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.
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| Freddie in 1974 |
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| 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 20th 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.
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| Freddie in 1979 |
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| 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.
