Gay Icons

What makes a gay icon? The Gay Icons exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery features people as diverse as Quentin Crisp, KD Lang, Harvey Milk, Joe Orton, Nelson Mandela, Virginia Woolf and Billie Jean King's parents. Those featured were selected by a panel that included Waheed Alli, Alan Hollinghurst, Elton John, Jackie Kay, Ian McKellen, Chris Smith, Ben Summerskill, Sandi Toksvig, Sarah Waters - and Billie Jean King. There are activists, artists, singers and writers. There are men, women and at least one drag queen, in the shape of Lily Savage.

Some of the inclusions are obvious. No list of gay icons would be complete without people who shaped gay history like Quentin Crisp and Harvey Milk. Others are a little harder to fathom. Presumably it was Elton who suggested his heterosexual songwriting partner Bernie Taupin? Princess Diana was unquestionably a gay icon even before she died a tragic death. But Billie Jean King's mum and dad? I'm sure they're lovely people and obviously mean a lot to her. But do they mean much to you?

There are notably few younger people on the list. Will Young is there, presumably for being an out gay singer and all-round nice guy. But why not David Beckham? He may be straight, but Beckham has arguably done more to tackle homophobia than Bernie Taupin or Will Young. Here is a footballer who embraces his gay fanbase and poses semi-naked in Attitude magazine. Can you imagine Gazza doing that?

It's good to see Peter Tatchell being acknowledged for his decades of activism, but disappointing that there are so few younger lesbians and gay men. Is it because they're not as active? Or is the panel merely reflecting its own age group?

It's true that the term 'gay icon' is bandied about far too much these days. One PA at G-A-Y and suddenly every pop tart is claiming instant gay icon status. But there must be some younger lesbians and gay men who deserve such an accolade? Beth Ditto perhaps? Or Dan Gillespie Sells? Both are out queer singers who are unapologetic and, certainly in Ditto's case, overtly political.

Of course no list of gay icons is going to please everybody. And for everyone who argues that Joe Orton and Virginia Woolf ought to be included, there are others who will question the relevance of literary types whose work belongs to a previous generation.

Personally I'd have liked to have seen Peter Wildeblood on the list, since it was his trial which changed gay lives in Britain forever, leading to the 1967 Sexual Offences Act. I would also have liked to have seen David Bowie included, but then I'm someone who grew up at a time when Ziggy Stardust's bisexual confessions still seemed to mean something.

Similarly, there will be people who would have liked to have seen Boy George, or George Michael, or any of the gay pop stars they grew up with. That's the problem with lists like this- they're always going to be subjective.