A friend used to enjoy quizzing people with “Who is the most famous tall person not famous for being tall?” (Answer: Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, 6’7″, who stopped the inflation of the 1960s and 1970s caused by JFK’s/Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society (Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, etc.) and Vietnam War; Alternative Answer: Michael Crichton, 6’9″, author of Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, which might be worth rereading in light of coronapanic)
The question for today: “Who is the most famous gay person not famous for being gay?” Let’s limit this to people born within the last 100 years (i.e., 1925 or later) so as to avoid being forced on conjecture/rumor (e.g., Nikola Tesla is out).
My choice: Andy Warhol. He was what we today call “openly gay”, but nobody calls him a “gay artist”.
Happy Middle of Pride Month to everyone who celebrates! (below: at the Milwaukee art museum, July 2024, with a little help from Uniqlo)
Alexander the Great, who also happens to be the most famous person ever, so go figure.
Does Zeus count?
Original post: “Let’s limit this to people born within the last 100 years (i.e., 1925 or later) so as to avoid being forced on conjecture/rumor”
(What is the actual evidence of Alexander the Great spending time in the bathhouses of antiquity?)
First thought: Elton John
Snarkiest answer: Maura Healey
AI answer: Alan Turing
Brillo in India is a heart disease tablet:
https://www.apollopharmacy.in/medicine/brillo-180-tab-10-s
Steve: Maura Healey is constantly highlighted as lesbian! From state-sponsored PBS, for example: “Massachusetts’ Attorney General Maura Healey becomes 1st lesbian elected governor in U.S.” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/massachusetts-attorney-general-maura-healey-becomes-1st-lesbian-elected-governor-in-u-s
The Elton John answer is a good one because, during the peak of his fame (1970s), his music was mentioned far more than his sexualiy.
Alan Turing is a terrible answer. He is constantly featured for being gay and the non-gay nerds who did similar things at the same time are never highlighted to the general public. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Church for example and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Leon_Post and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93Turing_machine
Another would be Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper, Big Bang Theory). It seems like an inside joke that he was cast as a nerd who was uninterested in women…
The question is whether it counts if they become famous before they come out? Becoming famous first didn’t help Ellen DeGeneres be known for her work, but maybe that’s because her work isn’t impressive.
Former MLB All Star Rusty Staub, who was just short of Hall-of-Fame caliber. He may the best gay team-sport professional athlete of all time
I would have said Peter Theil, but nobody’s ever heard of him, so yeah, Andy. Was he first out of the gate for that famous for being famous trope?
What about Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a general in the Revolutionary War? He is widely regarded as the architect of military drilling and discipline that continues to influence the U.S. Army to this day and is honored for his contributions. However, despite the lack of definitive historical evidence, the LGBTQ community claim he was openly gay.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/was-this-revolutionary-war-hero-america-s-first-openly-gay-general/ar-AA1H5E2j
Who might be the next historical figure the LGBTQ community identifies as gay, based on rewriting of historical records? I suggest Frederick Christ Trump Sr.