![]() Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Hundson’s Medicine Show (a show that literally sold snake oil to the audience), Richard would perform in a red dress as “Princess Lavonne.” He later learned more about queer fashion styling from another gender-bending performer in the lineup, Esquerita. In his early days as an independent musician performing in Dr. Related: 3 gay musicians just got fired from their Catholic church because, you know… gay His dad then kicked him out for being gay at age 15 and was shot and killed by a customer outside of his own nightclub when Richard was 19. Richard was born with a slight limp which, along with his preference of playing “house” with girls, compelled other kids to call him a “faggot, sissy, freak.” He was molested by men in his hometown of Macon, Georgia (sometimes for money), and his father, Charles Penniman, brutally beat him for wearing his mom’s clothes and makeup at age six. Although he’s hailed as a queer icon and a self-described “The King and Queen of Rock and Roll,” his flamboyant iconic style differed from the anti-gay Christianity he espoused later in life, leaving behind a truly conflicted legacy. After recent health struggles following hip problems, a stroke, and a heart attack, Little Richard (birth name Richard Wayne Penniman) died of bone cancer on Saturday, May 9 at the age of 87.
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