Gay as an Object of Mirth?

Being gay is tragic, but it is also comical, and a healthier perspective toward homosexuality sometimes is to laugh at it.

PUBLISHED ON

January 17, 2025

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Gays online were hootin’ and hollerin’ last week when Anita Bryant died. They danced on her grave, as they are wont to do. 

You may not remember Anita Bryant. At a tender age, she won Arthur Godfrey’s Amateur Hour talent contest, a huge deal at the time. She went on to win Miss Oklahoma in 1958 and became runner up for Miss America. 

She had a long and very popular singing career, top-ten hits and all, and eventually became national spokesman for the Florida Citrus Association. Some may remember, “A breakfast without orange juice is a day without sunshine.” 

Orthodox. Faithful. Free.

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She toured with Bob Hope, entertaining American troops around the world. She sang at the Super Bowl (how far we have fallen to Beyoncé). Bryant sang at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. She was widely loved in a Pat Boone kind of way. A different and far better America. 

And then along came gay. She became a crusader against the nascent gay rights campaign. She fell into disfavor with Hollywood. Even Johnny Carson mocked her. Perhaps her most famous moment was when a homosexual activist assaulted her with a pie in the face at an Iowa press conference. 

Her response was an exemplar of poise and class. She said, “At least it was a fruit pie.” For those too young, “fruit” was an adjective used quite commonly about homosexuals. And then she said her attacker, who is said to have coined the term “gay pride,” should be allowed to stay; and then she prayed for him. 

One is reminded of the poise and presence of mind of Ronald Reagan when he was shot. He said to his wife, “Honey, I forgot to duck.” You can also think of Donald Trump when he stood and said, “Fight, fight, fight.” It takes a lifetime of poise to come up with things like that under such duress. 

Putting that aside, let us look at her use of the word “fruit.” Such adjectives are now forbidden. One may no longer say fruit, fruity, light in the loafers, or, God forbid, homo.  Columnist Mark Steyn came under fire at National Review for mentioning jokes that are no longer allowed. 

After California passed the 1975 Consenting Adult Sex Bill, Bob Hope said, “I’ve just flow in from California, where they’ve made homosexuality legal. I thought I’d get out before they made it compulsory.”

Steyn then repeated a joke Dean Martin would tell with Frank Sinatra. 

Martin: “How do you make a fruit cordial?” [Fruit cordial was a drink.]

Sinatra: “I dunno. How do you make a fruit cordial?” 

Martin: “Be nice to him.” 

Keep in mind, however, even Middle America has loved certain gay characters; the lisping author Truman Capote, the flamboyant entertainer Liberace, game show figure Paul Lynde. Flamers all. Oh, you cannot say “flamer” anymore. 

But is it possible that gay characters are back as objects of mirth? There was a wonderful movie out last year about the moon shot called Fly Me to the Moon. Starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson, one of the film’s characters is a gay New York advertising director performed by Jim Rash, who plays the character with over-the-top bitchiness, a comic even mocking turn. Even so, it is done and received with affection.  Is it possible that gay characters are back as objects of mirth?Tweet This

And then there are those videos on the internet of little girls and their dads mocking that fake gay voice. There are dozens of them. 

They go like this. A little girl is standing at the stove, stirring a pot, and she calls off camera to her father, “Dad, can you come and taste this? It tastes a little zesty.” She hits “little zesty” in the broadest gay way. Then the father comes into frame, tastes the dish, turns to the camera and repeats the line very, very gay. Did I tell you that voice is an affectation, not found in nature? They are funny videos, all the more so because they are at the very edge of unacceptable. 

All of this brings to mind that gay is funny. The image of two men kissing is comical, comical but also tragic. After all, the day junior announces to his father that he wants to be treated like a woman is always a sad day. And the comical response to the condition will not be kept down. I have heard high schoolers now use a code word for gay. Since, you can longer say “that is so gay,” they have come up with “that’s so 3139.” Look up elements 31 and 39 on the periodic table. 

Was the mirth formerly used commonly toward all things gay a healthy response? Maybe it hurt feelings. Without a doubt, it was used as bullying. Even now, when I am on social media talking about this issue, the gay guys inevitably use the old playground slur, “you are so gay.”

There was a time when America was all about good-natured ribbing. The Italians would mock the Irish, the Irish would mock the Poles. Of course, good natured ribbing can go over the line. But wasn’t that a better way than living in a constant state of outrage? Anita Bryant was among the first victims of cancel culture. She lost almost everything. She did, however, outlive her pie attacker by a good 44 years. He died of AIDS. And all along, she was right about everything, no matter how they still mock her. 

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1 thought on “Gay as an Object of Mirth?”

  1. “After California passed the 1975 Consenting Adult Sex Bill, Bob Hope said, “I’ve just flow in from California, where they’ve made homosexuality legal. I thought I’d get out before they made it compulsory.””

    Great foresight, and we laugh because we all know now that “an acceptance of unnatural acts” is certainly compulsory. But what is driving this need for acceptance, and the crushing of anyone who dares not kowtow?
    Conscience.

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