VILLAGE PEOPLE'S DAVID HODO, C. 1979
Village People weren't the first, or only, mainstream act to slyly infiltrate gay iconography into Middle America; in 1976, the film Lifeguard introduced the Castro Clone to the world, via one Sam Elliot.
A few years later, Al Parker became the biggest gay porn star in the world, sporting a startlingly similar look (if a bit less feathered).
To the pioneering ambassador of the Castro Clone look to society at large, we say, Happy Birthday, Sam Elliot! (August 9, 1944)
SCREEN CAPTURES FROM THE SAM ELLIOT TRIBUTE PAGE
