Tammy Faye Messner is as beloved in death as she was in life by many gays. She holds a big place in our hearts and I am among those who sincerely mourn her and feel the world is a little less special without her in it.
On the site Gay.com, people are sharing their memories in an online condolence book for her family. Among the suggestions - and I love this - is the proposal of a new street, “Tammy Faye Way,” in Palm Springs. Terrific idea!
Wrote one Palm Springs resident: “Tammy, I know how much you liked it out here in the desert and I will think of your warm smile when I feel the sun and your fluttering eyelashes every time a palm tree moves in the breeze. A group of us are proposing re-naming a street Tammy Faye Way...it will be the one with the most flowers on it.”
It is so moving that a mere 24 hours before her death, Tammy Faye spoke positively about her gay fans on "Larry King Live."
Those fans have posted hundreds and hundreds of pages of comments about the positive impact Tammy Faye had on their lives on a special message area created especially for Tammy on Gay.com. There has previously been a special "Wish Tammy well" section on the site.
"We knew that Gay.com members would want to share their feelings with Tammy Faye and her family," Jenny Stewart, Gay.com Entertainment Editor, said in a statement. "She has long been a gay icon -- from refusing to speak against LGBT people on 'PTL' to supporting AIDS causes early to her sympathetic and personal encounters with gay fans. And, of course, we also loved the makeup."