What's he on about now?

In case the articles, essays and opinions throughtout this site just weren't enough for you, here's my online diary (a.k.a. 'blog'). It's as close as you'll come to the inside of my head, so don't say I didn't warn you
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   Thursday, August 23, 2007

   VIVA LA DIVA

[also printed in issue 327 of fab]

Earlier this summer I went with a group of friends to the True Colors concert tour, organized by Cyndi Lauper and featuring Erasure, Debbie Harry and the Dresden Dolls. It aimed to entertain and inspire people to fight for gay rights and, for us, it succeeded wildly—-except in one case.

As the lead singer of Blondie and an actress in cult favourites like the original Hairspray, Debbie Harry is a pop icon, no question. But when she meandered out on stage in a black pantsuit and a short haircut that made her seem like a rockin’ Hillary Clinton, Debbie changed the whole tone of the show. As she tore through a set of unfamiliar and uninspired tracks from her upcoming album, Debbie made it clear that the other performers may have been there to celebrate us gays but she was there to have the gays celebrate her.

But why would she try harder? We gay men have always been loyal to our divas. Too loyal. Martha Wash and Crystal Waters played Toronto Pride this year. Straight people have pretty much forgotten who these women are, but not us. We love them so much, we ignore the fact that neither singer has done anything new or interesting in nearly two decades. Just like Gloria Gaynor, recently quoted saying she loves gay people and wants to "lead them to Jesus." Okay, just as long as she sings "I Will Survive" on the stairway to heaven.

Madonna is, of course, the gold standard of gay pop diva. The Advocate magazine named her the biggest gay icon of all time and her pioneering efforts to include us have made her a hero to two generations of gay men, even the ones who say, "Judy who? Barbra what?" But we must remember that our relationship with Madonna is symbiotic. She was created and maintained by the talents and hard work of many gay men—-producers, stylists, musicians, dancers. Like Cher, she is a bionic woman—-super-strong, made of plastic and built by us. Our talents, our money, our loyalty. Cyndi Lauper understands this. Her tour helped raise money for gay rights advocacy because, as religious and political authorities fight to undermine our lives, she wants to repay her gay fans with a bit more help than Christina Aguilera telling us we’re beautiful.

But what do I know? Personally, I’ve always loved Kylie. She makes the kind of campy disco records the boys love and merrily refers to her stylist William Baker as her "gay husband." She’s built up so much good will, she could cook and eat the little gay boy on Ugly Betty and I’d still line up to buy her next album.

Labels: fab, homo-a-go-go, music, tributes