Parmesh Shahani, head of the Godrej Culture Lab and editor-at-large at Verve magazine, talks about how the singer-songwriter seduced young Indian queer men into the world of fashion through his work
George Michael — singer, performer, pop star, hellraiser — was more importantly a gay icon to a generation of boys growing up in the ’80s and ’90s. His fame and influence existed before music channels and the internet piped him into our homes. It would come via that one Billboard Cassette that reached India months after it had been released abroad.
When I was growing up, my pop heroes were Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, and George Michael. Now only Madonna remains. My first cassette was Wham, and when you look back, George Michael was always so queer, so fabulous.
Wham showed us two boys dancing, having fun, playing pop stars. We’d discuss who was cuter, and for me it was always Andrew [Ridgeley]. When I was in class 10 and feeling my way around my sexuality, I took a girl to my school prom. The song we danced to was ‘Careless Whisper’.
He had been very gay from the beginning. He was outed by an undercover officer who arrested him in 1998 for performing a ‘lewd act’ in a public toilet, and when we re-read all his songs, especially ‘Freedom 90’, we realise that he had given enough indications to his sexuality all along. All the dots were there, you just had to connect them. Even the ‘Faith’ album was very gay.
More important than his sexuality was his influence on fashion, and rebelling through fashion. Men, as well as women, were in love with his leather-jacket, cowboy boots-wearing persona in Faith. We all, including me, wore a clip-on crucifix in our ear and negotiated it by saying it was okay if you wore it in on your left ear. The right ear indicated that you were gay.
He drew young boys to the fashion industry, before there was FTV or fashion shows that we could attend, through his videos like Too Funky, and by featuring supermodels in them. We recognised it as the world we want to be in. It was so queer and so seductive.
In the later years, I loved him for his rebellion. How he took everything that the world wanted to shame him for, like his 1998 arrest, and flipped it around to tell the world, “Take that.” Like the video for ‘Outside’, which cheekily featured a man in a public lavatory being arrested by an undercover cop who poses as a seductress.
He later fought with Sony Music in order to take control of his music and image. It was a fight to control his creativity and share his music the way he wanted to. And it worked, because fans flocked to his live concerts anyway. They were always packed. After he was outed, he made a significant contribution to the LGBT community, talking about his sexuality and being a role model.
This rebellion, ownership of one’s embarrassments, coming out of the closet, and keeping control of his creative work were lessons for all of us. Miley Cyrus can talk about being pansexual so early in her career without worrying about how it will affect her image and career, because there was George Michael before her. Just like Ricky Martin can. When George was outed, the only other openly gay pop star was Elton John.
And this is why I keep urging, at every platform I find, for our successful people to come out of the closet. When I was growing up, I could have used some Indian role models who taught me to claim my sexuality. Every successful LGBT person is a beacon of hope.
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 "George Michael")
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