Others are straight allies that have expressed their support for the community. German sexologists around the turn of the 20th century indirectly revealed that homosexuals were abundant in the music field and profession. The associated taboos regarding homosexuality and the large amount of homosexuals in music at this time led to the development of the idea of music being a method for expression, transcending ordinary life.
Early Black queer artists included Ma Rainey [ 9 ] and Bessie Smith , [ 10 ] who recorded overtly lesbian songs in the s, as well as Little Richard in the late s, [ 10 ] with the hit song " Tutti Frutti " as a homosexual reference , but one that was covert enough to be plausibly denied.
Regarding classical music, American composer Leonard Bernstein had many homosexual relations, often with other musicians and composers, despite being in a heterosexual marriage. Broadway and musical theater have been ways for groups of people to express themselves through music, dance, and drama.
As Philip Brett and Elizabeth Wood state, "the musical theater has been a special place for gay identification and expression". Lesbians also have a hand in contributing to the production of Broadway and theater, like lesbian producer Cheryl Crawford. Originating from France and Germany during World War II , where young people met in basements to dance to American swing music , as the Nazis had banned jazz , bebop music, and jitterbug dancing, the concept and culture of disco made its way to the United States by the late s and early s.
In these clubs, "disco became the pulse of gay liberation on and off the dance floor in the post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS s". In these revolutions, gender and sexuality became less rigid and more fluid , as evidenced in the performances of musicians like Freddie Mercury , [ 9 ] [ 10 ] David Bowie , [ 10 ] Grace Jones , and Prince.
