#Gays for Patsy

[bosguy]

Making friends in Boston LGBTQ social groups

Looking to connect and make some new friends? Whether you're new to #Boston or been here for years, these groups are here to help you make friends and meet people.

With the influx  of so many new residents at the start of each academic year, I like to update and share this post. If you are new to the area or looking to meet more people outside of a bar setting, the groups listed below might be a good first step.  If you don’t see relevant or up-to-date information in the links shared below, contact me, and I can help find a contact for that group to learn…

[queer-cinephile]

30 Days of Classic Queer Hollywood

Day 7: Patsy Kelly (1910-1981)

"I'm a big dyke. So what? Big deal." - Patsy Kelly to a biographer in the 1970s

Actress Patsy Kelly, best known for her role as the witty sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of twenty-one 1930s comedy short films, was a lesbian. In the 1930s, she admitted to Motion Picture Magazine that she had been living with fellow actress Wilma Cox for several years and had no intention of getting married. (In those days, this was about as close as one could get to coming out without being blacklisted.) Kelly later admitted to having had an affair with Tallulah Bankhead (see earlier post) when she worked as Bankhead's personal assistant. In the 1970s, when an author interviewed classic Hollywood stars rumored to be lesbians, Kelly was the only one to openly admit to being queer.

[neroushalvaus]

Headcanons confirmed left and right

[triplestripe]

Tfw your fandom shares a name with strawberry shortcake's dog...

[destroymedaddymp3]

Shop here: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/159876934

[bloodiedbeloveds]

no but actually we are so serious about bigender aggressively outdoorsy very southern john. someone else write this so we don’t have to

[cohendyke]

i fall to pieces is literally for the gays. there’s no fucking way that song is about a man and a woman

[triplestripe]

If I was alive in the 50s I would definitely have been looking for my Delia.

“My only desire is loving you eternally”

An inexhaustible source of great Call the midwife scenes 35/?

[euniexenoblade]

It's been said better than I can ever say it but you numbskulls have to stop doing the whole "public sex is fucking gross and bad" schtick, your disgust for the human body and it's natural processes is such a disturbingly scary thing. "Public sex" in the United States as a concept is used to shame, harass and destroy what lives the homeless have. They are already stripped of their safety and privacy and now they're not allowed to do the basic things you love to do because they have no walls to protect them.

In the past "public sex" laws were specifically created to harass gay people, "public sex" included hotels, cars, bathhouses, anywhere a gay person could try to have *private sex you'd never see* was called "public sex" and the police would crack down on them, pushing gay people into bathrooms and parks and other places similar.

It goes without saying that these things are amplified for gay/homeless people of color, I think it goes without saying that black people would be terrorized using "public sex" laws. If you don't know this, plz go back to your elementary school history class.

