On This Day in Queerstory: Marlene Dietrich dies

May 6th is a day dedicated to the iconoclasts. It is the birthday of two titans who redefined what it meant to be “masculine” and “feminine” in the 20th century, proving that the most attractive thing a person can be is unapologetically themselves.

1895: The Birth of the “Great Lover”—Rudolph Valentino

Born on this day in Italy, Rudolph Valentino became the first male sex symbol of the cinema. But Valentino wasn’t a “man’s man” in the traditional sense; he was beautiful, sensitive, and frequently described as “effeminate” by the terrified male critics of his day.

Valentino wore jewelry, he danced the tango with a feline grace, and he appealed to a “female gaze” that many found threateningly queer. To the queer men of the 1920s, Valentino was a god—a man who proved that you could be soft and powerful at the same time. His legacy is the foundation of the “pretty boy” archetype that continues to fascinate and disrupt gender norms today.

1915: The Birth of the “Tomboy” Giant—Orson Welles

While Orson Welles (born May 6, 1915) was not queer, his work—specifically Citizen Kane—is a cornerstone of queer academic study. The film’s focus on “Rosebud”—a secret from childhood that defines a man’s entire adult life—is a perfect metaphor for the closet. Welles was also a close friend and collaborator with many queer artists, and his “outsider” status in Hollywood made him a natural ally for those who lived on the fringes.

1992: Marlene Dietrich Takes Her Final Bow

On May 6, 1992, the world lost the ultimate “Androgynous Empress,” Marlene Dietrich. If Gaultier designed the uniform and Streisand provided the soundtrack, Dietrich was the one who taught us how to wear it.

Dietrich was openly bisexual, famously stating, “I am at heart a gentleman.” She wore tuxedos with a nonchalance that made them look more feminine than a gown, and she navigated the worlds of Berlin and Hollywood with a sexual fluidity that was decades ahead of its time. During WWII, she was a fierce anti-Nazi activist, proving that glamour and grit are not mutually exclusive. When she died in Paris at the age of 90, the queer world lost its most sophisticated ancestor—the woman who proved that you could conquer the world while refusing to play by its gendered rules.