London will dedicate an exhibition to public figures admired by gays. The "Gay Icon" exhibition will be exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery – the National Portrait Museum. Among those chosen is the American Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician to be elected to public office in the United States, in the late 70s. Heterosexual characters will also be among the selected photos. Nelson Mandela is one of them.
Ten homosexual people were interviewed to say who they would like to see in a photo. Elton John chose the photo of Russian maestro Mstislav Rostroprovich. Actor Ian McKellen (Magneto, in the X-Men trilogy) chose Milk's photo. "Gay Icon" runs from July 02nd until October 18th.
Other characters, gay or not, who will appear there are the painters David Hockney and Francis Bacon, the writers Daphne Du Maurier, Viginia Woolfy and Patrícia Highsmith, the poet Walt Whitman, the composer Piotr Tchaikovsky and Princess Diana. There will also be photos taken by Andy Warhol displayed in the exhibition.
