Remembering Dolly Parton: 7 Times the Icon Was a True LGBTQ+ Ally
We loved her and she loved us back.
Today, humanity lost one of its best: Dolly Parton. The singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and amusement park co-owner brought not only the joy of her art to the world, but also used her position and resources to make the world a better place.
She founded the Imagination Library in 1995, which mails age-appropriate books to children every month until they are five. She funded education scholarships, stepped in with money through her My People Fund to help families after fires, hurricanes, and floods, and, during the pandemic, donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help fund critical research into the Moderna vaccine. She was also a secret, uncredited executive producer of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.
Her passing at age 80 leaves a hole in the world and in our hearts, and in no small part because of her unequivocal support of the LGBTQ+ community.
In memory of Parton, we look back at 7 times this icon was a true ally to us, and why our love for her always felt reciprocal.
Dolly was an honorary drag queen — and she even moonlighted as one at her own lookalike contest. Which, by the way, she didn’t win. Parton recounted the time she entered a West Hollywood Dolly drag contest during an interview with Good Morning America. “True or false,” Host Robin Roberts asked. “You once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest.”
Parton confirmed it was true and added, “At a Halloween contest years ago on Santa Monica Boulevard where all the guys were dressed up like me and I just overexaggerated my look and went in and just walked up on stage. … I didn’t win. I didn’t even come in close, I don’t think.”
The time she called out judgy Christians
Parton was always one to call out unchristianlike behavior, particularly when it came to defending her queer fans, friends, and family. In an interview with Billboard in 2014, the singer called out those who sit in judgment of LGBTQ+ people. “[Dollywood is] a place for entertainment, a place for all families, period. It’s for all that. But as far as the Christians, if people want to pass judgment, they’re already sinning. The sin of judging is just as bad as any other sin they might say somebody else is committing. I try to love everybody.”
That time she called us family
Parton always sang from the heart. It’s one of the reasons her songs connect and endure. So when, in her 1991 album Eagle When She Flies, she called us family in the song, well, “Family,” it meant everything: “Some are preachers / some are gay / some are addicts, drunks and strays / But not a one is turned away when it’s family.”
The song is still performed in one of the revues at Dollywood, the star’s legendary Tennessee amusement park. While the song hasn’t aged, um, perfectly, the meaning and intention still ring true.
That time she made it clear that Dollywood was for us, too
If anyone knew how to make it right and lead with kindness, it was Dolly, even when mistakes were made. In 2011, a young woman visiting Dollywood was forced to turn her pro-marriage equality T-shirt inside out. When word got back to the singer, she released a powerful apology statement, making it clear exactly where she stood (with us, always):
“I am truly sorry for the hurt or embarrassment regarding the gay and lesbian T-shirt incident at Dollywood’s Splash Country recently. Everyone knows of my personal support of the gay and lesbian community. Dollywood is a family park and all families are welcome… I am looking further into the incident and hope and believe it was more policy than insensitivity. I am very sorry it happened at all,” said the singer.
That time she called out trans bathroom bans
One of Dolly’s greatest gifts was her ability to call out injustice with humor and common sense that was undeniable. A perfect example of that was when the singer was asked about anti-transgender bathroom bans. Speaking with CNN Money in 2016, Parton said, “I think everybody should be treated with respect. I don’t judge people and I try not to get too caught up in the controversy of things. I hope that everybody gets a chance to be who and what they are. I just know, if I have to pee, I’m gon’ pee, wherever it’s got to be.”
Dolly Parton poses for a studio portrait in Lake Tahoe, California, December 31, 1989. Photo by Ron Davis/Getty Images
And that wasn’t the only time she spoke up in support of trans folks.
In 2023, she reiterated her support trans people in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I just want everybody to be treated good,” she began when asked about discriminatory anti-trans laws being passed in Tennessee. “I try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it. I have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees. I’ve got transgender people. I’ve got gays. I’ve got lesbians. I’ve got drunks. I’ve got drug addicts — all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge,” she said.
She continued. “That’s who they are. They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton… But we are all God’s children and how we are is who we are.”
That time she stood up for gay marriage
While “love is love” can sometimes be a bit of a cliché, when Parton said it, we believed it. She was a supporter of marriage equality as far back as 2009, when she spoke up in support of same-sex couples in Australia who were fighting for equal marriage rights down under.
During an interview with the Australian morning show News Breakfast, Parton joked, “Why can’t they be as miserable as us heterosexuals in their marriages?”
She followed it with a more serious answer. “I think love is love and we have no control over that… I think people should be allowed to [marry]. I’m not God, you know. I believe in God, I think God is the judge. I don’t judge or criticize and I don’t think we’re supposed to.”
That time she wrote a song for a trans film
Parton didn’t just speak up for queer folks, she sang her support, too. Not only was there the aforementioned “Family,” but in 2005 she released “Travelin’ Thru,” a beautiful song that was written for the 2005 film Transamerica.
On her website, Parton described what inspired the song. “Some people are blind or ignorant, and you can’t be that prejudiced and hateful and go through this world and still be happy,” she wrote. “One thing about this movie is that I think art can change minds. It’s alright to be who you are.”
Today, we mourn one of the best of us. An artist who led with love, reminded those around her not to judge, and whose kindness was legendary. She will be missed.
