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The most influential gay Americans of our modern era.

Stephen Sondheim

Larry Kramer

Tim Cook

Pete

Gore Vidal

Who else? No trivial pop celebrities please

by Anonymousreply 50April 10, 2021 9:38 PM

Where's Vivian Vance?

by Anonymousreply 1April 8, 2021 6:41 AM

OP, your list sucks. All the cliches, not those who really made a difference. Except perhaps Kramer.

by Anonymousreply 2April 8, 2021 6:42 AM

What the fuck? No Andy Warhol? Andy was the most influential artist of the second half of the 20th century and is foundational to most art produced today. Nobody has been more influential than him, down to our whole culture of everyone being famous for 15 minutes.

by Anonymousreply 3April 8, 2021 6:49 AM

Agreed R3.

And flame away, but what about the producers of Will & Grace, or the actors and writers for that matter? They helped make gays acceptable -- and LIKEABLE -- to millions and millions of Americans, while Sondheim is known for a few songs by a much smaller percentage of the population. Gore Vidal is almost completely forgotten.

by Anonymousreply 4April 8, 2021 6:58 AM

Tim Apple, hands down, he’s a yuuuuuge mo.

by Anonymousreply 5April 8, 2021 6:58 AM

Ellen DeGeneres

by Anonymousreply 6April 8, 2021 7:01 AM

Totally forgot about Ellen. She HAS been influential, even if she's not the greatest behind the scenes.

by Anonymousreply 7April 8, 2021 7:07 AM

Yes. I agree Andy Warhol could be on the list. Ellen, no. Just no. Ryan Murphy of course. My omission.

by Anonymousreply 8April 8, 2021 7:23 AM

Gore Vidal didn't believe in being 'gay'. Merely in gay acts so I would hardly look up to him in that regard. He seemed to have an almost bitterness at the fact he was a fag; like it was an affliction that without it he would have been the President.

by Anonymousreply 9April 8, 2021 7:25 AM

Date I say Andy?

by Anonymousreply 10April 10, 2021 1:23 PM

Matthew Shepard

by Anonymousreply 11April 10, 2021 1:26 PM

R11 That hurts me still. But I see your point.

by Anonymousreply 12April 10, 2021 1:28 PM

Billy Gene King

by Anonymousreply 13April 10, 2021 1:28 PM

Barry Diller and Calvin Klein belong on the list. Halston and Tennessee Williams also belong on there.

by Anonymousreply 14April 10, 2021 1:52 PM

I would agree if Tennessee Williams would of had a good second act ( or maybe it would have been third act?), but the alcoholism and the bad behavior really did him in creatively those last decades.

by Anonymousreply 15April 10, 2021 2:27 PM

Paul Allen; Ernest Hemingway; Calvin Klein; Chief Justice John Roberts; Mitch McConnell; Tom Cruise...

by Anonymousreply 16April 10, 2021 2:47 PM

R16 Hemingway? I guess I haven’t gotten to that part in the PBS series.

by Anonymousreply 17April 10, 2021 3:01 PM

Larry Kramer was Fierce - a real flame thrower in his day. He needed to be and really got his point across and did so much for the Gay Community, especially during the AIDS crisis.

Now Pete Buttigieg is the new hero, a Prince Charming for the Gay Community, and a real man to watch - he's going places!

by Anonymousreply 18April 10, 2021 3:19 PM

[quote]Billy Gene King

Oh, DEAR!

[unless this is a DL joke I'm not familiar with.]

by Anonymousreply 19April 10, 2021 3:22 PM

Was Kramer known at all outside the gay community, I don’t get the sense he was and had little impact to the world beyond. Influential to gays and gay politics, little or no influence in the larger world.

by Anonymousreply 20April 10, 2021 3:24 PM

R20 Larry Kramer was very well known. Just a few years ago his play The Normal Heart was finally made into a TV mini series. He got everyone's attention and was a force to be reckoned with!

by Anonymousreply 21April 10, 2021 3:27 PM

[quote]I would agree if Tennessee Williams would of had a good second act

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 22April 10, 2021 3:42 PM

Maybe not as famous, with influence that is still to be reckoned, a personal hero of mine is Boyd McDonald.

