Divine was an icon in the LGBT+ community, as well as in the film and music industries as a renowned actor and singer. Harris Glenn Milstead, best known for his characterization as a drag queen in the 1972 film Pink Flamingos, also gained recognition in the music industry.
The characters he played during his career were extremely bizarre, powerful, and for many repulsive; the proof of this is the final scene of Pink Flamingos, his most famous and controversial film. Despite his flamboyant make-up, his outspoken personality, and the way he made fun of himself, Divine managed to shatter all the extremely conservative norms of the time’s society and even stereotypes within the drag community.
Who Was Divine?
Milstead, better known as Divine suffered from harassment due to his overweight, to such an extent that he had to attend school accompanied by an escort. However, over time he learned to laugh at this and took it as a banner to confront anyone who made fun of him.
During the early years of his career, Divine did not speak about his sexual preferences, yet he brought immense visibility to the LGBT+ community, which to this day, he continues to inspire. In 1980 he began working in the music industry and his songs were produced by Bobby Orlando. One of his biggest hits was “You Think You’re A Man” in 1984.
There is one important factor in Divine’s life and career, and that is the presence of John Waters in his life. The two met as teenagers, and Waters convinced Milstead to participate in his short and feature films. Waters gave him his stage name and created a series of extravagant characters presided over by the exaggeration of the traits that most characterized Divine and that everyone else hated, applying the saying “he who laughs last, laughs best.”
Despite his success, Milstead did not like to cross-dress, as he considered it extremely uncomfortable and made him sweat too much. For this reason, he only dressed in women’s clothes when he had to film a movie or give a presentation, as he was aware that this would help him achieve stardom.
Milstead knew that his popularity was because he was a cross-dressing man playing the role of a biological woman, but he always dreamed of making his way into mainstream cinema. Although he was a serious and persevering performer, many producers felt that hiring a man who made his living playing women was extremely risky and wanted to venture out and hire him.
Ursula in The Little Mermaid
Sadly, when he was finally able to show her potential in Hairspray and was beginning to make his way into mainstream cinema, in 1988 he passed away due to cardiomyopathy. However, his legacy did not end there, as Divine inspired the looks and personality of Ursula, the villain in The Little Mermaid, thanks to Howard Ashman, executive producer of Disney, who, besides being from Baltimore, was also a great admirer of Divine.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva.