Gay Icons
Check out these divas who are icons in the LGBT community
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Diana Ross - Diana Ross is one of the original gay icons and a large part of her career can be credited to this loyal community. She has performed at many LGBT Pride events and participated in fundrasiers for HIV/AIDS.
![Patti LaBelle - "[Cornelius was] simply a genius, and the contributions he made to music and our culture are second to none. I will always treasure the fond memories I have of working with Don over the years and being part of the history that he created through Soul Train."(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)](https://images.viacbs.tech/uri/mgid:arc:content:bet.com:4acf6a5f-491c-11e7-a442-0e40cf2fc285?quality=0.7)
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Patti LaBelle - Patti LaBelle was shouting out her love for the LGBT community before it was popular. Back in 2007, the legendary vocalist said, "I've been in this business for 45 years — I've known for 43 years that I've had a strong gay following and loved every minute of it."(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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Chaka Khan - Another diva whose talent transcends all groups. Chaka has said about her gay fans, "You all have been my most solid fanbase and that is the truth." (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Janet Jackson - The pop icon is adored by everyone, but her love in the LGBT community is unstoppable. When GLAAD honored Janet with the Vanguard Award President Neil G. Giuliano said, "Ms. Jackson has a tremendous following inside the LGBT community and out, and having her stand with us against the defamation that LGBT people still face in our country is extremely significant."(Photo by Sven Hoogerhuis/PictureGroup)
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Beyoncé - Beyoncé is this generation's gay icon. She is a drag queen favorite, but some have crticized her for not being as vocal about her gay fans. Nonetheless, in 2006 Bey told Instinct Magazine about her late uncle who was gay, "He was my favorite person in the whole world. I never mixed Christianity with how I felt (about him). I am about faith and spirituality more so than religion, doing right by others and not judging."
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Madonna - Madonna is worshiped in the gay community. In 2010, she told Ellen DeGeneres, "The gay community has been incredibly supportive of me — I wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for the gay community.”(Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
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Jennifer Hudson - J-Hud has repeatedly made it clear that the LGBT community loved her before the world knew her. In 2006 the Oscar winner said, "It was the gay community that supported me long before and long after American Idol, and kept me working and motivated. It is the gay community that celebrated my voice and my size and my personality long before Dreamgirls."(Photo Credit: HRC/WENN.com)
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Mariah Carey - The songbird has been a longtime supporter of the LGBT community. In 2007 she explained, "Part of the connection is that I do write songs from an outsider perspective. A lot of my die-hard gay fans don’t just know my singles, but they also know all the album cuts. I have songs about feeling different and alienated, because I grew up with my own issues, being biracial and not having money. Some of those lyrics can apply to anybody who feels different."(Photo by Gregg DeGuire/PictureGroup)
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Lil' Kim - Lil' Kim is arguably the first hip hop artist to embrace the LGBT community. During this year's LGBT Pride in New York City, the Queen Bee was the ringmaster of the float for the annual LGBT Pride Parade.(Photo Credit: Harry Pluviose / Retna Ltd.)
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Nicki Minaj - From the start of her career, Nicki Minaj has reached out the LGBT community. She once said, "I would encourage my gay fans to be fighters and to be brave. People face difficulties, no matter who you are. I faced difficulties with a lot of things. I face opposition every day, but I didn't kill myself and now, thank God, I'm here. So I want my life to be a testimony to my fans and my gay fans." Nicki isn't a gay icon now but well on her way. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
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Mary J. Blige - Blige is loved by all, but she has no hesitation in shouting out her LGBT fans. In 2007 she told The Advocate on growing up, "A lot of people that I knew were gay, but they were great people. They were good people. It’s not like they were alien. They were just people. That [acceptance] was just something that was always in me. I’ve never been a judgmental person because I have been through so much hell myself."(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
