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Gays and Oz: Why There's No Place Like Homo

Matt Baume

237,416 views

In the 1980s, the united states military went on a witch hunt for Dorothy and her network of friends. Long before "Friend of Dorothy" meant sketchy supplements, it was code for gay men. And years before DADT, it was military policy to root them out. But why were these seamen gaga for Gale? And why did a children's movie from before WWII become so closely associated with gay culture... to the point that a century later, queer people are still holding space for it?

Thanks to actor/singer Eran Scoggins and composer & music producer Caleb Martin for the new recording of "You're So Cute, Sailor Boy." Watch the full performance here: You're So Cute, Soldier Boy
And download the song: https://tidal.com/album/476464573/u

Follow Eran Scoggins here: Instagram: eranscoggins
And check out Caleb Martin's work: https://www.martinmusicmedia.com/

Thanks to everyone who spoke with me for this video! Find them online here:
Dee Michel: https://www.deemichel.info/
Josh Trujillo: https://www.joshtrujillo.com/
Terry Blas: https://terryblas.com/
Emma McMahan: https://www.mcmahan.media/

And watch my full interviews with them:
Dee Michel: Full interview with Dee Michel
Josh Trujillo: Full interview with Josh Trujillo
Terry Blas: Full interview with Terry Blas
Emma McMahan: Full interview with Emma McMahan

Watch Emma's video about Wicked's stage-to-screen adaptation on her channel, @mediaprocessingchannel : Wicked (2024) is a Wonderful Adaptation

Listen to my 2019 interview with Wicked author Gregory Maguire: https://www.mattbaume.com/sewers-show...

Listen to my 2017 interview with Wicked music supervisor Stephen Oremus: https://www.mattbaume.com/sewers-show...

Join me on Patreon for bonus videos: Patreon: mattbaume

20 Comments

@bennett8535 10 months ago

The first time I watched the Muppet's Wizard of OZ I almost chocked with laughter when, upon knocking at the gate of Emerald City and being asked who they were, Fozzie Bear proudly announces "WE are friends of Dorothy!"

@BiggerinRealLife 10 months ago

I honestly roll my eyes at the speculation over if Elphaba and Glinda are in love. In Maguire’s book they literally kiss. They were in love. It was the musical that obscured that fact and decided to push the love triangle over the enemies to lovers trope in order to make it more palatable for wide audiences.

@lennysmom 10 months ago (edited)

My gay uncle (b1936) had every Garland album. He adored her. When he was in his 70s, I was able to find a small Judy at Carnegie Hall poster and gave it to him for Christmas. He hung it up.

@mithilbhoras5951 10 months ago

As a gay Indian, I am so amazed to finally discover a channel that explores, in depth, homosexual history particularly through media. Thank you so much for the insurmountable work!

@hive_indicator318 10 months ago

It's like my gay cousin who thinks he corners me to infodump about movie history, but it's my fave part of family gatherings. I've never regretted spending time watching your vids. Great work

@JumpingJesus4 10 months ago

The single best movie theater experience I ever had was watching the Wizard of Oz at Castro Theater in San Francisco in 1978.
"... I'm just a dandy lion!" and "of course, some people do go both ways!" raised the house down!

@mamazelinka 9 months ago

"I swallowed an arcade token" is the ultimate non sequitur for the end of any sentence.

@dorothyv6428 9 months ago

I love that you recreated a Soldier Boy recording by calling up a friend, what a cute favor to do someone. He has the perfect voice for the track, he nailed it!

@raymondcorbitt7682 9 months ago

Cynthia’s Defying Gravity is why I came out as transgender. Its rawness inspired me.

@DeanoMN 10 months ago

Recording a song that only existed as sheet music is fantastic.

@Jiminy-do-999 9 months ago

MVP Matt for bringing to life a 100 year old song about men in tight uniforms 😅

@excalibur_gun 10 months ago

As a young gueer person who is deeply struggling from living under hateful conservative legislation where I live at the moment, thank you for this. I saw Wicked in my hometown when I was a tween and it shaped my love for myself and for musical theater. Something about how the themes and messaging has preserved through the decades and will continue to impact the lives of other gay people long after I'm gone has really meant a lot to me. This was a beautiful video.

@paradigmshift470 10 months ago

What’s amazing about Oz is that, as mentioned, even gay young children seemingly pick up on the fact that this movie is made for them. I’ll admit, the wizard of oz was my FAVORITE movie from ages 3-5. And for some strange reason I liked it so much that I would wear a big tshirt (like a dress) and wore sparkly red shoes that I begged my grandmother to buy me, and would spin in circles during the tornado scene because I liked how it made the oversized tshirt frill up like a dress.

The dots are all there to connect in a not so straight line.

@JoJo-r7y7v 9 months ago

Growing up in a small town, it’s surprising how many movies I was obsessed with turned out to be queer-coded classics. My parents thought it was cute how I was obsessed with Wizard of Oz. I also only wanted to constantly rent two movies for Blockbuster family night movies - Death Becomes Her and Big Business. It’s nice we all share a link in our past.

@Rmlohner 10 months ago

I highly recommend the show Emerald City, which never found an audience and got axed after one season, but there's a ton to recommend about it. The production values are INSANE for a network TV show, and it features a rare appearance by Ozma that fully dives into the trans aspects of the character. She's played by the same actress in both forms, very convincingly made up to look like a boy as Tip, and is given a whole storyline of her own that's way more interesting than Dorothy's a lot of the time.

@emccoy 9 months ago

First time I heard the term Friend of Dorothy my dad was describing it and then used it to describe himself. This was back in the 90s and my dad still speaks about Judy Garland like she hung the moon and the stars. A lot can be said in that the three women he has spoken most highly of are Judy Garland, Ginger Rodgers, and my own mother.

@mothiest-man 10 months ago

Ozma from the books is still one of the most important fictional characters to me. Ever. It's especially in trying times like these when we need characters like Ozma.

@varalys 10 months ago

Hi Matt, I'm a Gen X queer, and you are one of the few creators who I drop everything to watch as soon as possible. You are a wonderful historian and present your videos with warmth and authority. I've decided after Xmas, yours will be the first patreon I sub to, your extra work always sounds so interesting!

@ididthisonpulpous6526 10 months ago

My mother grew up the daughter of DEEPLY conservative Southern Baptist minister and The Wizard of Oz meant EVERYTHING to her! The yearning for escape and not fitting in Wizard literally sings to your spirit when you feel alone. My Dad didn't love the film, but was an avid reader of the books and made a point that they were also a deep subtext of Socialism intentionally placed by Baum withing them. I didn't care much for the film as a kid, but watching them with my mother meant a lot to me.

@BozeDoesGodsWork 10 months ago

It’s absolutely mind boggling how a children’s book series managed to encapsulate and shape the minds of America. L.Frank Baum would be delighted to see how the lgbt community (in particular) has kept his story alive.