What I give to Gaga was that she was very open about it from the start, which was refreshing, most gay icons in the past had very stealthy ways of showing support for gay people, but Gaga was upfront, even Halford and Freddie, whom I admire immensely, weren't really open from the start, much less at the top of their careers, Gaga was. Of course that is also a sign of changing times, and Gaga took advantage of that, I hold nothing against Freddie Mercury or Halford, they are from very different eras, being open would have probably doomed their careers, despite their insane talent.
And even now, when there's much more acceptance, still few pop acts have that "upfrontness" about it like Gaga does. Of course it is now part of her persona, she can't drop it.
Lady Gaga's music isn't even good. I wish Lana Del Rey would be considered the "gay icon" over Gaga.
I remember feeling crazy shocked about Lana's music, it felt so refreshing and interesting, but after repeated listening you can tell the music is as "prefabricated" as any other pop diva act, but it fooled me for a while.
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