Back To Black: Five reasons Amy Winehouse was loved by the LGBTQ+ community

Newly-released Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black has divided the critics. While some reviewers have dubbed it a “grotesque insult” and a “poor, poor piece of filmmaking”, others believe Marisa Abela’s “extraordinary” performance in the lead role saved Sam Taylor-Johnson’s film from disaster.

Fans may feel Back To Black is morally indefensible, considering it’s another in a long line of media artefacts to paw back over the singer’s struggles with bulimia and substance abuse. The singer died of alcohol poisoning in July 2011, age the age of just 27.

But one thing is certain: nothing can taint Winehouse’s legacy.

Everyone saw something in Winehouse that they admired: be it her unfiltered lyricism, her distinctly coarse vocals, or her unflinchingly ballsy attitude.

For a generation of LGBTQ+ people and artists, it was a combination of the lot. Here are five reasons why she was, and always will be, cherished by the LGBTQ+ community.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('Desktop_Pagicle_Content_1'); }); Amy wasn’t shy about owning and exploring her own sexuality

Winehouse was never afraid to touch on her sexuality, even if it often came out in jest. There was the time she called a reporter “fit” after describing her own Brit Awards performance as a “piece of sh*t”.

Then, she told Perez Hilton that she was off to have sex after their interview, and on another occasion she apparently joked that she only turned into a lesbian after “four sambucas”.

Outside of her songs this is an Amy Winehouse moment that always lives rent free in my head ✨