This is a list of people and characters described or narrativized as gay icons by media.
Historical figures
Sappho of Lesbos
Sappho of Lesbos was an Archaic Greek poet known for composing sentimental lyrics about women. Perceived homoerotism in her poems have led to her becoming a symbol for lesbianism, with her name and home island inspiring the terms sapphic and lesbian respectively. Her sexuality, and the themes in her poetry have been extensively discussed and reinterpreted by scholars.
Saint Sebastian The 3rd century Christian martyr Saint Sebastian is one of the earliest known gay icons, due to his depiction in artwork as a beautiful, agonised young man. Historian Richard A. Kaye states that "Contemporary gay men have seen in Sebastian at once a stunning advertisement for homosexual desire (indeed, a homoerotic ideal), and a prototypical portrait of a tortured closet case."
In the 1890s, Irish poet Oscar Wilde, himself also called a gay icon, was incarcerated and exiled for his sexuality, and adopted the pseudonym "Sebastian Melmoth" after the saint. Gay playwright Tennessee Williams used the saint's name for the martyred character Sebastian in his 1957 play, Suddenly Last Summer.
Joan of Arc
The 15th century martyr and patron saint of France Joan of Arc has become a queer icon in more recent years due to her cross-dressing, devoted celibacy, and consistent rebuffing of male advances.Historian Amy Cools writes that "Joan of Arc is a queer icon. She was a cross-dresser who disdained sex with men." She is consistently referenced in modern queer art and culture. She is particularly important to the transmasculine and lesbian communities. Jane Anderson described Joan of Arc as a queer icon and symbol for young women.
Marie Antoinette Prior to the French Revolution, opponents of the French monarchy regularly circulated pornographic propaganda alleging that Marie Antoinette was engaged in lesbian relationships with the and the . While the rumors of Antoinette's sexuality were unfounded, they led to her being interpreted as an early lesbian icon in works by gay authors, such as Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness (1928) and Jean Genet's The Maids (1947).
Other celebrities
Judy Garland
Late singer and actress Judy Garland was immensely popular among gay men due to her camp sensibilities, and is considered "the quintessential pre-Stonewall gay icon". In the 1950s, the phrase "friend of Dorothy" became used as a slang term for homosexuals. This term is attributed both to well-known author and fellow gay icon Dorothy Parker, and to Garland's prominent role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz.
In discussing Judy Garland's camp appeal, gay film scholar Richard Dyer has defined camp as "a characteristically gay way of handling the values, images and products of the dominant culture through irony, exaggeration, trivialisation, theatricalisation and an ambivalent making fun of and out of the serious and respectable".Dyer, p. 176 Garland is camp, he asserts, because she is "imitable, her appearance and gestures copiable in drag acts". He calls her "ordinariness" in her early MGM films camp in their "failed seriousness" and her later style "wonderfully over-the-top".
Cher
American singer-actress Cher is revered by the LGBTQ community, a status attributed to her career accomplishments, distinctive style and enduring longevity. Many of her songs are considered gay anthems, including "If I Could Turn Back Time",Multiple sources:
"Believe", "Strong Enough"Multiple sources:
and "Song for the Lonely". Maclean's journalist Elio Iannacci stated that Cher was "one of the first to bring drag to the masses", citing her Las Vegas residency in 1979, which featured three drag performers impersonating Bette Midler, Diana Ross and Cher herself. The Advocates Jeff Yarbrough described Cher as "one of the first superstars to 'play gay' with compassion and without a hint of stereotyping", as she portrays a lesbian in the 1983 film Silkwood.
Cher's social activism has further solidified her status as a gay icon. Her eldest child, Chaz Bono, first came out as a lesbian at age 17, which led Cher to state that LGBTQ people "didn't have the same rights as everyone else, [and she] thought that was unfair". She was the keynote speaker for the 1997 national Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) convention, and received the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 1998 for having "made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for lesbians and gay men". On June 11, 2009, Chaz came out as a transgender man, and his transition from female to male was legally finalized on May 6, 2010. As the mother of a trans man, Cher has continued to advocate for visibility and support for trans families.
Cher's standing in LGBTQ culture is also reflected in popular media. In the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, she was the idol of gay character Jack McFarland. Within the drag community, RuPaul has cited Cher as a formative influence on his career, stating that he learned to host live shows by watching her television specials and that the runway segment of The RuPaul Show was "lifted from The Cher Show". The reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race has honored her through recurring challenges and runway themes across multiple seasons."The Unauthorized Rusical". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 10. Episode 8. May 10, 2018. VH1 / WOW Presents Plus."RDR Live!". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 16. Episode 4. January 26, 2024. MTV / WOW Presents Plus. Chad Michaels, a professional Cher impersonator, became known beyond the drag scene through his portrayal of Cher in the Snatch Game challenge and won the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. At a 2024 appearance at the Abbey in West Hollywood, Cher told her LGBTQ fans: "I've had really ups and downs in my career—I mean, really!—and you guys never left me. So thank you."
