ARE YOU A FRIEND OF DOROTHY?

Before “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!,” there was the quiet rebellion of “Are you a friend of Dorothy?”

Hoping to find community hidden in plain sight due to bigotry in early-20th-century America, many LGBTQ people would ask others the titular question; a yes meant that the other person was also queer. Stonewall Award winner Lukoff presents a straightforward look at the origins and effects of this simple yet effective inquiry. Who was the “Dorothy” in question—could she have been famed author Dorothy Parker? Or Dorothy Gale, the protagonist of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, played by gay icon Judy Garland? While the text is light on concrete facts about this query (a section is devoted to the imagined pursuits of trench coat–clad government officials seeking out “Dorothy”), it more than compensates by effectively showcasing the unabashed joy of living one’s most authentic life, showcased in Hastings’ energetic, appealingly retro digital art, populated by diverse characters. Lukoff notes that while we’ve made progress since then, queer people still face discrimination and prejudice. But, he adds, “we still know how to find our community. And learning about the ways we survived in the past could help people in the future.”

A historical look at the importance of community, now more relevant than ever.