“Later, Ziggy.”
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“He was never of this planet. We were lucky to have him for as long as we did. His star came to pick him back up. Later, Ziggy.”
— Wilhelm Cortez
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— H/T Cristina Gordet
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For my generation, the generation of kids coming into our own bodies and minds in the 80’s, in the post-sexual liberation revolution decade, Bowie was a beacon of light for gender & sexual fluidity.
He defied labels and the status-quo, and he made self-acceptance an art form.
As my friend Raven said, is there anything America fears more than a man in a dress?
Straight, bi, queer or trans, we can all claim him.
He loved himself unconditionally and gave us all permission to do the same.
Don’t let him down now, America.
— Lisa Duggan
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“To put it in perspective, take away his having been a songwriter and performer. A style icon. An actor. A humanitarian. A chameleon. A role model. A visionary. A patron of the arts. A bon vivant. Lose all of that. And he’d still be worth all of this hoopla. For being the guy who slept with both Iman AND Mick Jagger.
Can you imagine how freaking dull not only our culture but our world would be had David Bowie not existed? He not only influenced so much that followed him, in music, fashion, art, film, and virtually every other creative pursuit, but by being who he was on such a large stage, he gave so many people the implicit permission — and in some cases, even the very idea — to be themselves. Not just in terms of sexuality but whatever it meant to be who you are. How many people felt …free to go to the margins if that’s where they felt they belonged thanks to his example instead of living out their lives in the straight and narrow? How many people went off script and improvised rather than resigning themselves to the roles they’d been cast in? And even if they weren’t influenced by him directly, his presence in the culture diffused so thoroughly, and will continue to do so, that it’s entirely defensible to make the argument that no popular artist other than the Beatles had such a widespread effect on *everything.*
Two things strike me right now: That I have never seen an outpouring of grief so universal, across the disparate and even the most cynical and contrary of my friends. I am greatly comforted by that communality, and there’s no truer testament to how he changed the world than to see the commemorations from people who would have dismissed or condemned him earlier, and I’m sure that at least some of them had. And it’s a tribute to his continued relevance and his integrity that there are no other artists of real longevity whom I would choose to remember at a time like this by playing their most recent record instead of their records that first spoke to me.”
— Ken Feinleib
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“Imagine you’re a gay kid, a trans-leaning youth, a crybaby in a world of tough guys, someone prone to the bullies and the gossips – imagine you are a total misfit. OK, for most of my friends, the word is ‘remember,’ not imagine. Now picture it’s 1966, 1967, earlier. Imagine you’re not in one of the hippest alternative neighborhoods or schools. Imagine the loneliness, the fear, the frustration, the sh…ame. Imagine you’re alone in that bedroom at your parents’ house, they aren’t exactly supportive either, and you’re 12 or 13 or 15 and you just can’t imagine bearing these slings and arrows much longer.
Imagine it, or remember it, long and hard. The rawness. The lack of faith. The feeling of alienation from everyone and everything.
Now imagine that onto your stereo and into your record collection steps an androgynous freak with a voice filled with the sound inside your soul. Imagine he writes in a code that you completely understand. Words that speak of otherness, forbidden lust, exploration, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds. He paints with sounds and lyrics that reference a whole hidden history of gayness, weirdness, otherness. A hidden history you are just beginning to realize is there, a welcoming oasis in a desert of regimented gender cruelty – an oasis you must reach to survive. And here comes David Bowie, scratching a map to that safe place in the sand. You follow the map. You reach the oasis. It’s the best party ever. Wild. Filled with joy and performance and defiance and acceptance, sweet fucking acceptance. And you get to dance and sing and shake your ass.
Artists change the world mostly by changing individual lives. Change enough of them and the world suddenly is a profoundly different place. Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, they did that. Dylan did it. The Beatles and the Stones. But no one did it quite like David Bowie. And now we have middle aged people marrying who the hell they want and raising kids, and we have children redefining gender, who are quite aware of what they’re going through. Ch-ch-changes. Turn and face the strange. Oh no, love, you’re not alone! I’ve had my share, I’ll help you with the pain. Give me your hands, cause you’re wonderful!
In a very real way, no one has made this possible as much as David Bowie has.”
— Pete Cenedella
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Image Credit: AP File Photo