Gay icon Kensington of AIDS-related illnesses (bronchial pneumonia). Artists particularly embraced by the gay community during the 1980s included Whitney Houston, Patti Labelle, Alaska, Charo, Dolly Parton, Elaine Paige, Amanda Lear, Prince and Mylène Farmer. Several Britons were seen as gay icons, including singers Boy George, David Bowie, George Michael, Morrissey, Pet Shop Boys, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, and writer Quentin Crisp. Elton John also became a gay icon during this decade, a status strengthened throughout the years. Diana Ross, a long time gay icon, of The Supremes; released a song I'm Coming Out which brought a significance to the phrase of
John Semple (civil servant) He became Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 1997 and retired in 2000, when he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (having been appointed Companion in 1993). He was Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland Office for the year 1998–99, and was Secretary to the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly the following year. John Semple (civil servant) Sir John Laughlin Semple, KCB (born 10 August 1940) is a retired civil servant who was Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service between 1997 and 2000. Semple was born