This from Quotes Of The Day:
Nobody will believe in you unless you believe in yourself.
-- Liberace
Liberace? We're quote Liberace now?
Anyway, I read many years ago, I read that Liberace had sued an English newspaper for implying that he was gay. Their use of adjectives could be read that way, he claimed. I dunno, I think with the way he dressed, maybe he should have expected sometimes to be taken for gay.
He could friggin' play though.
Aha, it seems that law suit is famous. I thought it was later, though, when I read about it in a Danish paper in the seventies, it sounded like it was recent. From Wiki:
"Liberace's fame in the U.S. was matched for a time in the UK. In 1957, an article in The Daily Mirror by veteran columnist Cassandra (William Connor) mentioned that Liberace was "...the summit of sex--the pinnacle of masculine, feminine, and neuter. Everything that he, she, and it can ever want... a deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated, scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling, fruit-flavoured, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love," a description which did everything it could to imply he was homosexual without saying so. Liberace sued the newspaper for libel, testifying in a London court that he was not a homosexual, and had never taken part in homosexual acts. He won the suit on the basis of the term fruit-flavoured which was held to impute homosexuality."
Liberace once earned $138,000 for one performance in NYC... in 1954! (That's like five million today.) Damn, good gig if you can get it! Small wonder that people like that get a big ego.
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It did not occur to me much to wonder if he actually was gay, I don't give a flying frig, but there are claims he was from his young companion Scott Thorson. What an incredibly sordid story. What's most interesting to me is what a perfect illustration it is of the willingness most of us have to playing the victim. They did it to me, they ruined my life.
These days he wouldn't have to go through that, he'd just be open about it. Back then it's understandable he wouldn't want to be outed, if he was gay. It shows that we're at least making some progress. In the future a person's sexuality hopefully won't be an issue.
ReplyDeleteLiberace WAS gay. D'uh! A precursor of drag queens, he was!
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I think he died from Aids, back when Aids was essentially a disease of the homosexuals.
But I understand that he'd disapprove of being outed, again back in the days. Even today, one could legitimately complain. Either it doesn't natter to people, and it's somewhere between pointless and mean, or it DOES matter to them, and then the meddling "outing" deliberately puts you in trouble. Just like telling a demonstration of islamists in the streets: "Hey, that's Salman Rushdie over there!"
Being pointed to those who hate you, no matter how injustified, is as bad as defamation. Probably even more. Because defamation is a lie which may be debunked, but there's no reasoning with people who hate you for a harmless truth.
You're straight if you're attracted to the opposite sex. You're gay if you go for the same sex. What are you, if your only love is yourself? I kinda doubt gay is a fitting label for that guy...
ReplyDeleteThere is a term for it. Damn, it's on the tip of me tongue.
ReplyDeleteIt's not auto-sexual, but it could be.
What was the name of that guy who fell in love with his own reflection?
Ah, Narcissus.
A narcissist.
Liberace was a fun guy. But enough of these drag queens and other sexually abnormal performers. Instead, let me present one of the most beautiful women in the world performing ... Free.
ReplyDeleteGay, narcissic, auto-sexual, self-claimed hetero, fun, drag queen...
ReplyDeleteWhichever, there's one thing he was first and foremost:
Flamboyant.
"Mojo, baby!"