Mr. Rogers stated that he had no problem with Clemmons being gay, but said he had to keep this secret for the sake of his show. It’s shitty and it doesn’t give context on exactly why Mr. Rogers told him this (except for the show being his dream that he didn’t want to jeopardize), but I think it was possibly related to the social climate of things at the time. The gay community was facing persecution also, so I think this was Mr. Rogers trying to weather a storm so that his show could persist and continue to help people. My theory is that he probably had bigoted folks in upper management that thought bringing a black and gay man onto the show was a bridge too far for them, and Mr. Rogers didn’t want to see his dream disappear.
In the end, it probably saved both of their careers, but it’s really terrible. It was also during times when folks stayed closeted in order to not lose everything they’ve built career and reputation-wise.
Remember that even into the 90’s Jerry Fallwell was having a meltdown because he thought the purple teletubby was gay. That Lance Bass or George Micheal or Ricky Martin didn’t feel safe coming out.
The way it comes across is at first some religious but good natured homophobia, but later an acknowledgement that you simply could not have an American children’s show at any point in the 60’s - 90’s with an openly gay man.
I love that Rogers supported Clemmons and truly had no issue with his sexual orientation. Rogers could’ve simply said to not be openly gay on his show, but he went as far as advising him for the long haul. If you read this as a single headline, it’s way too easy to misconstrue as homophobia, but the reality was that Rogers had a deep understanding of society and how to traverse it to survive and have a career in such socially chaotic times.
At some point, someone has to be the first person to come out or it never happens. The Stonewall Riots were a turning point in large part because they illustrated how The Closet could easily become a coffin LGBTQ folks were buried in, if they weren’t recognized as deserving the same civil rights as their straight peers.
Fred Rogers put the fate of the show and the careers involved ahead of the need for publicly accessible gay people. He wasn’t alone and the risks of coming out sooner were all real. But the consequence of a collective closeting of the community was the delaying of the fight for their civil rights for decades. It could further be argued that this mass closeting contributed to the deliberate foot-dragging by state and federal officials in addressing the AIDS epidemic.
I don’t know anyone over 40 who can’t name a family member or a friend who wasn’t lost to this horrifying disease. Huge swaths of the LGBTQ community were functionally exterminated by a national health system that undermined efforts to diagnose, treat, and develop cures for the disease. What ultimately outed so many gay men across the Americas and Europe was their obituary.
Precisely the opposite take to mine. He was gay and accepted by Fred Rogers when that was rare. And Fred later expressed remorse at telling him it would be best not to come out. The word “shamed” in your comment is not remotely fair either
Fair. Shamed probably is the wrong word and I shouldn’t purport to know about what actually went down aside from a possibly misremembered documentary I watched once.
Yeah. It was something that deserves some critique, but I think ultimately at that point in history, sadly, Rogers was right. It wouldn’t have gone well, in the shortterm at least
Yeah, you gotta remember it’s 60 years later and we’re only just starting to see LGBTQ+ representation in kids media, and even now it comes with significant pushback.
My dad was alive at the time and rolled with the freak crowd (LGBT, hippies, what would one day be called punks, etc )when he heard about that story he immediately said it made sense because “there were all lot of people who already wanted to string him up for his skin color, let alone being gay” with this really serious look on his face
God that shit is dire. It was literally the best of two options and it was still bad. Coming out would have pit both of them in danger and got the show canceled. Fuck the 60s.
In any case, the cultural revolution that gave us many modern tolerances and freedoms started then. Currently the conservatives are pushing back hard against most of that. The culture wars today are a backlash against the spirit of the sixties.
No need, he only played a cop on the show, his real occupation was singer, actor & lecturer.
And he was a gay guy that Mr. Rogers shamed into staying closeted.
Context for those wondering.
Mr. Rogers stated that he had no problem with Clemmons being gay, but said he had to keep this secret for the sake of his show. It’s shitty and it doesn’t give context on exactly why Mr. Rogers told him this (except for the show being his dream that he didn’t want to jeopardize), but I think it was possibly related to the social climate of things at the time. The gay community was facing persecution also, so I think this was Mr. Rogers trying to weather a storm so that his show could persist and continue to help people. My theory is that he probably had bigoted folks in upper management that thought bringing a black and gay man onto the show was a bridge too far for them, and Mr. Rogers didn’t want to see his dream disappear.
In the end, it probably saved both of their careers, but it’s really terrible. It was also during times when folks stayed closeted in order to not lose everything they’ve built career and reputation-wise.
Wikipedia:
Remember that even into the 90’s Jerry Fallwell was having a meltdown because he thought the purple teletubby was gay. That Lance Bass or George Micheal or Ricky Martin didn’t feel safe coming out.
The way it comes across is at first some religious but good natured homophobia, but later an acknowledgement that you simply could not have an American children’s show at any point in the 60’s - 90’s with an openly gay man.
I love that Rogers supported Clemmons and truly had no issue with his sexual orientation. Rogers could’ve simply said to not be openly gay on his show, but he went as far as advising him for the long haul. If you read this as a single headline, it’s way too easy to misconstrue as homophobia, but the reality was that Rogers had a deep understanding of society and how to traverse it to survive and have a career in such socially chaotic times.
At some point, someone has to be the first person to come out or it never happens. The Stonewall Riots were a turning point in large part because they illustrated how The Closet could easily become a coffin LGBTQ folks were buried in, if they weren’t recognized as deserving the same civil rights as their straight peers.
Fred Rogers put the fate of the show and the careers involved ahead of the need for publicly accessible gay people. He wasn’t alone and the risks of coming out sooner were all real. But the consequence of a collective closeting of the community was the delaying of the fight for their civil rights for decades. It could further be argued that this mass closeting contributed to the deliberate foot-dragging by state and federal officials in addressing the AIDS epidemic.
I don’t know anyone over 40 who can’t name a family member or a friend who wasn’t lost to this horrifying disease. Huge swaths of the LGBTQ community were functionally exterminated by a national health system that undermined efforts to diagnose, treat, and develop cures for the disease. What ultimately outed so many gay men across the Americas and Europe was their obituary.
Precisely the opposite take to mine. He was gay and accepted by Fred Rogers when that was rare. And Fred later expressed remorse at telling him it would be best not to come out. The word “shamed” in your comment is not remotely fair either
Fair. Shamed probably is the wrong word and I shouldn’t purport to know about what actually went down aside from a possibly misremembered documentary I watched once.
Yeah. It was something that deserves some critique, but I think ultimately at that point in history, sadly, Rogers was right. It wouldn’t have gone well, in the shortterm at least
Yeah, you gotta remember it’s 60 years later and we’re only just starting to see LGBTQ+ representation in kids media, and even now it comes with significant pushback.
Yeah. Only looking back from today can it stand any criticism at all. But that’s easy for us to do now
My dad was alive at the time and rolled with the freak crowd (LGBT, hippies, what would one day be called punks, etc )when he heard about that story he immediately said it made sense because “there were all lot of people who already wanted to string him up for his skin color, let alone being gay” with this really serious look on his face
He grew up in California, too, so yeah
God that shit is dire. It was literally the best of two options and it was still bad. Coming out would have pit both of them in danger and got the show canceled. Fuck the 60s.
Was this the 60s?
In any case, the cultural revolution that gave us many modern tolerances and freedoms started then. Currently the conservatives are pushing back hard against most of that. The culture wars today are a backlash against the spirit of the sixties.
Much respect for introspection 👍