Family, Allies & Icons: Remembering those we lost in 2023

Statistically speaking, we lost far fewer LGBTQ+ and allied notables than in recent years past. Not sure why exactly, but the most obvious contributing factor could be a lessening impact of COVID-19. On an up note, given the age of most of the people included here, it appears more people are living well into their 90s. Here’s a look back at some of the significant individuals we lost last year.

Lisa Marie Presley

The only child of rock legend Elvis Presley and his then wife, Priscilla Presley Beaulieu. Lisa Marie Presley was a constant ally of the LGBTQ+ community and she confirmed in multiple media interviews that she was bisexual and had been romantically involved with women in her earlier years.For many years Lisa Marie shied away  from the media spotlight. Fact of the matter was, she didn’t have to do anything. She inherited her father’s wealth, which continues to accrue even now. After marrying and divorcing pop icon Michael Jackson, she would later go on to release three albums in the early 2000s, with two of them placing in the Billboard Top 10 album charts. Her biggest hit was the song “Lights Out,” which topped the Billboard charts at number 18. A scientologist, Lisa Marie Presley was just 54 years old at the time of her death, January 12.

Raquel Welch

Stage and screen access Raquel Welch was a friend to the LGBTQ community and even played the role of a transgender woman in the film “Myra Breckenridge.”Welch first captured attention for her role in the 1966 science fiction film “Fantastic Voyage.” She followed that up with a starring role in the Hammer Film production “One Million Years BC.” Other starring roles included “Bandolero!” “100 Rifles,” “Myra Breckenridge,” “Kansas City Bomber,” “The Three Musketeers” and “Mother, Jugs and Speed.” In later years Welch continued to appear in film and television and on Broadway in such theatrical productions as “Woman of the Year and “Victor/ Victoria.” Like every good gay icon, it should come as no surprise she even tried her hand at releasing a dance single. Composed and produced by the uber gay team of Paul Jabara and Bob Esty, (“It’s Raining Men” and “Enough is Enough”), “This Girl’s Back in Town” placed at only 37 on the dance charts but left behind I rather unintentionally comedic music video that can be watched on YouTube. Welch passed away at the age of 82 of cardiac arrest and complications stemming from Alzheimer’s Disease on February 15.

Barry Humphries/Dame Edna

A native of Australia Barry Humphries worked for many years as an actor and stand-up comic before creating the drag character Dame Edna Everage, who garnered enormous popularity in Australia, England and the United States. While Humphries was definitely a man of an earlier generation, he was largely supportive of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community, though he did, oddly enough, take issue with transgender individuals who completed transitional surgery, calling it “a fashion” and lashing out at the trans community, using hurtful words like “evil” and “mutilation.”  He later attempted to walk back the comments through the guise of his Dame Edna character, with the following statement: “I disassociate myself from anything Barry Humphries has to say. I fired him years ago but he refuses to accept his missile. The poor thing is losing the plot. He deserves our pity, not our disapproval.” That effort at redemption sank like a ship anchor. Humphries died April 22 in Sydney at the age of 89 following hip surgery.

Harry Belafonte

Classic Hollywood singer and actor Harry Belafonte had a history of activism and dedication of fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV that began in the Reagan administration and continued throughout his remaining years. As a performer, Belafonte was inarguably best known for his role in the film “Carmen Jones” and his recording of the song “Day-O.” Other films he appeared in during the 1950s included “Bright Road,” “Island in the Sun,” and “Odds Against Tomorrow.”  In the 1990s Belafonte appeared alongside John Travolta in the race reverse drama White Man’s Burden” and in Robert Altman’s “Kansas City.” He recorded a total of eight albums and his breakthrough LP, which included “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song,” was history making. “Calypso” became the first album in the world to sell more than 1 million copies in a single year. Belafonte died of congestive heart failure April 25 at the age of 96.

Kenneth Anger

Renowned and openly gay artist and filmmaker Kenneth Anger was best known for his surreal film “Scorpio Rising” and his two “Hollywood Babylon” books. Based on many notorious and scandalous reported incidents, stories and accusations surrounding crime and sexuality Anger gleaned during his years spent in the film industry, most of their content remains unproven, but fascinating. Anger died at the age of 96 on May 11 in a care facility in Yucca Valley, California.

George Maharis

The handsome and (at the time closeted) gay actor who shared the spotlight and an on-screen bromance with actor Martin Milner in the iconic TV show “Route 66″ reportedly left the series because he was outed. In later years he appeared on such television programs as “Fantasy Island,” The Bionic Woman” and was a regular on daytime soap operas. Along the way he recorded a handful of albums and even scored a top 40 hit with the song “Teach Me Tonight,” and posed nude for the second issue of Playgirl magazine in 1933. He died May 24 at his Beverly Hills home and California, aged 94.

Tina Turner

Legendary music artist Tina Turner, aged 83, died May 24. Long a gay icon and a favorite performer for many drag artists to emulate, Turner was beloved by the LGBTQ+ community as a friend and ally.

During her career she recorded such resounding hits as “Proud Mary,” River deep mountain high, better be good to me, what’s Love got to Do with it, we don’t need another hero, private dancer, and simply the best among many others. She also proved her expertise at acting in roles in the films “Tommy” and “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.”

