The Naked Civil Servant (book) The Naked Civil Servant (book) The Naked Civil Servant is the 1968 autobiography of British gay icon Quentin Crisp, adapted into a 1975 film of the same name starring John Hurt. The book began as a 1964 radio interview with Crisp conducted by his friend and fellow eccentric Philip O'Connor. A managing director at Jonathan Cape heard the interview and commissioned the publication. Having sold only 3,500 copies when first released, the book became a success when it was republished following the television movie broadcast. The book contains many anecdotes about Crisp's life from childhood to middle age, including troubles
Gay icon gay bathhouses]. I feel like I was at the forefront of the gay liberation movement, and I hope I did my part to help it move forward. So, I kind of wear the label of 'Bathhouse Betty' with pride," Midler reminisced in 1998. Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of Queen, was widely considered a gay icon, with his LGBT fanbase growing by the 1980s. Although Freddie Mercury never revealed his sexuality publicly (even when events made it seem inevitable), he often "playfully alluded to his queerness with his flamboyant, high-camp stage antics", according to "Gay Star News". In 1992, John