Week 11: Freddie Mercury and Subversion of a Homophobic World

I really wanted to do a post about ways Freddie Mercury (the lead singer of Queen and one of my all-time heroes) subversively defied the homophobic world he lived in after reading Branum, so here we are. I want to discuss four main ways Freddie (I’m going to refer to him by his first name because I consider him a close friend) told everyone who told him his identity was wrong that he didn’t care what they thought.

1.      The name of his band: Freddie met Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon soon after the four of them graduated college and the four of them formed a band Freddie decided to name Queen. When asked about this name choice years later, Freddie remarked that it was simple, theatrical, and outrageous. Outrageous is the key word here because Freddie knew what the popular connotation of the word “queen” was, and he knew a band of four men calling themselves Queen would get noticed. By calling his band Queen, Freddie reclaimed a word that has been used for decades to degrade and diminish effeminate gay men. He used the word in a positive and celebratory way, letting people know that they couldn’t reduce him to a label.

2.      His songs: Most of the songs Freddie wrote for Queen in the early ‘70s—pre-“Bohemian Rhapsody”—were fantastical stories of fairies, royalty, and magic, therefore Freddie was unafraid to produce songs that concerned typically feminine subject matter. In “This Monstrosity”, Branum states “Freddie Mercury, like all other gay guys, had this bundle of emotions that he could not let the world see directly, because if they saw, they would be horrified. He also needed to share them…” (172); Freddie’s painful emotions are obvious throughout “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The song is an expression of a closeted identity disguised as a rock song. The same year as “Bohemian Rhapsody” was released, Freddie was in a relationship with a woman while also secretly dating a man. He was struggling to find his true identity, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a watershed moment that helped him come to terms with what he had been lying to himself and others about his entire life. The year after “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Freddie wrote a song called “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy”, and this song features a singer openly referring to the romantic dates he has with a man. Clearly, Freddie felt capable of more clear expression after the catharsis “Bohemian Rhapsody” brought him.

3.      His image: Branum’s metaphor in “Camouflage and Plumage” is easily applied to Freddie. If the two options for gay men and lesbian women were either hiding or displaying loud and proud plumage, then Freddie chose the latter option. In the time of glam rock and androgyny in rock, Freddie was right at home. He would describe his concerts as fashion shows, and revel in wearing tight, sparkly, extravagant, showy, and overall androgynous outfits.

Freddie in 1974

Freddie in 1977

In 1978 and 1979, Freddie adopted a full-leather look that was popular in gay clubs at the time, and it was in 1980 that Freddie first grew his iconic mustache. The full-leather look, and the mustache and tight clothing look were inspired by homoerotic art of the late 20^th century that heavily influenced the way gay men dressed and identified other gay men. The derogatory phrase used to describe this look was “gay clone”, and it was seen on gay men in places all over the world. The goal was to portray the image of a hyper-masculine man and Freddie bought into this image like countless other gay men at the time. They weren’t hiding, they were displaying their plumage.

Freddie in 1979

Freddie in 1985

4.     His refusal to publicly acknowledge his sexuality: Though practically every interviewer Freddie sat down with asked him to discuss his sexuality, he purposely averted discussion of this topic. Freddie would indirectly refer to his sexuality when he talked about how he couldn’t see himself getting married (despite what Branum said in “This Monstrosity”, Freddie was never married. He halfheartedly proposed to his girlfriend in 1975, but he never went through with the marriage), and how he felt unlucky in love and relationships. Freddie discussed his fear over the AIDS epidemic in several interviews, and he acknowledged the fact that he was at risk of getting what bigoted and ignorant people called the “gay plague”. Freddie didn’t want his sexuality to be a matter of public conversation. He wanted to talk about his music and career, yet interviewers and tabloids relentlessly pursued discussion of his sexuality. Freddie displayed his identity loudly and proudly, and he had no need to go to every newspaper in the country and publicly come out in plain terms because it was clear to anyone who cared to pay attention.