Are You A Friend Of Dorothy? Born On This Day- May 10th...Frances Ethel Gumm

The Advocate calls Judy Garland "an Elvis for homosexuals." In more closeted times, gays used the term "friend of Dorothy" to refer to themselves in mixed company, in homage to Garland's role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Today, Garland isn't as well known among the younger gay generation, but she still holds a special place in the hearts of many.

Gay comedian Bob Smith offers a comic take on the tragic figure theory, imagining an "Elvis queen" & a "Judy queen" debating their idols:

"Elvis had a drinking problem."

"Judy could drink Elvis under the table."

"Elvis gained more weight."

"Judy lost more weight."

"Elvis was addicted to painkillers."

"No pill could stop Judy's pain!"

Judy Garland was hugely popular among gays during her lifetime. Her concerts were major gay meeting places, and in her later years, she made money singing at gay piano bars. Garland's father was gay, as were her studio executive mentor & two of her five husbands. She had many gay friends & went to parties where she joked that she was the only woman present. But her appeal was based on more than her own acceptance of gays.

Rufus Wainwright (in 2007 he performed the 1961 Judy Garland Carnegie Hall Concert in full at Carnegie Hall & The Palace in London) on Judy:

"Judy is not a gay icon at all. She is somewhere far beyond that. She is a gay beacon. A gay saint. She has led the way through the darkness for some 50 years. Whether it's the Wizard of Oz or the Judy at Carnegie Hall LP - these are brilliant touchstones for the gay experience. A kind of communion takes place between a gay listener & Judy. And of course there is the drink & drugs counter-story, which is very gay for one reason or another.
In the postwar years in Western culture, it has become somehow socially acceptable to be drunk & stoned. There is such a gay fascination to that story. Gay people understand a party, that's for sure!
There is no level on which Judy Garland doesn't connect with gay men. She married one, for chrissakes!"