In addition to endorsing same-sex marriage, she proudly performed for the opening ceremony at the first ever Gay Games, in San Francisco, when other artists wouldn’t. The games proved to  be a major step forward for LGBTQ+ athletes, and Turner was committed to showing her support for the lgbtq+ community.

Minnie Bruce Pratt

An acclaimed lesbian poet, essayist and LGBTQ activist, Minnie Bruce Pratt died at 76 from a brain tumor on July 2 at a hospice in Syracuse, New York. Pratt was born in Selma, Alabama in 1946 but later came to call Chapel Hill, North Carolina home where she would attend UNC-Chapel Hill to attain her Ph.D. In English Literature in 1979.She was well-known for her feminist activism in North Carolina during the 1970s and 1980s, where she produced the lesbian feminist periodical A Feminary. Chapel Hill was largely responsible for introducing Pratt to the feminist movement of the era. As noted by the Washington Post, her work, comprising 10 books and anthologies, dealt with LGBTQ+ rights as well as the fight against racism and economic injustice. She co-founded the Washington, D.C., based lesbian activist group LIPS in 1984.

Sinead O’Connor

Sinead O’Connor shot to stardom as the shaved-head Irish beauty with a singing voice to match and the world wide megahit “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which quickly climbed music charts around the globe to number one when it was released in 1990. Despite her immeasurable talent, a career killing moment came on an October 3, 1992, appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” The searing moment in time, as reported by the New York Times: “At the end of her second performance of the show, a cover of Bob Marley’s “War,” O’Connor intoned gravely, ‘We have confidence in the victory of good over evil.’ As she held tight to the word, stretching it like a castigation, she grabbed a photo of Pope John Paul II and held it up to [the] camera. When she let the word go, she punctuated her exhale by tearing the photo three times, followed by an exhortation to ‘fight the real enemy.’ She tossed the fragments to the ground.”

While she did not bounce back from negative public reaction and battled mental health issues for her entire life, O’Connor later said in an interview that she preferred smaller venue status and she had “no regrets.”

She identified as a lesbian for a while during a relationship with a woman, and later identified as bisexual, queer and Muslim. O’Connor was many things, but always an advocate for the LGBTQ community. In her later years she reportedly donated a substantial portion of her stage wardrobe to a charity for trans youth. Sinead O’Connor was 56 when she died July 26 from complications related to what remains undisclosed health issues.

Paul Reubens/Pee-Wee Herman

How much of what we saw on the television screen in the 1980s and 1990s was Paul Reubens or Pee-Wee Herman? Sometimes it’s hard to say, and the actor and comedian who created and portrayed the iconic and beloved character Pee-Wee Herman was exceptionally private about his personal life. There’s no question the man had a quirky queer retro sensibility that appealed to many, and especially the LGBTQ+ community. He frequently made use of gay male stereotype references and LGBTQ+ culture in his television series and  made no secret that he had queer family members and openly embraced the culture. Paul Reubens died at 70 on July 30 from cancer in a Los Angeles hospital.

Carmen Xtravaganza

The star of the 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning,” an active trans advocate and legendary performer in the New York ballroom scene, Carmen Xtravaganza was born in Rota, Spain on April 9th, 1961 as Carmen immaculata Ruiz. Addition to her appearance in the film Paris is burning, she would go on to become an American model and recording artist. She died August 4 at the age of 62 after announcing a year earlier she was fighting Stage 4 Lung cancer.

Kathy Ann Cannon

A prominent figure in the South Carolina LGBTQ+ nightclub scene, Cannon was the owner and operator of the nightclub Illusions in Myrtle Beach.

Born February 16, 1958, she was just 65 at the time of her death on November 14.

Her passing was a loss felt by many in South Carolina’s LGBTQ+ community. From a social media post by friend and former employee Micki Strickland: “She was my boss, she was crazy, she was so many things but most of all she was my friend. She will always be remembered as Mac Daddy … Illusions was one of the cornerstones of so many venues for so many people. As crazy as the times were back then, I would not trade one minute for anything. The people I met, the friendships I developed and the entertainment we had. Illusions was literally a cocoon for so many people that found themselves because no matter who you were, you were always welcome, accepted and immediately became our family. So many young kids found a place that made them feel safe and yet even emboldened so many to emerge to their true self. It really wasn’t a job for me, it was just a 26-year career of serving drinks and raising kids and making friends.”

Jean Knight

Much loved R&B singer by the LGBTQ+ community and beyond, Grammy nominated Jean Knight passed away November 22. Her recordings were highly favored by drag performers and her repertoire included such hits as “Mr. Big Stuff” and “Don’t Mess with My Toot Toot.” Knight died in Tampa, Florida at the age of 80. Her family issued the following statement: “Beyond touring and recording studios, Ms. Knight loved cooking delicious Creole dishes for family and friends and celebrated Mardi Gras with several local crews. [She] proudly served on the Louisiana music commission.”

Norman Lear

Norman Lear was a committed LGBTQ+ ally and TV writer and producer whose TV shows included “Sanford and Son,” “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “One Day at A Time,” “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times.” At a time when most producers wouldn’t touch such subject matter, his work included LGBTQ+ characters and had an everlasting impact on American culture. At 101 years of age, he passed away on Dec. 5 at his Los Angeles home.

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