Icons: July 2007 Archives

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."

Sally Field was the queen of Outfest yesterday as she joined fellow cast members and the directors, writers and producer of her ABC hit show "Brothers & Sisters," a show on which Sally plays the mother of mother of five adult children - including a gay attorney named Kevin.
So we love her for that, for that Emmy nominated portrayal of the strong and spirited Nora Walker. But there was much more to the heartfelt ovation Field received from the capacity crowd at the Directors Guild of America when she was introduced, Fiield is a survivor and we gay men love someone who is an underdog and prevaills. In Sally's case, we've watched her go from television star in lightweight shows like "Gidget" and "The Flying Nun" to two-time Oscar winner for "Norma Rae" and "Place of the Heart" as well as two-time Emmy winner for "Sybil" and "ER."
But let's get real: she REALLY won each and every one of us over when she played M'Lynn in "Steel Magnolias," a part so many of us know by heart: "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!!!!" Then she gave us "Soapdish" where she was so much fun and now "Brothers & Sisters."
"I started in television in 1964," Field told the Outfest audience. "Oh my God have things changed. Oh my God. I started in 'Gidget' in 1964 and there was no sexuality - I didn't even have a belly button...The difference between 1964 and 2007 is certainly amazing but we still have a long ways to go in many areas. But my God, it's mind-boggling."

The wonderful Tammy Faye Messner died Friday.
She passed just a few days after taping an interview on "Larry King Live" when she said: "I believe when I leave this Earth, because I love the Lord, I'm going straight to heaven." Tammy Faye was just 65 and I know there are many people who are greatly saddened by her death - people who got to know her through the films "Tammy Faye: Death Defying" and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye." We learned all about her in these films, about her past as the wife of Jim Bakker, their fall from grace, and how she never lost her sense of humor or spirit through any of it. She also was a champion for gay rights and is beloved by the community because of that - well, that and her trademark false eyelashes.
I met Tammy Faye two years ago at Outfest after the screening of "Death Defying" and she was so warm and full of love...and so funny. So here we are at Outfest 2007 with five films in the "Queer in Christ" series and it's worth noting that Tammy Faye Messner was a Christian woman who loved us, who loved everybody and didn't judge.
God bless her soul.

Here is Liza Minnelli at the New York premiere of "Hairspray" showing some leg. On someone else, I might say those see-through pants she's wearing are ridiculous. Hideous! But it's Liza with a Z and at 61, this resilient Oscar winner, Tony winner and Emmy winner still looks terrific and can wear what the heck she wants to!
Rock on Liza!

The great Barbara Streisand already has rooms filled with awards including two Oscars, the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards and just rows of Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globe awards. But here's an honor that will probably stand out a bit more: over the weekend, French President President Nicolas Sarkozy president the singer/actress/director/producer with the medal of the Legion of Honor. The medal is technically reserved for French citizens but is often bestowed on deserving foreigners...like Streisand.
Streisand, pictured here with adorable (and gay!) son Jason Gould and her handsome hubby James Brolin, was in Paris performing her very first concerts in France.
Streisand, an amazing-looking 65, said in a statement: "I am deeply honored to be joining the playwrights, heads of state, artists and leaders who have accepted this honor before me. I leave with a sense of inspiration and responsibility as an artist to always reflect the truth and as a citizen to try and create a world of justice, compassion, equality and peace — one with a little more music and a little more joy."

Sarkozy's had said to Streisand: "You are the America that we love."