"Public sex" is a code for conservative bigoted ideas and you bought it hook, line and sinker. You will go your whole life *never* seeing someone fuck in "public," it is statistically unlikely. The people out there doing this stuff in "public" (by and large the homeless) don't really want you around for it either. "I don't mean all that I just don't want to see the gross cishet guy fucking his kinky girlfriend" you won't see them either and disguising your disgust as the Spector of the abusive kink cis does not make you any less of patsy. Your disgust is not inherently moral and you need to mind your own damn business.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Judy Garland (Meet Me In St. Louis, A Star is Born, Summer Stock)— Judy is the GOAT when it comes to classic movie musicals. The voice of an angel who deserved so much better than she got. She can sing she can dance she can act she's a triple threat. Though she had a turbulent personal life (her treatment as a child star by the studio system makes me mad as hell like Louis b Mayer fight me ((she was made to believe that she was physically unattractive by the constant criticism of film executives who made her feel ugly and who manipulated her onscreen appearance by capping her teeth and using discs in her nose to change its shape and Mayer called her "my little hunchback" like imagine hearing that as a child and not having damage)) she always goddamn delivered on screen and in any performance she gave. She began in vaudeville performing with her sisters and was signed to MGM at 13. Starting out in supporting parts especially paired with mickey Rooney in a bunch of films (she's the best part tbh) she eventually transferred to the lead role. She is best known for her starring role in movie musicals like the iconic Wizard of Oz (somewhere over the rainbow still hits hard and is ranked the top film song of all time), meet me in St. Louis (Judy singing have your self a merry little Christmas brings tears to the eyes she is that powerful), the Harvey girls (she looks like a technicolor dream and sings a catchy af song about trains), Easter parade ( dancing and singing with Fred Astaire), for me and my gal, the pirate, and summer stock ( with pal Gene Kelly who she helped when he was starting out and he helped her when she was struggling). But she also does non- singing just as well like the clock ( her first movie where she sings no songs and is an underrated ww2 era romance), her Oscar nominated a star is born ( like the man that got away she put her whole soul in that and I have beef with the fact she lost to grace kelly ((whom I love but like still not even her best work)), and judgement at Nuremberg (a courtroom drama about the nazi war criminal trials). Outside of film she made concert appearances to record-breaking audiences, released 8 studio albums, and had her own Emmy-nominated tv series. She was the youngest (39) and first female recipient of the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. Girl was a lifelong democrat and was a financial and moral supporter of many causes including the civil rights movement (she was at the March on Washington and held a press conference to protest the 16th street Baptist church bombings). She was a friend of the Kennedy family and would call jfk weekly often ending the calls by singing the first few lines of somewhere over the rainbow (she thought of them as Gemini twins).She was a member of the committee for the first amendment which was formed in response to the HUAC investigations. Though she died far too young and tragically she remains an icon for her work and her life. As a girl who didn't feel like i was as pretty as everyone else I have always felt a connection to Judy and I just really love her.

Patsy Kelly (The Countess of Monte Cristo, Merrily We Live, Topper Returns)—patsy kelly was a character actress best known for her brash wisecracking best friend roles, first appearing in a series of comedy shorts with thelma todd and then in a number of feature films. she was openly gay (lovers included tallulah bankhead), even candidly referring to herself as a dyke to the press on occasion and declaring she didn't intend to marry.

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Patsy Kelly:

Oh, that wry little smile! She could sing. She could dance. She could do comedy and drama. Her mother enrolled her in dancing school to distract her from playing baseball and trying to become a firefighter. At the height of her career, she burned the whole thing down (heh) by answering a reporter's softball question about why she never married with "Because I'm a dyke." She became Tallulah Bankhead's "private secretary" and by the 1960s, she was once again a prominent character actress. Remember Laura-Louise in "Rosemary's Baby"?

Judy Garland:

Judy's voice alone qualifies her for at least top ten hottest HOT VINTAGE MOVIE WOMEN. She was a truly incredible swing singer, with a stunning voice on top of her technique. Her short dark hair looked incredible in just about any style. Have I mentioned her swagger? I can’t do it justice with words. She had swagger. She was funny as hell, and clever too. Incredibly charming and cool. I adore her.

Her eyes, her voice have bewitched me

I mean how can you beat the one and only Judy? She's beautiful, her smile is contagious, the way she sings with her whole body. You can't help but love her.

Beautiful woman, love her singing voice. And she can do everything between happy or silly and angry or heartbroken

[bitter69uk]

Born on this day 84 years ago (18 November 1939): fashion model turned Salvador Dali muse turned Roxy Music album cover girl (For Your Pleasure (1973)) turned Dietrich-voiced disco chanteuse turned TV presenter turned Playboy playmate turned perennial gay icon and byword for Continental hedonism and glamour - Amanda Lear! Or was she? Some sources list her birth date as 18 June. And Lear’s birth year has variously been reported as 1941, 1946 and 1950. (Unsurprisingly, Lear herself prefers the latter). Look, Lear is an international woman of mystery whose precise origins, real name and even gender at birth are shrouded in secrecy (she’s widely perceived as being transgender). I’ve seen Lear perform just once when she did a personal appearance at The Fridge nightclub in Brixton in the early nineties. I remember her throatily warbling a hi-NRG disco interpretation of the standard “Lili Marlene” in her foghorn voice, flanked by baby-oiled bodybuilders in posing pouches. Probably the campiest thing I’d seen up until I saw Ann-Margret’s nightclub revue at The Stardust Casino in Las Vegas in 2005. Anyway, Lear (who’s romantic partners have numbered Brian Jones, David Bowie and Bryan Ferry) was reportedly the inspiration for the character of Patsy Stone on Absolutely Fabulous and her sleek 1978 disco single “Follow Me” soundtracks the current Chanel perfume campaign. (The song still slaps hard).

