Nbroverman
Trump disparaged the city as a "mess," but Baltimore has spawned much greatness.
Hoping to win reelection and avoid prison, Donald Trump is employing racism as his top 2020 campaign strategy. Recently, Trump told four non-white House members to "go back" to their countries, though they're all American. Then on Saturday, he went after civil rights icon and congressional stalwart Elijah Cummings, who represents Maryland's 7th district in the House.
Trump's words were characteristically ugly, so we won't repeat them verbatim, but his invectives included slandering of Cummings's entire district and especially its largest city, Baltimore. The diverse metropolis was described as a filthy hellscape by the president, who tweeted "no human being would want to live there."
But many prominent people have lived and prospered in Baltimore; individuals like Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Nancy Pelosi. Of course, numerous LGBTQ thinkers, writers, designers, and musicians were also raised or lived in Baltimore -- and our community would not be the same without them. For example:
John Waters
This subversive writer, director, author, and actor may be one of Baltimore's most famous exports. His subversive films upended gender and decorum, and turned an overweight drag queen -- Divine, of course -- into a movie star. The midnight movies that Waters made as a young gay (Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, etc.) remain beloved masterpieces of filth, while his more mainstream movies are just as cherished (Hairspray, Serial Mom).
Baltimore is part of Waters's identity and his movies center around the experiences of this city, which straddles the American North and South. Waters depicts Baltimore as imperfect but magical, a city of extreme contradictions and fascinating discoveries.
His response to Trump's slander of his city, Waters told this to ARTnews: "Give me the rats and roaches of Baltimore any day over the lies and racism of your Washington, Mr Trump. Come on over to that neighborhood and see if you have the nerve to say it in person!"
Gertrude Stein
The author of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas and other lesbian classics like Q.E.D. and Tender Buttons, Stein was about as out as one could get in the first half of the 20th century. Stein's great mind was like a magnet for other iconic thinkers of the time, including Picasso, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Matisse.
While Stein was most famous for hanging with those aforementioned famous folk at her Paris salon (joined of course by her omnipresent partner, Toklas), Stein lived for four years in Baltimore. Stein moved to Maryland as a young woman and would even attend the city's famous John Hopkins Medical School (she didn't graduate). According to Baltimore Style, Stein would fall in love for the first time in Baltimore and established enduring friendships while there. The young medical student traveled in educated circles of the city, setting the stage for the legendary Paris salons she would form years later.
Billie Holiday
One of the most famous jazz singers in the world spent many of her formative years in Baltimore. Though the bisexual singer would find her greatest success upon moving to Harlem in her teens, Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan) was raised in the Charm City by her troubled mother, as well as her aunt and other relatives in their orbit. Holiday's hard knock life began in Baltimore (she was nearly raped as a young girl), as well as the indomitable spirit that carried through her 44 years.
Her challenges -- from prison to prostitution to poverty to addiction -- would add texture and soul to her voice and craftsmanship. Holiday would become one of the most successful musical artists of the 1930s and '40s, bringing life to classic songs, including "Strange Fruit," about the lynching of African-Americans. Holiday also participated in numerous same-sex affairs, including one (allegedly) with Tallulah Bankhead.
Divine
Maybe it was only Baltimore that could have birthed such a brave, original soul like Divine. The drag persona of Harris Glenn Milstead, Divine was like no one before or since. Willing to do anything on camera (we mean anything), Divine and his co-conspirator (the aforementioned Waters) created unforgettable film moments in movies like Pink Flamingos and Hairspray.
Divine and Waters met in the 1960s; both part of the group knows as "the Dreamlanders." The young bohemians roamed Baltimore, smoking weed, perusing record stores, and shocking the world with their transgressive cinematic takes on gender, power, and beauty. They also had a lot of fun doing it.
Milstead also hoped to expand upon the outrageous women he played in Waters's films, and he appeared in numerous stage productions and other films. Though never taking himself too seriously, Divine also released several disco anthems and performed at clubs around the world. Divine would also find himself embraced by the jet set of the 1980s, attending fabulous parties and events that occasionally put him in the same circles as onerous people like Trump.
It was 1988's Hairspray that began to catapult Divine to the mainstream and Milstead was soon cast in a supporting role in the sitcom Married... with Children. He died the evening before filming was to begin.
Christian Siriano
You can see a flash of that John Waters-esque Baltimore verve and humor in out fashion designer Christian Siriano. There have been lots of winners over the course of Project Runway's numerous seasons, but Siriano is the most memorable -- and successful.
After attending the Baltimore School for the Arts, Siriano became the youngest winner of the reality competition in the spring of 2008. But instead of disappearing from headlines, Siriano segued into even more success.
The designer's eponymous retail line brings in tens of millions and he regularly dresses the most famous women in the world, from Victoria Beckham to Lady Gaga to Rihanna. Siriano also designed the dress that Michelle Obama wore during the 2016 Democratic National Convention. This Baltimore boy was also inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America, way back in 2013.
DeRay Mckesson
This 34-year-old civil rights activist is steeped in Baltimore. Before becoming a nationally-known civil rights activist and podcaster, Mckesson was a Baltimore teacher, and eventually headed up all human resources for Baltimore's schools.
It was in 2014, after the death of black man Michael Brown -- shot multiple times by a white police officer -- that Mckesson would join protests in Ferguson, Mo., and become a prominent voice against police violence and brutality. Mckesson launched Campaign Zero, advocating for police reform. He continues to urge all LGBTQ people to decry police violence, especially against people of color.
Mckesson unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Baltimore in 2016, appeared on the cover of The Advocate that same year, and in 2018 released his memoir, On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope.
