Released in 1990, the music video for Madonna’s song “Justify My Love” exploded onto the pop-culture scene as nothing before. Because of its overtly explicit imagery involving male and female homosexuality, MTV made the unprecedented move to ban the video from its programming. This only caused the video to rise in importance and the VHS-single sold out everywhere. In addition, Madonna cast her then boyfriend Tony Ward, who had previously been known mainly as a fashion model and sometime gay porn actor in naked solo films, in the video. This decision was groundbreaking as it marked a major cultural blending of what was considered conventional and pornographic. At the same time, Madonna made a point to openly cavort in front of the paparazzi with out-lesbian actress Sandra Bernhard. In particular, the gay community was the most heavily impacted by the controversy. For, it pushed ahead the main-stream acceptance of both gay culture and homoerotic iconography. Without it, “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry would have been impossible. Now, under-age looking teen girls strike a lesbo-chic pose for white middle-class clothing brand American Apparel.