Madonna
Pop musician Madonna has become a preeminent gay icon. The Advocates Steve Gdula commented that "back in the 1980s and even the early 1990s, the release of a new Madonna video or single was akin to a national holiday, at least among her gay fans." Gdula also stated that during this period, concurrent with the rise of the AIDS epidemic, "when other artists tried to distance themselves from the very audience that helped their stars to rise, Madonna only turned the light back on her gay fans and made it burn all the brighter."
Madonna credited various influences for both her life and career. A portrait of Lee Miller kissing another woman by Man Ray that she owns, inspired her and encouraged the use of lesbian imagery of her career, according to art critic John Walker. Madonna cited David Bowie as a foundational influence, declaring after attending her first-ever concert at age 15, to be "so inspired by the way he played with gender confusion. Was both masculine and feminine". In 2016, after Bowie's death, she dedicated a redention of his "Rebel Rebel" song during her Rebel Heart Tour, stating: "He showed me that it was OK to be different. And he's the first Rebel Heart that I laid eyes on ... Talented. Unique. Genius. Game Changer. The Man who Fell to Earth". After David Collins' death, Madonna penned a letter describing his influence on her life.
Whitney Houston
During Whitney Houston's early fame, rumors speculated of a romance between Houston and Robyn Crawford, which both denied during a Time magazine interview in 1987. In 2019, Crawford admitted in her memoirs, A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston, that their early relationship included sexual activity but stopped before Houston signed a recording deal.
In addition, Houston became an activist for the fight against HIV and AIDS during the first decade of the AIDS epidemic. The Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, in particular, focused on helping children who suffered from HIV/AIDS, among other issues. In 1990, Whitney took part in Arista Records' 15th anniversary gala, which was an AIDS benefit. A year later, Whitney participated in the Reach Out & Touch Someone AIDS vigil at London in September 1991 while she was finishing her historic ten-date residency at London's Wembley Arena; there, she stressed the importance of AIDS research and addressing HIV stigma.The Incredible Night Whitney Befriended Me And I Saw She Was Doomed by Peter Tatchell, Mail on Sunday, February 19, 2012
During the middle of her tour to promote the My Love Is Your Love album in June 1999, Whitney gave a surprise performance at the 13th Annual New York City Lesbian & Gay Pride Dance, titled Dance 13: The Last Dance of the Century. According to Instinct magazine, Houston's unannounced performance at the Piers "ushered in a new era that would eventually make high-profile artists performing at LGBTQ events virtually commonplace."
Houston has been celebrated among LGBTQ+ fans for her closeted queer identity that has been explored in documentaries.
Britney Spears
Britney Spears has been recognized as a gay icon by the public and by academics. Hits like "...Baby One More Time" and "Toxic" have been embraced as anthems within gay culture. Her performances, notably kissing Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, are celebrated as iconic moments in queer pop history. Throughout her career, Spears has been acknowledged for her support of the LGBTQ community. This support has included opposition to anti-gay and anti-trans legislation, raising funds for The Trevor Project, and participating in benefits for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. She received the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2018.
Spears has expressed gratitude and support for her LGBTQ fans. In her memoir “The Woman In Me,” Spears describes her relationship with the LGBTQ+ community as one of unconditional love, noting how she has both been supported by and served as a refuge for queer fans: She also writes about her most cherished experiences occurring in gay clubs, describing them as places where she felt truly welcomed and uplifted by the community’s exuberance and acceptance.
The LGBTQ community was an important part of the Free Britney movement. LGBTQ fans empathized with loss of control; the movement echoed a broader struggle for queer liberation.
Kate Bush Kate Bush has been cited as an influence by respected artists like Elton John, who is openly gay and credits Bush's music with helping him to overcome his alcoholism. Fellow gay icon Cher has also expressed admiration of Bush's work. Her debut single "Wuthering Heights" topped the charts and became a global success. The music video for the song in which she dances in the moors in a red dress has become iconic among the LGBTQ community. One of her less influential albums, Lionheart (1978), featured a song titled "Kashka From Baghdad", which regaled to the listener the tale of a gay couple living together in sin, which was quite revolutionary for its time. Since 2016, Kate Bush fans have gathered in locations all over the world and taken to recreate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" video in an event dubbed The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever. People in attendance to the event don red dresses or red in general and recreate the choreography observed in the video as a tribute. Bush, who has seen a clip of one of the events, described the tribute by her fans as "very touching and sweet".
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue, known for her disco-infused dance music and camp style, is held in high esteem by her gay fans. She remarks that her gay fans have been with her 'through thick and thin', yet was never specifically marketed to a gay audience early in her career. Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who is openly gay, described Minogue as "the gay shorthand for joy". She has performed at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party in 1994, 1998 and 2012, Palm Springs White Party in 2018, WorldPride 2019 in New York City and headlined the opening ceremony concert at WorldPride 2023 in Sydney.