What do rainbows and Judy Garland have in common? They’re both associated with the gay community. There’s truly no place like home when you’re from Grand Rapids, Minnesota (not to be confused with the one in Michigan) and your dad is on the run from being outed as a gay man. Unfortunately, Judy’s mom wasn’t any better - she was a helicopter mom willing to do anything to make her daughter famous, including sleeping with executives, bullying and abandoning her daughter, and feeding her drugs throughout her youth to keep her peppy and thin. Judy’s life devolved from there; she hopped from addiction to addiction and husband to husband, desperate for the genuine love she never received from her mother. If it seems ironic that someone with such a challenging childhood became the poster child for positivity in the Wizard of Oz, then you still have plenty to learn about starlets in the 1930s! We’re going on an adventure down the yellow brick road, so click those heels together three times and remember that all you need for the journey is a brain, a heart and a little bit of courage. It’d probably help if you left the barbiturates back in Kansas…
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