‘J’ stands for a couple of gay celebs we love, a certain Melbourne radio station, and a reminder about accepting others…

Joy 94.9FM

How can you not love Melbourne’s gay radio station JoyFM? The awesome programs, daily cheeky updates, the great music and strong political voice – like how they recently tore the Salvation Army a new one for their homophobic views on the gay and lesbian community.

Originally set up in 1993, the radio station provides an essential service to the gay and lesbian community and has gone from strength to strength during its almost 20 years.

JoyFM can be streamed via the net for all the fans who live outside Victoria, and those fortunate ones who live in Victoria it can be tuned into on 94.9 FM. There’s also an app for mobiles so you can stay up to date on the go.

Whether you are in the mood for some Madonna, Britney, Christina or some great DJ sessions the radio station is a great way to make you feel good about being part of our communities.

Julian Clary

“Good evening and thank you for your applause. There’s still nothing I like more than a warm hand upon my entrance.”

Remember sharing some Sticky Moments with Julian back in the ‘90s? First seen with his little dog ‘Fanny the Wonder Dog’ in the early ‘80s, the double-entendre loving stand-up comic is still going strong in the UK, where he’s just won the latest series of Celebrity Big Brother.

This ‘mincing machine’ is often seen in glam male make-up and bright shiny suits, he’s still doing stand-up shows, plus panto performances around England each Christmas season. He’s also recently written his first novel – Briefs Encountered.

“I knew that this was what I wanted to talk about on stage,” he says of being an out gay entertainer right from his early days. “There was no point being coy about it, or pretending that I wasn’t gay. That was the substance of my whole act. If you took that away, there would be nothing left.”

Judgement

Why do we judge each other rather than celebrate our diversity?

We are a community that is made up of tremendous variety yet we continue to label and judge one another as we see fit. We judge each other based on how we look and talk, who we sleep with, what we wear, what our HIV status is. How many time have we turned on Grindr, Manhunt or Gaydar to encounter some close-minded creature who’s written something like ‘no femmes’, ‘no twinks’, ‘no bears’, ‘no Asians’ or ‘masculine guys only – others need not apply?

Is it because it’s all we’ve ever known? Shouldn’t we know better after all the marginalisation we have gone through? Are we that conceited, too self-absorbed at times and just plain bitchy to accept and see the many beautiful layers within our own community?

Why should anyone judge you, whether it is based on your ethnicity, if you like Gaga or not, if you’re HIV pos or neg, if you’re a bottom, if you pluck your eyebrows, if you’re into leather, if you’re Trans, if you’re feminine or if you use too much fake tan!

We are all good enough and we are all worthy of celebration…

Cheers to us.

Jane Lynch

Wherever she appears, be it The L Word, Two and a Half Men, or most recently and famously Glee, Jane Lynch’s scenes are comedic high-tide marks. She even turned up in Friends, The West Wing, Desperate Housewives and recently gave her voice to a Simpsons character.

Being out as lesbian in Hollywood hasn’t stalled her at all, Lynch believes. “I think if I were an ingénue – if I were Julia Roberts – it probably would hurt my career,” she considers, “but because I’m Jane Lynch and I’m a character actor, the world isn’t projecting their romantic fantasies on me.”

She married her long-time lover Lara in 2012 and together they raise two children. Shown below, the couple appeared together in a sweet It Gets Better video last year.

Judy Garland

Now if you don’t know who Judy Garland is I think you should hand back your gay membership right now! Think Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz… you know you have seen it and at some point wished you to owned a pair of the fabulous ruby slippers.

Judy Garland was one of the stars from MGM, the famed movie studio that created more stars in heaven but also started Judy on her addiction of uppers and downers and diet tablets. She was famed for as a movie and singing star and lived a very full-on life in her 47 years. Married five times, twice to gay men Vincente Minnelli and Mark Herron, was addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol, was fired from the movie studio for being tardy and unreliable, had her own TV show, toured the world singing and helped set up her daughter Liza with Australian Peter Allen just to name a few events.

Judy’s later life was a train wreck waiting to happen but always had the support of the gay community from day one.

Just Garland is probably best known as one of the original gay icons who also happens to be the mother of the adored Liza Minnelli. In 1969, the day Judy died coincided with the original Stonewall riots – emotions were high after the passing of the much loved gay icon.

And not forgetting…

Justin Beiber?

He may not be gay but he is a young heartthrob who has the heart rates of many young girls as well as gay males racing. His jailbait looks could be seen as criminal, but he is now of legal age.

Beiber fever for Justin doesn’t look like being cured any time soon as Justin seems to be going from strength the strength as a performer, personality and soon to be hunk de jour. Remembering Zac Efron going from twink to hunk, keep an eye on Justin, he may develop from a lesbianesque young twink into a man soon.

His hairdo is copied by many a young gay guy and his fashion sense is getting more and more directional, getting the attention of the fashion poofs and dandies.

And not forgetting, there’s more than a few young lesbians out there who admit to looking a little like him.

This page was co-written by Jono Francisco, Matt D’Silva, Matt Akersten and the team at ACON.