Homophobia on "So, You Think You Can Dance"

[romantico]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 6:54pm

*****My apologies to Spiderdj82! I did not know there was a thread on this topic already.Feel free to delete*****



GLAAD just issued a call to action, asking supporters to contact Fox Entertainment and call on So You Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe to apologize for his snide, homophobic remarks during last night?s program.

From our call to action:

During the telecast, Lythgoe said: ?I think you probably alienate a lot of our audience. I mean, we?ve always had the guys dance together on the show, but I?ve ? they?ve never really done it in each other?s arms before.? Shortly thereafter, he added, ?Do you know what? I?d like to see you both dancing with a girl.?

Lythgoe later wrote on Twitter: ?The same sex ballroom guys did remind me of ?Blades of Glory.? However, I?m not a fan of ?Brokeback? Ballroom.?

http://glaadblog.org/2009/05/22/call-to-action-fox-entertainment-and-so-you-think-you-can-dance-judge-need-to-apologize-for-homophobic-remarks/

Updated On: 5/22/09 at 06:54 PM

[yeah]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 7:06pm

Should I be surprised? Should I be angry? I mean, again, it's the status quo; it's totally acceptable and in the mainstream to alienate, insult, belittle, discriminate against, and hate homosexuals.

I've said it once, I'll said it a thousand times; if this were another minority, it would be all over with this guy begging forgiveness for his insensitivity; however, who cares about gays, right?

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 7:07pm

oh look, GLAAD flipping their **** over something completely inconsequential.


when will those whiney ****ers get a life?

[romantico]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 7:11pm

I was disturbed by the judges reactions. The man looked repulsed and very uncomfortable.A male judge on a dance show who is uncomfortable with two guys dancing together.It sounds like the set up to a very bad joke.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 7:14pm

If it really bothers you.. do what I am going to do.. stop watching.

[Tag]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 7:31pm

I watched it on Perez and I think this is a case of much ado about nothing.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 8:06pm

Just like EVERYTHING GLAAD bitches about.

A bunch of impotent whiners.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 9:23pm

The two top guys dance with each other for one of the last shows. What is the difference?

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 9:36pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7LFGUMFShg
First off, I never thought I'd see the day where a judge on a dance show would complain about a ballroom dance being too gay!!! Really, let's not kid ourselves here. The dance, to me, in no way seemed 'Male-Female' relationship to me, and it was very non-sexual. It wasn't like they were dry humping on stage or even doing something minimal like kissing. I just saw two men dancing, in no way was it romantic or sexual.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/22/09 at 9:39pm

I'm sorry that they fell which gave Nigel reason to say that comment.


That being said I wouldn't really say that Nigel is homophobic because he has praised many gay performers on the show before (and I'm sure he will this season too).

I just think that Nigel is a strong advocate for Dance and he probably thought that the two guys dancing together was a bit of a "joke" for lack of a better word. Updated On: 5/22/09 at 09:39 PM

[yeah]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 9:25am

Please don't take this the wrong way, but, I can't help but feel annoyed by the excuses and the jokes that people are making about this.

Again, if he said, "wow, i don't want to see two ni**ers dancing together," no one would be making jokes, no one would be making excuses, no one would think it's funny.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 9:31am

your point would be valid if he had said he didn't want to see two faggots dancing together, but the man never made any sort of slur.

he didn't so claiming what he did was no different than saying "I don't wanna see two n*s dancing together" is ridiculous, so please stop.

Ugh, THIS IS WHY NO ONE TAKES THE FIGHT FOR GAY RIGHTS SERIOUSLY cause we're always ****ing whining about the most pointless ****, it weakens our fight for the big things when we make something big out of something very small.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 10:19am

"Ugh, THIS IS WHY NO ONE TAKES THE FIGHT FOR GAY RIGHTS SERIOUSLY cause we're always ****ing whining about the most pointless ****."

I've never understood this argument.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 10:24am

Its the Boy Who Cried Wolf syndrome. If you constantly complain about something inconsequential, when you eventually have a major greivance no one takes you seriously.

Imagine it like someone who's a hypocondriac, always complaining to be dying of some serious illness when really he's just got a cold, or ate some bad clams. Now imgagine the same man has actually come down with a serious ailment, are his friends, or co-workers, or family going to beleive him? Are they going to take serious his claims that he's dying? NO.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 10:35am

I didn't actually mean that I didn't follow you; I guess I should have said "I've never found this to be true."

Not everything bothers everybody, of course, and I've never watched the show and really don't have an opinion about the incident.

But I've never heard, for example, any Prop 8 proponents say "I wouldn't mind giving them marriage rights if it weren't for that whole 'Silence of the Lambs' complaint."

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 10:37am

Nigel made some inappropriate comments and the editing was such that we never truly saw the reactions and comments of the dancers. I think there is a lot more to the story, but an apology of sorts from Nigel is in order. I don't think he's the hateful homophobic all the gossip is making him out to be. I think that is a knee-jerk reaction from those who are either unfamiliar with the show or simply looking to stir up negative publicity any way they can. My comments on the performance and the critique are in the So You Think You Can Dance thread, so I'm not going to cover any other old ground. A gesture of good faith would be to bring back the dancers, choreograph them in a good routine (which might be foreign territory for them), costume them well and pray they can pull it off as an exhibition performance in the finale. Otherwise, the dancers accomplished their goal already. They had their shot and they blew it.

Out of curiosity, because I honestly don't know, has GLAAD ever taken on American Idol for the constant gay "insults" Secrest and Cowell hurl at each other in order to create buzz for the show? Or do we have to wait until they accidentally let a male/male duet perform a love song and hope the producers keep it in the edit?

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 3:57pm

OK, why did I not know that this was happening less than 10 minutes from my apartment? That is at the Convention Center.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 4:24pm

Did GLAAD mention in their complaint that if a man and woman had danced with the same level of mediocrity that those 2 men did, they would have never been allowed to go to the choreography round? Did they mention that?! If so, I missed it.

Oh, and Jimmy Kimmel and Joel McHale made jokes about them on their shows. Nigel did not.
Updated On: 5/23/09 at 04:24 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 4:37pm

this thread is why dodt is still in effect.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 5:37pm

"Did GLAAD mention in their complaint that if a man and woman had danced with the same level of mediocrity that those 2 men did, they would have never been allowed to go to the choreography round?"

No. Nor did Nigel.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 5:53pm

First, they were not both gay. One was straight. Secondly, I agree: a male/female couple of the same ability would not have gotten a second chance.


I don't think he said anything WRONG. And I am as about as pro gay rights as it gets.


Additionally: if there were true Homophobia...don't you think they just would have left the footage on the cutting room floor?? Not like it's aired live.

Updated On: 5/23/09 at 05:53 PM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 6:10pm

"Additionally: if there were true Homophobia...don't you think they just would have left the footage on the cutting room floor??"

No, that's not been my experience in life, generally.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 6:46pm

No. Nor did Nigel.

That makes no sense. Nigel didn't file a complaint. GLAAD did.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 6:46pm

Well... I thought the dancing was fantastic. And I highly doubt that the other guy is straight.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 6:48pm

^^Homophobic^^