Is the letter from Jeff Whitty of Avenue Q to Jay Leno genuine ?

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 5:16am

I am guessing everyone has seen the open letter circulating round the internet from Jeff Whitty to Jay Leno saying ennough is enough on the anti gay jokes.

I was just wondering if people know if it is genuinely from him or not ?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 6:27am

This is the first I've heard of this. How about giving us a link to the source material that you're talking about?

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:02am

I have since found out it was a letter from Jeff to Jay Leno and that they have subsequently discussed it on the phone:


April 20th, 2006

Dear Mr. Leno,

My name is Jeff Whitty. I live in New York City. I'm a playwright and the author of Avenue Q, which is a musical currently running on Broadway. I've been watching your show a bit, and I'd like to make an observation:

When you think of gay people, it's funny. They're funny folks. They wear leather. They like Judy Garland. They like disco music. They're sort of like Stepin Fetchit as channeled by Richard Simmons.

Gay people, to you, are great material.

Mr. Leno, let me share with you my view of gay people:

When I think of gay people, I think of the gay news anchor who took a tire iron to the head several times when he was vacationing in St. Martin. I think of my friend who was visiting Hamburger Mary's, a gay restaurant in Las Vegas, when a bigot threw a smoke bomb filled with toxic chemicals into the restaurant, leaving the staff and gay clientele coughing, puking, and running in terror. I think of visiting my gay friends at their house in the country, sitting outside for dinner, and hearing, within hundreds of feet of where we sat, taunting voices yelling "Faggots." I think of hugging my boyfriend goodbye for the day on 8th Avenue in Manhattan and being mocked and taunted by passing high school students.

When I think of gay people, I think of suicide. I think of a countless list of people who took their own lives because the world was so toxically hostile to them. Because of the deathly climate of the closet, we will never be able to count them. You think gay people are great material. I think of a silent holocaust that continues to this day. I think of a silent holocaust that is perpetuated by people like you, who seek to minimize us and make fun of us and who I suspect really, fundamentally wish we would just go away.

When I think of gay people, I think of a brave group that has made tremendous contributions to society, in arts, letters, science, philosophy, and politics. I think of some of the most hilarious people I know. I think of a group that has served as a cultural guardian for an ungrateful and ignorant America.

I think of a group of people who have undergone a brave act of inventing themselves. Every single out-of-the-closet gay person has had to say, "I am not part of mainstream society." Mr. Leno, that takes bigger balls than stepping out in front of TV-watching America every night. I daresay I suspect it takes bigger balls to come out of the closet than anything you have ever done in your life.

I know you know gay people, Mr. Leno. Are they just jokes to you, to be snickered at behind their backs? Despite the angry tenor of my letter, I suspect you're a better man than that. I don't bother writing letters to the "God Hates Fags" people, or Donald Wildmon, or the pope. But I think you can do better. I know it's The Tonight Show, not a White House press conference, but you reach a lot of people.

I caught your show when you had a tired mockery of Brokeback Mountain, involving something about a horse done up in what you consider a "gay" way. Man, that's dated. I turned the television off and felt pretty ****ing depressed. And now I understand your gay-baiting jokes have continued.

Mr. Leno, I have a sense of humor. It's my livelihood. And being gay has many hilarious aspects to it—none of which, I suspect, you understand. I'm tired of people like you. When I think of gay people, I think of centuries of suffering. I think of really, really good people who've been gravely mistreated for a long time now.

You've got to cut it out, Jay.

Sincerely,

Jeff Whitty

New York, N.Y.

[tthomas76]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:09am

WOW! Has Jay responded to this yet?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:46am

WOW. Jeff Whitty rocks. Good for him. And he put it so eloquently. Thanks Jeff, much appreciated by all of us.

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:23am

Here is an earlier thread on the subject posted on the Off-Topic board it explains the origin of the letter. It was originally posted on ATC by Seth Rudetsky.


http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=894643&boardname=bway

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:37am

God, I love Jeff Whitty.

[Drew7810]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 1:05pm

BRAVO! This is an eloquently written letter that speaks for so many who are silent. Jeff, you rock. Thank you!

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 1:28pm

Vey well written. I don't watch Leno. I am a Letterman fan. However, he too went a bit overboard with the gay jokes while Brokeback Mountain was in the theaters. A lot of show hosts did. (Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brian come to mind) And it got really old really fast. And some jokes I heard were offensive.

[OverTheBoone]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 1:36pm

What a beautiful and intelligent letter!

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 2:01pm

It is very interesting coming from a writer that actually has made a living making fun of differences (Avenue Q). I always say if you're going to make an offensive joke, make it really funny. Jay's jokes are lame and make me cringe. I dont think he needs to be PC in anyway,,, I just think he needs to raise the bar. I'm sure he (Jay) wouldn't drop a black or jew joke . I hope Jeff keeps turning his energy into works that speak.