The 64-year-old megastar is shown carrying hot-pink panties in a TikTok video she shared on Sunday, with the comment "If I miss, I'm Gay!" She then hurls the pantie toward a nearby trash can, but she misses terribly.
It was two days before National Coming Out Day on Tuesday, which may not have been a coincidence.
One TikTok user said under the video, "What in the 80s is occurring. Was Madonna just released? And I'm seeing it happen right now? another wrote.
Those who haven't extensively followed the artist or her career may have been stunned by her apparent coming out. However, devoted Madonna fans, especially those in the LGBTQ community, were less surprised because the video is in line with signals she's been dropping over the years about her own sexual orientation and her decades of support for homosexual people, which made her into a queer icon.
During the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, Madonna, who shot to fame with songs like "Lucky Star," "Like a Virgin," and "Material Girl," started advocating for HIV/AIDS awareness and raising money for research at a time when it was taboo to bring up the subject. She incorporated her support for LGBTQ causes into both her music and performances. As a homosexual anthem, her 1989 song "Express Yourself" served as a sort of forerunner to Lady Gaga's 2011 smash "Born This Way." Underground drag queen pageants popularised the vogue dance technique in the 1990s television series "Vogue," which also gave prominence to the Black, Latino, and gay ballroom scene subculture.
After the TikTok was shared, Ankit Verma, a Madonna fan from Bangalore, India, remarked, "She was a homosexual icon before we saw the gay in her."
Since Madonna told the Advocate in 1991 that she believes "everyone has a bisexual tendency," many followers have thought she is bisexual. Her video does not completely rule out that option because "gay" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase, particularly for more senior LGBTQ individuals.
In "Renaissance," Beyoncé acknowledges Black queer culture.
The TikTok video of Madonna, according to Verma, 25, is a "beautiful coalescence of a journey that has encouraged generations of [the] queer community to discover their voice."
When he heard Madonna's song "Ray of Light," which depicted Buddhism and Hinduism in a way he had never seen before in the West, Verma, a homosexual man, said he became a devotee.
"She's made me feel like I belonged, which is important for someone like me who is from India. It was acceptable to be unique. My deviation wasn't incorrect," he claimed. "We were not represented in this. She gave it to us.
When Matt Bernstein, 23, of New York City, was a high school student learning about his sexuality, Madonna assisted him in understanding LGBTQ history.
It gives him a connection to his history, culture, and community. "I believe that is of great importance."
He thinks Madonna deserves respect and the right to express herself freely because of her important role and significant contributions to the LGBTQ community.
When individuals like Madonna were younger, coming out was far less secure, according to Bernstein. I always make room for adults who identify as LGBTQ.