Robert Mapplethorpe

Amanda Lear 

1976

[omgthatdress]

Growing out of the thriving queer communities in Harlem, Berlin, and Paris, the late 1920s saw the arrival of an era that historian George Chancey would call "The Pansy Craze."

It was a time when not just drag queens but other flamboyantly gay performers gained a level of popular acceptance that had never been seen before.

The so-called "queen of the pansy craze" was a performer named Jean Malin.

Starting his career as a female impersonator, His quick wit and acid tongue soon turned him into one of the most popular emcees in New York City.

the dinner menu from a club where Malin hosted

Always dressed in elegant masculine attire, Malin swished and lisped through his act. At six foot tall and two hundred pounds, he could also scrap with anyone who dared heckle him, if he hadn't already insulted them into submission, first.

In spite of his reputation and outward manners, Malin had to maintain a certain level of plausible deniability, and in 1931, married chorus girl Christine Williams.

In 1932, he traveled west to Hollywood, hoping to find stardom there. He got minor roles in two movies. He was hired for a third minor role, but was replaced for being too effeminate.

Malin soon bristled against the stereotype that he felt was holding him back. "You want me to be a great big sissy!" he exclaimed to Hollywood gossip columnist Walter Winchell, "I want to progress!"

On August 10, 1933, Malin gave a "farewell performance" at the Ship Café in Venice, California. He, boyfriend Jimmy Forlenza, and actress Patsy Kelly all piled into his sedan. Malin got his gear confused and accidentally sent the car careening backwards off the Venice pier. Forlenza and Kelly were severely injured but survived. Malin, however, did not.

[destroymedaddymp3]

Shop here: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/160760487

[bitter69uk]

Possibly born on this day 85 years ago (18 November 1939): fashion model turned Salvador Dali muse turned Roxy Music album cover girl (For Your Pleasure (1973)) turned Dietrich-voiced disco chanteuse turned TV presenter turned Playboy centrefold turned perennial gay icon and byword for Continental hedonism and glamour - Amanda Lear! Or was she? Some sources list her birth date as 18 June. (See also: Charo, who has multiple potential birthdays). And Lear’s birth year has variously been reported as 1941, 1946 and 1950. (Unsurprisingly, Lear herself prefers the latter). Look, Lear is an international woman of mystery whose precise origins, real name and even gender at birth are shrouded in secrecy (she’s widely assumed to be transgender). Would we want her any other way? I’ve seen Lear perform just once when she did a personal appearance at The Fridge nightclub in Brixton in the early nineties. I remember her throatily warbling a hi-NRG disco interpretation of the standard “Lili Marlene” in her foghorn voice, flanked by baby-oiled bodybuilders in posing pouches. Probably the campiest thing I’d seen up until I saw Ann-Margret’s nightclub revue at The Stardust Casino in Las Vegas in 2005. Anyway, Lear (who’s romantic partners have numbered Brian Jones, David Bowie, and Bryan Ferry) was reportedly the inspiration for the character of Patsy Stone on Absolutely Fabulous and her sleek 1978 disco single “Follow Me” soundtracked the recent Chanel Coco Mademoiselle perfume campaign. (The song still slaps hard). Pictured: portrait of Lear by Pierre et Gilles, 1979.

[bitter69uk]

Born on this day 77 years ago (1 May 1946): Dame Joanna Lumley – seen here photographed by Tim Walker in the guise of her definitive role, the dissolute Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous.

absolutely fabulous. vivienne westwood.

[pea-green]

not to harp on about John Finnemore's writing but I want some appreciation for him writing gay people as completely ordinary, where the sketch wouldn't change if they were heterosexual (the train manager/driver, the bassoonist who hides his job from his husband), while others speak deeply about homophobia and acceptance (Gally and Susannah, the entirety of the double act Rebel Alliance) and others, most importantly, are funny (Patsy Straightwoman having a wife, who is also called Patsy Straightwoman).