Elaine Chung
The out queer pop star is still a rare thing in our culture, and a fairly new development. In the 1970s, Sylvester, Klaus Nomi and Jobriath were a touch too sophisticated for the mainstream, and Freddie Mercury was as coy about his sexuality as one could be fronting a band called Queen. The fierce queer politics of Bronski Beat and the barely-coded sex-positivity of Frankie Goes To Hollywood made some noise on the US charts in the early 1980s while Elton John still presented as bisexual, but it really wasn’t until Erasure exploded onto the scene a couple years later that an open and defiant gay voice could be heard at your high school dance. Singer Andy Bell has been out, loud and proud from the start of his career, hitting the US top 20 three times during the conservative Reagan and Bush years. He demanded a little respect, on his terms, and he got it.