Happy Judy Garland Pride Month!

"I’ll be damned if I’ll have my audience mistreated." (Judy Garland)

Yes, I know there are some who will call June LGBT Pride Month.

They’re wrong. June is all about Judy Garland.

Judy was born June 10, 1922, and died June 22, 1969. While the modern LGBT civil rights movement started shortly after her funeral with the Stonewall Riots, about the only other thing gay about June is that all the best wedding professionals are the busiest they will be for the entire year. (But, with a favorable Supreme Court decision possible later this month, they may be able to get a few extra bookings.)

I know it’s not as though the month has gotten an official proclamation from President Obama the way that LGBT Pride Month did. It’s not as though any of the nine ten (or more?) Republican candidates have come out in favor of Judy Garland Pride Month. Not even Hillary is talking about Judy Garland Pride Month.


I don’t understand it. I don't care. I will not be swayed!

No modern performer is as deserving of a Pride Month than Miss Show Business herself: The World’s Greatest Entertainer. Look at all Judy accomplished in 45 of her too short 47 years:

• Her first performance was at the tender age of 1 ½ when she brought down the house with her rendition of “Jingle Bells” at the New Grand Theater in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
• Her first radio broadcast was at the age of six; her first time in front of a film camera at seven.
• She performed in hundreds of vaudeville and radio appearances, and several short films before she was signed by MGM at the age of 13.
• During her 14 years at MGM, she appeared in 28 feature films and numerous short subjects. She released 79 singles for Decca over 11 years.
• After leaving MGM, Judy performed well over 1000 live venues, recorded 12 albums, made 6 more films, hosted several television specials and her own variety series, and appeared as a guest on 30 more.
• She was given a special Academy Award for her work in The Wizard of Oz. She earned two more Oscar nominations in her lifetime.
• She was nominated for two Golden Globes, winning one for A Star Is Born. She was also given the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement award.
• Her record-breaking run, bringing vaudeville back to the Palace Theatre in New York City, won her a special Tony award.
• Critics heralded her concert at Carnegie Hall as “the greatest night in show-business history.” The album from that concert topped the charts for 13 weeks and it stayed on the charts for over 90 weeks. The album won five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year, and it has never been out of print.
• In 1999, 30 years after her death, the Grammys honored Judy with a Lifetime Achievement award. Six recordings by Judy have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
• Her television work garnered three Emmy nominations.
• The American Film Institute (AFI) has listed Judy Garland among the Top 10 Greatest Female Stars of All Time.
• Judy Garland’s version of “Over the Rainbow” was also honored by the AFI as the number one film song of all time. Numerous other Judy recordings are included in their top 100 list. The song tops the list of The Songs of the 20th Century by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America.

I think you can agree by now that June is rightfully Judy Garland Pride Month and not LGBT Pride Month.

This June, try not to think of Judy as only a gay icon. Everybody knows that Judy would have starved if she had only gay men to rely on. Her heterosexual fans far outnumbered her gay fans. Her heterosexual husbands far outnumbered her gay ones, too.

This year, between June 10 and June 22, let's all celebrate Judy. Listen to her catalog of unforgettable music, watch her classic films, and marvel at both the tender and powerful performances she left us from her television work.

At the end of those 12 days, if you’re not completely heterosexual, you just might find yourself converted to Judyism.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Judy Garland, I recommend any books by John Fricke. You can also find a wealth of information about her work online at the Judy Garland Database.