Madonna

Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone) is one of the most influential recording artists and cultural figures of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She has been a queer icon and LGBTQ+ ally since the earliest days of her career, coming up in New York's downtown gay and ballroom culture and explicitly incorporating queer themes, aesthetics, and politics into her work throughout her career. Her book SEX (1992) included explicit queer imagery and was one of the most significant cultural documents of the AIDS era. She has spoken in interviews about her own queer experiences and has kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the MTV stage. She has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness since the 1980s and lost numerous friends to the epidemic.