by Anonymousreply 23April 10, 2021 3:48 PM

James Baldwin

by Anonymousreply 24April 10, 2021 3:48 PM

Thank you r24. Another one I missed. Bayard Rustin too.

by Anonymousreply 25April 10, 2021 3:51 PM

Do you mean generally influential, OP, or influential in terms of being publicly gay?

by Anonymousreply 26April 10, 2021 3:55 PM

Generally, but starting out gay or from gay issues.

by Anonymousreply 27April 10, 2021 4:38 PM

Roxanne Gay deserves a mention

by Anonymousreply 28April 10, 2021 4:58 PM

Frank Kameny

Harvey Milk

by Anonymousreply 29April 10, 2021 5:01 PM

Jared Polis - first out governor

by Anonymousreply 30April 10, 2021 5:02 PM

Ok I think we're now scraping the bottom of the barrel. We've used up the real names. Thread closed. Over and out.

by Anonymousreply 31April 10, 2021 5:03 PM

So, who won OP?

by Anonymousreply 32April 10, 2021 5:06 PM

What a little control freak the OP is.

by Anonymousreply 33April 10, 2021 5:06 PM

No doubt a bossy bottom r33

by Anonymousreply 34April 10, 2021 5:08 PM

Jasper Johns

Cy Twombly

Robert Rauschenberg

by Anonymousreply 35April 10, 2021 5:09 PM

Jasper Johns and Susan Sontag fucked for awhile.

by Anonymousreply 36April 10, 2021 5:10 PM

I don't understand the criteria that would put Larry Kramer (who is rightfully there for giving gay men a political voice when we were being destroyed by AIDS, apathy, and ignorance) and Gore Vidal in the same category.

Vidal was an intelligent provocateur (particularly on politics and capitalism), but his fiction sucks, a lot of his non-fiction is tiresome, and he didn't define himself as a gay man in any "modern" sense. So, no.

by Anonymousreply 37April 10, 2021 5:12 PM

Armistead Maupin

Barney Frank

Greg Louganis

by Anonymousreply 38April 10, 2021 5:16 PM

Tony Kushner. Won the Pulitzer, Tony and Drama Desk awards for Angels in America. The play really defined the politics of AIDS and gayness in the early 90s, and was a theatrical tour de force in every way. Of course, Kushner's influential for more than Angels, but the impact of that play cannot be overstated.

by Anonymousreply 39April 10, 2021 5:23 PM

Barry and Big MIke

by Anonymousreply 40April 10, 2021 5:23 PM

By contrast with Gore Vidal, his contemporary and rival Truman Capote was another loud, smart, opinionated bitch, but most of his writing is terrific and has held up over time. Of course, Capote was a mess and didn't really have a political bone in his body, so I wouldn't put him in my personal pantheon.

I think Vidal gets undeserved acclaim here just because he seems like someone who would have been a DLer in his lifetime, frankly.

by Anonymousreply 41April 10, 2021 5:26 PM

Don Lemon

by Anonymousreply 42April 10, 2021 5:27 PM

I think ANGELS IN AMERICA is a remarkable play, but in what other way is Tony Kushner influential? Nothing else he's written has even close to that impact.

by Anonymousreply 43April 10, 2021 5:27 PM

the old queens who chose Pete are just laughably delusional.

by Anonymousreply 44April 10, 2021 5:30 PM

No one said they have to be gold star gays.

by Anonymousreply 45April 10, 2021 5:45 PM

Anderson Cooper is the most recognized news anchor alive right now.

by Anonymousreply 46April 10, 2021 5:46 PM

r45 Maybe not. But surely we can have SOMETHING that is just about gay men, and not bisexuals. We dont need the likes of Gore Vidal, Jasper Johns, Robert maplethorp, who all slept with women well into their adult years (30+). And we def dont need to celebrate Mr Diane Von Furstenberg - Barry Diller.

by Anonymousreply 47April 10, 2021 9:16 PM

Harvey Milk is The Man! Did so much for the Gay Community and was so visible. Assassinated for his gay liberation causes. A Saint in his own way.

by Anonymousreply 48April 10, 2021 9:28 PM

R48 Harvey Milk. Beloved and Happy!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 49April 10, 2021 9:31 PM

[quote] No doubt a bossy bottom [R33]

Bossy?! How dare of you.

by Anonymousreply 50April 10, 2021 9:38 PM
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