Orville Peck’s Rodeo Primed to Dismantle a Tired Image

Nashville is a city with a lot of closets, and we’re not just talking about empty luxury apartments proliferating wherever a venue, restaurant or funky tradition threatened to become just a bit too beloved. But there is a residual kayfabe to show business when it comes to queerness — an unspoken détente that accepts showmanship and flamboyance in the context of performance. Liberace, Johnny Mathis, Jim Nabors, Barry Manilow — again and again we find examples of beloved gay performers who were allowed to coexist with the traditional fame track, cultivating audiences who would happily vote against their interests but who didn’t dig too deep or ask too many questions as long as they were sufficiently entertained.