R.I.P. Donna, Even If You Didn't Totally Love Us

She may have tried to deny some very homophobic comments she was said to have made during a concert in 1983, just as AIDS was hitting the news, but Donna Summer has long been thought of as a homophobe who was ultimately ungrateful to the gay community who were, arguably, the sole reason she was ever famous. Even this Sadvocate writer tried to make sense of it all after news of her death at age 63 arrived yesterday. (He admits than when he asked her in a 2008 interview if she supported gay marriage, she wouldn't give him a clear answer.) Anyway, we don't care that much. The gays have loved a lot of people over time who probably didn't care too much for them — we could name a handful of gay-for-pay porn stars, to begin with, who all are kind of troubled in their own right but have no real love for the fags. And Donna's music was the soundtrack to mainstream gay life of the late 70s, at a moment before AIDS and before Donna became born-again, and we'd prefer to focus on that moment. So, here's a scene from the film that won Donna her Oscar for Best Song, Thank God It's Friday. See you on the flipside, lady.