these criteria?

1. The person's influence must have spanned multiple countries across two or more continents.
2. Their influence on the LGBTQ+ community must span at least three decades (is this long enough?)
3. The person must have had a transformative impact on the LGBTQ+ community. For example, they challenged anti-Queer social norms or laws.

BarryPT (talk) 01:57, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Judyghostsnightout.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 07:32, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Lead is misleading A gay icon is not the same thing a gay activist

A gay icon is an example of a cultural icon or a pop icon, that is someone who is widely perceived to have attracted a gay fandom. One does not become a gay icon by being an activist for gay causes--Joe Biden is not a gay icon--but by inspiring a widely-shared enthusiasm and identification from a gay audience who see their experience mirrored and enlarged by the identity-performance of a probably-glamorous celebrity. HouseOfChange (talk) 21:30, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

I am updating the title of this section of the talk page, because I already changed the article lead to make it less misleading. HouseOfChange (talk) 17:28, 10 September 2021 (UTC)