Vanishing Gay Cultural References

[cabinfever]

Every time I had to look at or hear kathie lee gifford I was reminded of anita bryant

 

[KaraBulut]

Every time I had to look at or hear kathie lee gifford I was reminded of anita bryant

Every time I see Kathie Lee, I picture her son-in-law's moose knuckle.

View attachment WierdaBen_FamilyFeud-1.mp4

 

[cabinfever]

Every time I see Kathie Lee, I picture her son-in-law's moose knuckle.

View attachment 1957487

That is definitely a far more pleasant image.

All I see when I see Kathy is Anita Bryants buddy and nanny.

If I am ever forced to look at her again I will turn my attention to the son-in-law

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

Anita Bryant is still alive, even though her career is long dead.

Actually, in the 1990s, she restarted her career with her own theater in Branson, Missouri -- the perfect place for her. Usually two daytime shows a day with almost entirely senior citizen crowd. The artist-writer Gary Indiana (né Gary Hoisington) did a excellent long article about Branson, one in which Bryant featured heavily, in The Village Voice in the '90s, but it doesn't seem to be available online. Meanwhile, there's a Washington Post feature (with a clever headline, if you can figure it out) from the same era that's wroth a look: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...tituted/6f6ea068-dc02-4308-b9d3-a7f28a12be2f/.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

Damn. Kathleen did that whole chase scene in heels.

 

[KaraBulut]

Actually, in the 1990s, she restarted her career with her own theater in Branson, Missouri -- the perfect place for her. Usually two daytime shows a day with almost entirely senior citizen crowd. The artist-writer Gary Indiana (né Gary Hoisington) did a excellent long article about Branson, one in which Bryant featured heavily, in The Village Voice in the '90s, but it doesn't seem to be available online. Meanwhile, there's a Washington Post feature (with a clever headline, if you can figure it out) from the same era that's wroth a look: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...tituted/6f6ea068-dc02-4308-b9d3-a7f28a12be2f/.

Interesting quote in the article:

She doesn't have a thing against homosexuals. She could care less. She doesn't believe that's the way God's plan is -- and if you're a Christian you can't believe it, because they can't reproduce. But we have homosexuals all over this dumb town. Who cares? We have two homosexuals in our own theater who live together. Who cares?

She's 82. Her enemies remember her but not with fondness. I suspect her remaining "fans" have gone to the great All-American theme park in the sky by now.

The irony is that if not for her "I'm right, they're wrong" attitude in the 70s and 80s, she would have been a gay icon. She was pretty, a little retro-styled, had a decent voice and sunny disposition. Her troubles were a self-immolation. She probably views herself as Job from the Old Testament.

 

[KaraBulut]

Damn. Kathleen did that whole chase scene in heels.

Wouldn't you?

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

I managed to master running in flip-flops, but not heels.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

I managed to master running in flip-flops, but not heels.

Of course Mrs. Sutphin would probably kill me for that ...

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

The irony is that if not for her "I'm right, they're wrong" attitude in the 70s and 80s, she would have been a gay icon. She was pretty, a little retro-styled, had a decent voice and sunny disposition. Her troubles were a self-immolation. She probably views herself as Job from the Old Testament.

Yes, I noticed that quote from her (second) husband. Did you notice the hint he discreetly gave immediately before that? He was saying as clearly as he dared to a national newspaper that the whole anti-gay crusade was her first husband's idea.

You're totally right that she could have been a gay icon. The Disney World gay crowd in particular would have adored her.

(By the way, I like the new avatar. Nicer to see protection from the Evil Eye than to see said Eye itself.)

 

[cabinfever]

Yes, I noticed that quote from her (second) husband. Did you notice the hint he discreetly gave immediately before that? He was saying as clearly as he dared to a national newspaper that the whole anti-gay crusade was her first husband's idea.

You're totally right that she could have been a gay icon. The Disney World gay crowd in particular would have adored her.

(By the way, I like the new avatar. Nicer to see protection from the Evil Eye than to see said Eye itself.)

So, in other words. her first husband was gay?

The thou doth protest too much is a giveaway.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

We'll probably never know.

 

[KaraBulut]

Yes, I noticed that quote from her (second) husband. Did you notice the hint he discreetly gave immediately before that? He was saying as clearly as he dared to a national newspaper that the whole anti-gay crusade was her first husband's idea.

What I remember from the time was that they claimed their church and pastor pushed them into activism. Jerry Falwell Sr was also a big promoter. There were rumors that both Anita and her husband were carrying on affairs outside their marriage. Why their marriage fell apart so quickly was never really explained but since the marriage was built around Bob Green's management of Bryant's income, the decline in income and bankruptcy was probably a big part of it.

