Surprised There Have Been No Comments Regarding Yesterdays 'gay Pride March'?

[anotheoldgit]

Why were the Socialist worker's supporters out in force, and why has UKIP got anything to do with Gay rights?

Ah, I see these lefties are members of the National Union of Teachers, that figures.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/28/article-2673299-1F37B72500000578-626_964x1423.jpg

And why this sickening recreation of President Kennedy's assassination.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/28/article-2673299-1F3715C500000578-504_964x607.jpg

[Baldric]

Oh Gosh, I must have missed that!

[Farriercm]

Have you got a Tv set where you live Aog ?

[mikey4444]

I might have got this wrong but I think Jackie O is a kind-of Gay Icon, much in the way of Judy Garland, Elsie Tanner and Edwina Curry. Hence her appearance at Pride. Perhaps.

[sandyRoe]

What does a lady need to do to become a 'gay icon'?

[mikey4444]

I'm not really sure sandy......perhaps one of our gay correspondents can tell us !

[sp1814]

sandyRoe/mikey4444

Interesting one that…there are no hard and fast rules, but generally gay icons are women ‘of a certain age’ who have survived through life challenges and/or have proven themselves to be strong...which is an especially attractive characteristic to gay men. I guess it's because so many gay men have similar stories where they have had to face up to rejection and/or find inner strength due to the reaction of family and friends - but again this is pure guesswork on my part.

Just running through a list off the top of my head, the women who pop up all have those qualities - Madonna, Kylie, the Joans (Crawford and Collins), Bette Davis, Dolly Parton, Cher, Sharon Osbourne, Dusty Springfield, Bette Midler, Tina Turner, Barbara Streisand, Julie Andrews, Betty White, Dame Shirley Bassey, Jackie O, Margaret Thatcher. It should also be noted, that without actually trying, many of those listed can also be described as very very very ‘camp’.

Interestingly, you cannot manufacture a gay icon. Whilst Lady Gaga has had a degree of success courting the gay pound, a lot of gay men think that she is trying too hard (e.g. the bludgeoning effect of the ‘Born This Way’ single).

Regarding the Jackie O float at the Pride march. Not nice, and not funny.

[jeffa]

"Ah, I see these lefties are members of the National Union of Teachers, that figures."

You're just a figure of fun. Sad git...

[sp1814]

Oh, and all this is based on what I know about icons for gay men. I haven't a clues about lesbian icons...apart from Annie Lennox, Sharleen Spiteri and Chrissie Hynde.

[jeffa]

Those three are lesbian icons? Well, I never knew that! How does a woman get to be a lesbian icon, then? By being straight and having children...?

[Mamyalynne]

Also, who could forget Ethel Merman a true Gay Icon.

[sp1814]

jeffa

I honestly don't know.

[sp1814]

Mamyalynne

Indeed.

And Edith Piaf.

And Maria Callas.

[237SJ]

sp - you forgot Liza Minnelli! (and her mother, for that matter)

[jeffa]

Edith Piaf???? Her life(style) is fairly well documented - gay, she wasn't!

I truly don't understand how this works!

[anneasquith]

lesbians have icons. who are straight ?

[Orderlimit]

Whats the second image all about?

[jeffa]

I could understand Patsy Cline, Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, ellen de generes, Martina Navratilova, Natasha Bedingfield etc, but Edith Piaf?

[sp1814]

jeffa

Ah...I see what you mean. A gay icon isn't 'an icon who is gay'.

A gay icon is 'an icon who is admired by gay men'.

For simplicity and clarity, I'm only referring to icons who appeal to gay men, rather than lesbians, because I'm on very shaky ground regarding the likes and dislikes of lesbians.

[sp1814]

237SJ

Yikes!!!

That's almost a sackable offence.

[sp1814]

anneasquith

That's what confuses a lot of people...a lot of gay icons aren't gay themselves. You don't have to be gay to be a gay icon!