Gays have had a subjugation closer to that of women than of Blacks and Jews. AIDS is the closest we’ve come to having an evil befall us that, at least at the outset, was singularly ours. We’ve been appendix sufferers during a lot of historical calamities and horrors. During the Holocaust, we were there, just off to the side. During the Communist witch hunt of the 1950′s, fearmongering over the “homosexual perverts” brought us along for the ride.
But I’m a blessing counter. I’m grateful we’ve been spared such old racist cartoon chestnuts like this:
Or this:
That last one belongs to an early 1940′s Bugs Bunny called “Nip the Nips!” Us gays have been spared these historical black eyes, unless you get angry at Bugs Bunny in a dress, at which point I’ll direct you to calm yourself. Frankly, this absence is due probably more to the fact that nobody wanted to “expose” us to kids, even in a negative light.
No, our mud-in-the-eye came in entertainment for grown-ups. I will now direct your attention to a 1970′s variety show clip, courtesy of Everything is Terrible, where “Get Smart”‘s Don Adams and Don Rickles discover that, well, I’ll just let you watch it…
See? We do have a little place in history to call our own.
1 comment
Michael Russo says:
Aug 19, 2011
It is just so ironic and uncanny how BLATANT this is but also how innocent (questionable) at the same time…compared to today and how things are conveyed in order to send a message or poke fun at a certain group. Oh world!
Love the layers and dimensions of your site!