# Why is Judy Garland a gay icon? Something she said or her work just appeals to gays? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473 "2005-05-11T23:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473/41 "2005-05-14T02:32:50Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > I may be totally wrong, but I heard that she slept with at least one woman. I don’t really remember where I heard it, but I seem to recall reading it somewhere. > > I don’t know if this has anything to do with the OP, just thought i’d mention it. > > Does anyone know if this is true? And if you have pictures, please post them. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473/42 "2005-05-14T03:15:21Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > I may be totally wrong, but I heard that she slept with at least one woman. I don’t really remember where I heard it, but I seem to recall reading it somewhere. From Gerald Clarke’s Garland bio, _Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland_: > [@Gerald Clarke](#): > > Judy felt frisky with others as well, including, almost certainly, at least two or three women, the only relationships about which she remained mum. When [a male lover] informed her that he had heard she was involved with another woman, her response was uncharacteristically vague. “You know,” she said, “when you’ve eaten everything in the world there is to eat, you’ve got to find new things.” Women were, in any event, never more than a side dish on Judy’s menu – men were always her main course – and although a few always followed her around from city to city, she was not drawn to lesbians. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473/43 "2005-05-14T05:15:28Z")
Hmm. I wonder if Judy ever made it with Ethel Merman (who supposedly had a fling with Jacqueline Susann among other dames). That could have produced one of those “gay midichlorian virgin birth” things as well. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473/44 "2005-05-14T14:43:35Z")
That certainly would bring new levels of meaning to “anything you can do, I can do better”… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473/45 "2005-05-14T15:06:07Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > That certainly would bring new levels of meaning to “anything you can do, I can do better”… Or for that matter, “You’re the top…” ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473/46 "2006-01-07T05:16:34Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Or for that matter, “You’re the top…” Blow, Gabriel, Blow? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-judy-garland-a-gay-icon-something-she-said-or-her-work-just-appeals-to-gays/303473.md?page=2)