American singer and actress Madonna is recognized as a gay icon. As a teenager, she was introduced to her dance instructor, Christopher Flynn, an openly gay man who mentored her. Since then, Madonna has always acknowledged the importance of the community for her life and career, declaring that she "wouldn't have a career if it weren't for the gay community".

Madonna has consistently been an advocate for the LGBT community throughout her career, being recognized by GLAAD Media Awards in 1991 (Raising Gay Awareness) and 2019 (Advocate for Change). She has been recognized as a "pioneering ally" by different media outlets, including The New York Times and Associated Press (AP), after a special emphasis in the AIDS crisis when the community or its subcultures were notably stigmatized and she was one of the first mainstream artists to advocate for the cause, according to publications like The Hollywood Reporter and The New Zealand Herald. Using her popularity, she became "the first worldwide celebrity" of that era to do an interview with a national gay magazine, The Advocate, according to themselves. Critic Stephen Holden labeled her interview with them as an "unprecedented frankness for a major star". Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD stated in 2019: "Madonna always has and always will be the LGBTQ community's greatest ally". In her career, Madonna was also considered by "many" as the "greatest gay icon", a statement seconded or confirmed by outlets such as The Advocate or Parade among others, in addition to be depicted in several LGBT-related media.

Madonna's influence impacted generations of LGBT people, as documented different publications. She has also been credited variously, including her help for bringing gay culture into the mainstream, most notably the dance expression of voguing. However, Madonna also represented challenged views, both inside and outside the community, and has been accused of "appropriation", receiving significantly internal criticism for her portrayal of stereotypes among other reasons. Madonna also faced more backlash in political and religious sectors, being accused to promote homosexuality. In 2012, she was sued in Russia for her support amid the country's anti-LGBT law.

Relationships and introduction Madonna was introduced to the gay community while still a teenager. It was her ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, a gay man, who first told Madonna that she had something to offer the world. He also introduced her to the local gay community of Detroit, Michigan, often taking her to local gay bars and discotheques. Observing Flynn she was "conscious of understanding that there was such a thing as gay ... It wasn't called that then. I just came to understand that he was attracted to men". Biographer Carol Gnojewski, wrote "some Madonna devotees tout Christopher Flynn as 'arguably the first Madonna-positive person'".

After moving to New York City in the 1970s to pursue a career in modern dance, Madonna would be surrounded by gay men, including art-world figures such as the plastic artist Keith Haring. Her immersion into the New York gay community became so complete that she began to wish that she were gay: "I didn't feel like straight men understood me. They just wanted to have sex with me. Gay men understood me, and I felt comfortable around them".

Christopher Glazek explains: "Madonna has been intimately connected to a wide community of gay men for decades, as an artistic collaborator, as a political ally, as an employer, as a friend, and as a sister". Some examples include her first book Sex when collaborated with a gay photographer, and included gay models. At some stage of her career, she repeated in interviews that her best friends are gay.

By the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, media "romantically linked" her name with various women, including Sandra Bernhard, Ingrid Casares, and model Jenny Shimizu. While Madonna has never confirmed or denied these relationships, in 2022 she retrospectively said that she has slept with "a good handful" of women throughout her life. In 1991, Madonna told to The Advocate that she believed "everybody has a bisexual nature". Three years later, in an interview with MTV, she admitted that she has had sexual attraction to other women whilst maintaining that she does not think about labels.

Influences Madonna credited various influences for both her life and career. A portrait of Lee Miller kissing another woman by Man Ray that she owns, inspired her and encouraged the use of lesbian imagery of her career, according to art critic John Walker. Madonna cited David Bowie as a foundational influence, declaring after attending her first-ever concert at age 15, to be "so inspired by the way he played with gender confusion. Was both masculine and feminine". In 2016, after Bowie's death, she dedicated a redention of his "Rebel Rebel" song during her Rebel Heart Tour, stating: "He showed me that it was OK to be different. And he’s the first Rebel Heart that I laid eyes on [...] Talented. Unique. Genius. Game Changer. The Man who Fell to Earth". After David Collins' death, Madonna penned a letter describing his influence on her life.

