How the mother monster mothered a generation of creatives to become brave and express themselves freely.
When a pop banger is released into the wild, the gay instinct is to go to the nearest club and wait for the music to travel through cables and out of the speakers so it can rock our minds off. It’s the sense of shared experience with our community, and there’s an inevitable euphoric release that only giving your all on the nightclub dancefloor can cause. Madonna was absolutely right when she said that music makes people come together. Even for about three or four minutes, music sets us free from whatever’s been keeping us from carelessly flailing our hands in the air.
And speaking of Madonna, who raised the earlier generation of gays, Lady Gaga did the same for the newer set. And to some aged Millennials like me, they both did. We won’t give all our worship to one diva without acknowledging the platform the ones before them laid out with their bare hands. So, Madonna, we curtsy to thee.
You had to be there.
Many drag artists and queer creatives who are either flourishing or successful today grew up with Lady Gaga everything. To put it in perspective, those who are 25-30 years old now were only 10-15 when Just Dance wrecked the dance scene. They were too young to just-dance it away in clubs, but we know how celebrities and pop culture sway over impressionable children. Queer kids who feel different or “othered” will look for inspiration where they can model their identity. Lady Gaga’s a weirdo and a self-proclaimed freak, so that was an instant connection. Like real game-changers, her seismic arrival into the world’s consciousness rattled the music, fashion, and art landscapes, and these kids watched it all happen. Lady Gaga’s impact on their confidence, self-discovery, and self-esteem has aided a generation to become braver and more creative.
You had to be there to witness (even just through social media) these as they happened, or you wouldn’t understand how they changed our queer souls and hearts forever.
The out-of-body experience and queer festival that is the Monster Ball.
The Paparazzi music video and its fashion choices brought me, and many queer people, to the gates of heaven.
She made celebrity airport sightings interesting and exciting.
The press conference at MTV Malta, where she wore a gimp mask.
When this fantastic Jean-Charles de Castelbajac Kermit coat was worn at a German TV show.
Her live performance at Marc Jacobs during Fashion Week ’09 was something out of a gay dream.
Her first SNL performance solidified her orbit around our lives forever.
The cultural weight of Lady Gaga’s VMA debut was the shock and awe the world needed. Everything had to reset. The before-and-after of this moment in music and fashion are staggering.
Creative Expression, Music, Performance Art, And Political Voice
This generation is brave because they watched Lady Gaga’s speech back in 2009 at the National Equality March rally, where she famously addressed President Obama and yelled, “ARE YOU LISTENING?”
This generation is fearless because Lady Gaga decided to make the octave jump before the last chorus of the most-awarded song in history, Shallow.
This generation was saved from the chains of lockdown pains by the album Chromatica.
This generation is lucky to experience the messy but necessary beautiful chaos that was ARTPOP.
This generation is bold because Lady Gaga wrote Born This Way.
Millions of young queer folks may have used her paradigm to fashion their identities in all corners of the world. Unafraid to take risks and constantly pushing boundaries, her artistry encouraged many of us to dive into our identities and explore different ultra-creative ways to express who we are and how we feel. A true icon. A true legend.
