Judy Garland as gay icon
Another connection between Garland and LGBT people is the slang term "Friend of Dorothy". This term likely derives from Garland's portrayal of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. It became a code phrase gay people used to identify each other. Dorothy's journey from Kansas to Oz "mirrored many gay men's desires to escape the black-and-white limitations of small town life ... for big, colorful cities filled with quirky, gender-bending characters who would welcome them."