Because karma is a bitch, there's another epitaph: their grand-daughter is a lesbian who is married to a woman:

Anita Bryant, Notorious Anti-LGBTQ+ Crusader, Now Has a Bisexual Granddaughter

Sarah Green is getting married to a woman and isn’t sure whether to invite her infamously homophobic grandmother to the wedding.

www.them.us

And Jerry Falwell Jr got the boot after it was discovered that he liked to masturbate while watching a Miami poolboy fuck his wife.

(By the way, I like the new avatar. Nicer to see protection from the Evil Eye than to see said Eye itself.)

Nazar and Hamsa are universal symbols to prevent bad luck and covetousness. Anywhere you go from Greece through India, you'll see "the eye to prevent the evil eye".

 

[KaraBulut]

Dark Shadows was a gothic soap opera that was on network television from 1966 through 1971. The serial came on daily around the time that most kids were getting home from school, so it was very popular with school age children who liked the horror genre.

The show was originally a vehicle for Joan Bennett, a stage and movie actress who was in her mid-50s and had recently divorced. The show was shot live for several years from a NYC soundstage and it featured many stage actors from NYC.

It was also very gay. Many of the recurring characters were portrayed by gay actors.

The show was not successful at first. It wasn't until a couple of years into the show when the show introduced Barnabas Collins, a vampire from the past who had been chained into his coffin in the year 1797. I recently watched a few of the old episodes and it dawned on me that Barnabas had a manservant named Willie Loomis. Willie lives with Barnabas. He's often in Barnabas' room. He and Barnabas have a long term cohabitation arrangement.

One detail that had never noticed: the male vampires on the show only bite women on camera. When they suck the blood of men, the camera always cuts away.

The show also featured a lot of the young actors without a shirt or in very tight pants.

Among the actors on the show were:

Joel Crothers - openly gay in real life, he had the Tom Selleck look before Tom Selleck did. He died of AIDS in 1985.

Louis Edmonds: who portrayed Roger Collins, the patriarch of the Collins family, was openly gay in real life. He's pictured here with Jonathan Frid, who portrayed Barnabas Collins. Frid was gay but was closeted until late in his life:

Jonathan Frid was a classically trained Canadian Shakespearean actor. He wasn't traditionally handsome but, like many vampires, he had a strange sexual appeal for people who were fans of the show. There was gossip at the time that Frid was always getting young, attractive male actor "friends" hired for bit parts on the show.

Don Briscoe, who portrayed werewolf Chris Jennings, was always losing his shirt when he changed into into the wolf. Briscoe appeared in "Boys In The band" on stage while on the show.

Christopher Bernau did the opening voiceover and portrayed Philip Todd on the show. He later went on to portray Alan Spaulding on "The Guiding Light". He died of AIDS in 1989.

Keith Prentice was also in "The Boys In The Band". He portrayed Morgan Collins on Dark Shadows. He died of AIDS in 1992.



Christopher Pennock: always played young studly love interests including Gabriel Collins. He was straight in real life.

Michael Stroka was straight but during his time on the show was featured, usually shirtless, in fan magazines of the period that were popular with gay men.

Jim Storm was another straight actor who portrayed the evil warlock Gerard Styles. Storm continued acting on shows like "The Doctors" and "The Bold and The Beautiful".

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

I loooooved Dark Shadows. Thing is, though, I can now remember very little about it.

 

[KaraBulut]

I loooooved Dark Shadows. Thing is, though, I can now remember very little about it.

The entire series is available on Amazon Prime.

 

[cabinfever]

^^^That reminds me. Before I became a General Hospital addict I was watching The Edge of Night and Joel was part of the cast....he was a Doctor.

Dennis Parker (who I had a crush on) was also on Edge of Night and I LOVED watching him and he also died of AIDS early in the pandemic. He also had a "disco hit" that was awful but I bought it just for the cover.

 

[KaraBulut]

Dennis Parker (who I had a crush on) was also on Edge of Night and I LOVED watching him and he also died of AIDS early in the pandemic. He also had a "disco hit" that was awful but I bought it just for the cover.

Dennis Parker's disco hit was produced (i.e. paid for) by his boyfriend.

Also- fun fact - Dennis Parker was also known as Wade Nichol. He did several porn films under that name.

 

[cabinfever]

^^^ I watched his porn scenes many many many times

 

[cabinfever]

.....and then there is the Broadway an Broadway inspired "stuff" and lots of it.