16.07 / 16:45
Entertainment
Music
15 boy crazy bops from the ’80s that spoke to us in the closet
Madonna and Cher (and their romantic feelings) made on gay men, especially during those formative years.Remember, we haven’t always had Lil Nas X, Troye Sivan, and Sam Smith! Back in the ’80s –– the era of Walkmans, E.T., and Hypercolor t-shirts –– closeted baby gays didn’t have many options for representation on the airwaves. As we obsessed over stolen glances in the locker room, boys who borrowed our pencils, and the bulges on underwear packages in Macy’s, we turned to the only people who understood the infatuation: our pop queens.gay people love 80s popWho can forget Kim Wilde’s reckless invitation to rebel on “Kids in America” or Tiffany’s desperate plea for some solitude on “I Think We’re Alone Now?” And don’t get us started on the controversial and flagrant displays of sexuality we saw from Madge on MTV… and then recreated in the privacy of our bedroom. We couldn’t always open up to our peers about the cutie behind the counter at Auntie Annie’s in the mall, but we could consult our cassettes. These female pop stars understood how it felt to be the outsider, lingering by the lockers whilst watching a crush who wouldn’t give us the time of day.
