Like the Academy Awards and Tony Awards, a considerable number of gay men have an affinity for the Kennedy Center Honors because of its celebration of personalities in the performing arts. Since the first awards were handed out in 1978 a steady stream of accomplished gay men have been chosen as honorees. However, not until 2015 year was a self-proclaimed lesbian awarded the honor - Lily Tomlin. (But rumored lesbians such as Mary Martin, Claudette Colbert, Katharine Hepburn and Dolly Parton have been honored). The ceremony takes place in early December, with the President and First Lady in attendance (the exception has been Trump and Melania); the telecast of the event usually airs a few days after Christmas on CBS. Interestingly, the colors of the award's sash are those of the rainbow flag. In 2002 DC's Gay Men's Chorus performed as part of the tribute to Elizabeth Taylor.
2014 honoree, Lily Tomlin
23 of the 213 recipients (through 2019) have been gay. In four of the years there were two gay inductees: 1979, 1986, 1993 and 2010. (In 1989 Claudette Colbert and Mary Martin were honorees). The longest stretch in which no gay honorees were named was the five years between 2005-2009 (this drought might be matched next year depending on 2019's announcement). Conversely, between 1979 and 1988 every year but one (1989) had a gay recipient.
GAY HONOREES
To be considered, a candidate must be living at the time of their induction. Of the 23 gay honorees (listed below), eight are still alive. The first gay honorees were Aaron Copland and Tennessee Williams in 1979. One glaring oversight was playwright and director Arthur Laurents (who died in 2011 at the age of 93). Perhaps it was because of his prickly personality?
Bill T. Jones
Aaron Copland (1979) - composer (died in 1990, age 90)
Tennessee Williams (1979) - novelist (died in 1983, age 73)
Leonard Bernstein (1980) - composer/conductor (died in 1990, age 72)
Jerome Robbins (1981) - choreographer (died in 1998, age 79)
Virgil Thomson (1982) - composer (died in 1989, age 92)
Gian Carlo Menotti (1984) - conductor/composer (died in 2007, age 95)
Frederick Loewe (1985) – lyricist (died in 1988, age 86)
Merce Cunningham (1986) - dancer/choreographer (died in 2009, age 90)
Antony Tudor (1986) - ballet choreographer (died in 1987, age 79)
Alwin Nikolais (1987) - dancer/choreographer (died in 1993, age 82)
Alvin Ailey (1988) - dancer/choreographer (died in 1989, age 58)
Stephen Sondheim (1993) - composer/lyricist (born in 1930)
Arthur Mitchell (1993) - dancer/choreographer (died in 2018, age 84)
Edward Albee (1996) - playwright (died in 2016, age 88)
Fred Ebb & John Kander (1998) - lyricists (Ebb died in 2004, age 76; Kander is still alive, born in 1927)
Van Cliburn (2001) - pianist (died in 2013, age 78)
James Levine (2002) - conductor (born in 1943)
Elton John (2004) - singer/composer/pianist (born in 1947)
Bill T Jones (2010) - dancer/choreographer (born in 1952)
Jerry Herman (2010) - lyricist and composer (died in 2019, age 88)
Lily Tomlin (2014) - actress/comedian (born in 1939)
Michael Tilson Thomas (2019) - conductor, pianist and composer (born in 1944)
Other lesbians worthy of consideration for future induction may include Jodie Foster, Cherry Jones, Melissa Etheridge and Cynthia Nixon. And Johnny Mathis, Terrence McNally, Tommy Tune and Richard Chamberlain are worthy candidates on the gay male side.
GAY ICONS/DIVAS
Although not gay themselves, sixteen recipients, all women, have the distinction of being gay icons. The most recent was Cher, in 2018. Another icon, Maria Callas, likely would have been honored but she died the year before the first Kennedy Center Honors (at the very young age of 53).
Ella Fitzgerald (1979)
Martha Graham (1979)
Leontyne Price (1980)
Lucille Ball (1986)
Bette Davis (1987)
Katharine Hepburn (1990)
Aretha Franklin (1994)
Judith Jamison (1999)
Angela Lansbury (2000)
Chita Rivera (2002)
Elizabeth Taylor (2002)
Dolly Parton (2006)
Diana Ross (2007)
Barbra Streisand (2008)
Barbara Cook (2011)
Cher (2018)