Advocacy and life as an LGBT icon

Madonna has a long-lasting history advocating for the community, and "actively participating in gay culture" according to LGBT-targeted magazine Attitude. In this aspect, French academic Georges-Claude Guilbert, writes in Gay Icons (2018) that "Madonna has done little else in her career, camping like a gay man, quoting like a gay man". Boy George described her as "a gay man trapped in a woman's body". In 2017, the British LGBT Awards stated:

Selected 20th century forays

According to publications such as The Hollywood Reporter and The New Zealand Herald, Madonna began as one of the first "notable" names in the entertainment industry to publicly advocate in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Nerdist's Eric Diaz considered her as "the biggest" and "relevant" among young people talking about these problems when government initially ignored the "thousands of mostly gay men dying of AIDS" as per his view. At some point, she reportedly described the AIDS as "the worst thing to happen to the world since Hitler".

Madonna made numerous statements in favor of the community. Most notable, in a two-part interview with The Advocate in 1991, she criticized homophobia in the music industry. The New York Times critic, Stephen Holden deemed that interview, as an "unprecedented frankness for a major star". According to The Advocate themselves, it was the first time a worldwide celebrity did an interview with a national gay magazine. Madonna addressed homophobia again during an interview in Good Morning America, saying: "I deal with a lot of issues ... and what I think to be a big problem in the United States and that is homophobia".

Selected 21st century forays In August 2009, during a show in Bucharest, Romania, as part of her Sticky and Sweet Tour, Madonna criticized discrimination against the Roma, also speaking against the discrimination of gays. In June 2010, Madonna released a statement criticizing the decision to jail two men in Malawi because they celebrated their union with a ceremony. Madonna's statement included the following excerpt: "As a matter of principle, I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. This week, Malawi took a giant step backward. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved"-

In November 2010, Madonna made a special appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to speak against the bullying of children and teenagers in general, including the bullying of gay teens and related recent suicides. In her conversation with DeGeneres, Madonna reiterated how she became close to the gay community when she was a teenager, stating that she felt different in high school and found acceptance and sympathy among gay friends, particularly her dance instructor. She also said "In fact, I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for the gay community". In early 2023, Madonna similarly recognized, "How could I ever not support them myself?", saying that queer people and POC, helped her when she wasn't famous.

In June 2011, Madonna urged her fans to support same-sex marriage in New York, posting the following message on her website: "New Yorkers your voices must be heard. Tell your state Congressmen to support same sex marriage bill. All you need is love". The Marriage Equality Act passed one week later, legalizing same-sex marriage in New York. The following year, 2012, she asked her audience to "Vote No" on the Minnesota marriage amendment for same-sex couples.

In March 2013, Madonna presented the Vito Russo Award to openly gay journalist Anderson Cooper at the 24th GLAAD Media Awards in New York City. Dressed as a Cub Scout, in protest of the Boy Scouts of America's ban on homosexual Scouts and Scout leaders, she gave a speech in which she stated that "things like bigotry, homophobia, hate crimes, bullying and any form of discrimination always seem to be a manifestation of fear of the unknown" and wagered that "if we just took the time to get to know one another, did our own investigation, looked beneath the surface of things, that we would find that we are not so different after all." She also said "you cannot use the name of God or religion to justify acts of violence to hurt, to hate, to discriminate" and called to start a revolution, asking the crowd "Are you with me? It's 2013, people. We live in America — land of the free and home of the brave? That's a question, not a statement." In 2020, she encouraged her fans through an Instagram story to sign a petition on anti-LGBTQ legislation. In a conversation with Reddit users, she answered several questions, including "If you were a gay man, would you be a top or a bottom?" and she said: "I am a gay man".

Madonna has given multiple surprise performances at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, including 2018, 2019 and 2022. In her 2018 speech, she said: "I stand here proudly at the place where Pride began. Let us never forget the Stonewall riots". At NYC Pride 2022, Madonna stated metaphorically that New York City was "the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer".

Referential works

Gay culture is represented in various of her works, with some of her songs and other projects grounded in queer sensibility, particularly some of her early 1990s works, the documentary Truth or Dare, and music videos for her songs "Justify My Love", "Erotica", and "Vogue". The music video for "God Control" was reminiscent of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.

Erin Harde is cited in Catching a Wave (2016) as saying that Madonna has supported the gay community by using "camp" values to pay respect to the community. In this aspect, Muri Assunção from Billboard explained that she has been "fighting for acceptance and pushing the gay agenda with her art" since the release of her first single "Everybody" in 1982. Madonna featured same-sex couples or herself as part of them in some of her videos and concerts. Michael Musto said she turned many of her concerts into a "gigantic gay bar".

Listicles and reception Madonna's music was linked to and made appearances in listicles related to the community over years. In 2005, The Advocates Steve Gdula commented that "back in the 1980s and even the early 1990s, the release of a new Madonna video or single was akin to a national holiday, at least among her gay fans".