"This Charming Morrissey – Gay Iconography" - Towleroad

This story was published earlier this month on Towleroad, a well-known gay news site.

I thought it would have made it to the front page by now.

This Charming Morrissey – Gay Iconography - Towleroad
by Bobby Hankinson
July 4, 2016 | 1:53pm

Excerpt:

There are certain commonalities shared across many of the big gay icons that come to mind. Our pop divas — like Gaga, Madonna and Cher, for example — thrive on over-the-top costuming and spectacle. Sex, excess and escapism are part of the appeal.

On the other end of the spectrum: Morrissey...

 

[MIDNITE]

.........................................................................

 

[nicky wire's legs]

he's the same person either way, so it hardly matters.

but! for what it's worth! I hope he's gay because I really wanna go blazer shopping with him and going blazer shopping with a straight man just seems like it might be uncomfortable

 

[MIDNITE]

he's the same person either way, so it hardly matters.

but! for what it's worth! I hope he's gay because I really wanna go blazer shopping with him and going blazer shopping with a straight man just seems like it might be uncomfortable

.....................................................................................

 

[caramel sea salt]

Why do we have 2 go over this time and time again questioning morrisseys sexuality, parteners and sexual experiences ?

Is morrissey GAY, straight, bisexual, or even polyamorous ect thats his business !

But I KNOW!

Of course we all have both male and female characteristics in different proportions , and are attracted 2 both genders in different ways ect but as far as im concerned, Morrissey is a heterosexual masculine male and all thats goes with it !

But none is this of anyone's business or concern anyways, its his private affair!

That's not at all what this article is about.

You can be a gay icon without being gay. See also: Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Madonna, Kylie etc.

But since you started it: he is most certainly not a heterosexual man. Heterosexual men don't sleep with other men, darling.

 

[Lil'Bastard]

Wow, they've taken some real liberties in claiming the themes in those songs as being "gay" ones. Part of the beauty of Moz's (particularly early) work was that it was its ambiguity. You could easily interpret any of the passages they quote as pertaining to heterosexuals as easily as you could claim the opposite.

 

[tyronepowebottom]

Wow, they've taken some real liberties in claiming the themes in those songs as being "gay" ones. Part of the beauty of Moz's (particularly early) work was that it was its ambiguity. You could easily interpret any of the passages they quote as pertaining to heterosexuals as easily as you could claim the opposite.

how can anyone think This Charming Man or the lyrics " I'm spellbound, but a woman divides" could be interpret as pertaining to heterosexuals tho?

 

[Anonymous]

how can anyone think This Charming Man or the lyrics " I'm spellbound, but a woman divides" could be interpret as pertaining to heterosexuals tho?

A women dividing hetero men is a pretty common theme. Dividing friendship family. This charming man is a bit more specific though

 

[Lil'Bastard]

how can anyone think This Charming Man or the lyrics " I'm spellbound, but a woman divides" could be interpret as pertaining to heterosexuals tho?

Please do recall that he has been quoted before as stating that not all of his songs are written from his/a man's perspective, and that many of them can be taken as being sung from a female's POV. Not that I disagree about TCM, however, the only thing in it that can really be relied upon as "evidence" of the two characters being male is in the form of the stranded bicyclist asking "will nature make a man of me yet" while assuming that the speaker is a boy, and not, instead (though it is a preposterous unlikelihood), a female wishing they were male.

 

[Lil'Bastard]

'(though it is a preposterous unlikelihood), a female wishing they were male.'

not entirely ' preposterous '.

True. I really meant "the least probable" of the possibilities.

 

[Raphael Lambach]

Why do we have 2 go over this time and time again questioning morrisseys sexuality, parteners and sexual experiences ?

Is morrissey GAY, straight, bisexual, or even polyamorous ect thats his business !

But I KNOW!

Of course we all have both male and female characteristics in different proportions , and are attracted 2 both genders in different ways ect but as far as im concerned, Morrissey is a heterosexual masculine male and all thats goes with it !

But none is this of anyone's business or concern anyways, its his private affair!

Exactly.
Does anybody here really care if Morrissey's gay or not?
If he sings for a man or women, what difference does it make to you and me? Surely, none.

I agree, buddy, with all of your words.

 

[klaus]

I'm looking for some words
To call my own
Worn-out phrases
And a hand-me-down

They'll knock me
Under where I stand
Sad on his back
In a corned beef pan

 

[MarioTheMexMozFan]

Realmente no importa, el sigue siendo mi Pastor.
It really does not matter, he still is my Shepherd.
Amen

 

[Anonymous]

Cant open the link without my browser crashing. Anyone else getting this?

 

[ACTON]

This story is old but it goes on. Who cares if Moz prefers men, women or both? As long as it's between consensual adults then it's nobody's business. All I care about is if there's gonna be another album(s).
People obsessed with other people's orientation just have too much time on their idle hands.

 

[Anonymous]

As far as I am concern, Moz came out of the closet when he said he adored Oscar Wilde some 35 years ago. You would have to be an extremely open-minded straight man to make that kind of a statement.

 

[My Only Weakness]

A women dividing hetero men is a pretty common theme. Dividing friendship family. This charming man is a bit more specific though

Ahh, see, I always thought he meant a woman creates babies, i.e., from one, turns into more than one. I made my first interpretations of these lyrics as a very young girl.
Brooding, intellectual, perpetually tortured old soul kind of young girl, but, still...

 

[Anonymous]

Ahh, see, I always thought he meant a woman creates babies, i.e., from one, turns into more than one. I made my first interpretations of these lyrics as a very young girl.
Brooding, intellectual, perpetually tortured old soul kind of young girl, but, still...

There's a bunch of ways people can look at things

 

[My Only Weakness]

in a better world... ones gender or sexual identity /partner preference wouldn't even be a concern, as I feel it shouldn't.
Just to be conscious of it (or made conscious of it by other ,society,family,media,etc) or if one feels the need to identify themselves by it, is limiting ones true capabilities/potential as a human being.

but unfortunately here we all are.


Though, there could be something said in having 'obstacles' in ones way that would in turn benefit ones growth and experiencing such experiences however negative that would in the
end be beneficial and even add to living a fuller life. So it depends on how you want to look at it. Personally, I think we would get more done if we didn't have these issues/problems in the first place, so we could direct our energies to something much more useful then fighting wars both with this world and ones inner world.

It is such a shame that we as humans have installed so many traumas for ourselves to overcome. We have the privilege of being at the top of the food chain on a pretty awesome planet, which we have successfully adapted our evolution to quite perfectly, and all we can do is destroy, fight, and greedily hoard resources instead of creating, and peacefully sharing our resources so that everyone is fed, cared for, allowed to be productive and have access to enriching their minds with education.
I just wonder how many times have we gone around a cycle on this planet and forgotten. Maybe we have been attempting to get things right for a lot longer than we will ever know! We like to think we're terribly complex and highly evolved, but we clearly have so many things still unresolved.

 

[My Only Weakness]

There's a bunch of ways people can look at things

Indeed. Perspective is influenced by so many things. It's always interesting to me to see the multitude of ways people interpret things.