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
Gay icon light back on her gay fans and made it burn all the brighter." Georges Claude Guilbert, author of "Madonna As Postmodern Myth: How One Star's Self-Construction Rewrites Sex, Gender, Hollywood and the American Dream", writes that Madonna's reverence as a gay icon is equated with that of Judy Garland, noting similarities between the two popular culture icons. Guilbert writes that gay icons "usually belong to one or the other of two types of female stars: either the very vulnerable or suicidal star, or the strong idol whom nobody or nothing resists, like Madonna." According to "", the pop star has