Gay History: Marlene Dietrich

Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich was a German-American actor and singer. Throughout her long career, which spanned from the 1910s to the 1980s, she continually reinvented herself.

Her career began in silent films and she starred in one of the most influential sound films of the time, The Blue Angel (1930). Her performance in The Blue Angel began her long collaboration with famed director Joseph von Sternberg and brought her international fame. She signed a contract with Paramount and began making Hollywood films, becoming one of the best-paid actors of the era.

Although she continued to appear in a few films in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, she spent most of that time touring the world as a hugely popular live cabaret performer.

Throughout her career, she was known for challenging gender assumptions, often dressing in tuxedos. She would frequently begin her live show in a glamorous gown and then do the second part in a tuxedo, singing songs that were more often performed by men.

She also wore her famous tux, flirted with, and kissed a woman in the 1930 film Morocco.

While she still lived in Berlin in the 1920s, she enjoyed the thriving gay scene. Even then she was challenging gender roles, boxing at a famous prizefighter's boxing studio.

Although she could not be public about her sexuality, she did not work especially hard to keep her exciting love life secret. She had many affairs (often with the knowledge of her husband) with both men and women. Dietrich was a member of "The Sewing Circle," a phrase used to describe a collection of quietly lesbian and bi actresses in Hollywood.

( ~ bi.org)

Gay Artist: Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (1907 - 1954), is arguably Mexico’s most famous artist. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society.

Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity outside of European colonialism, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist.

Her clothing choices also reflected her determination to define a Mexican identity. She incorporated traditional clothing into her wardrobe as a way to show pride in her Mexican heritage.

Although she was disabled by polio as a child, Kahlo had been a promising student headed for medical school until a traffic accident at age eighteen, which caused her lifelong pain and medical problems. During her recovery, she returned to her childhood hobby of art with the idea of becoming an artist.

Kahlo's interests in politics and art led to her joining the Mexican Communist Party in 1927, through which she met fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The couple married in 1928 and spent the late 1920s and early 1930s traveling in Mexico and the United States. Rivera was by far the better-known artist, but Kahlo did secure her first solo exhibition in New York in 1938.

Kahlo's work as an artist remained relatively unknown until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered by art historians and political activists. By the early 1990s, she had become not only a recognized figure in art history but also regarded as an icon for Chicanos, the feminism movement, and the LGBTQ movement.

She had a tumultuous relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera. Both had a number of affairs — some sanctioned and some on the sly. They even divorced for a year and then remarried. Her lovers included a diverse selection of men and women, many of them well-known thinkers and artists in their time. 

( ~ bi.org)