Gay Night on CBS

Since so many of you are talking about stereotypes, what do you think of what David Letterman said about the Tonys?

Letterman: You know Sunday night, right here on CBS, is the night Broadway honors its best at the Tony Awards -- or as I call it, Gay Night on CBS.

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Well, that's what I call it too. I know it's not necessarily true, but it's pretty damn close.

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Letterman should talk. Remember this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXSTzQEgoc8

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Letterman!
PL
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www.broadwayedition.org

I wasn't offended at all by Letterman's comment. It's true! No where else on TV do you see so many openly gay couples. I think it's fantastic. We had everything from Cynthia Nixon to David Hyde Pierce. All very open. Most of the winners thanked thier partners exactly like married ppl would have thanked thier spouses...there was NONE of that phony pronoun switching that drives me insane. I thought it was great and I'm glad Letterman identified it for what it was.

Did he mean it as a joke? Sure! But is was a funny joke....and it was true. We need to own that reality.

Well, for better or for worse, he mentioned the Tony Awards, which haven't even had online, or newspaper coverage.

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True, yes. Funny, not really. For example, if he said something about the BET awards being "Black night," African Americans around the world would be in an uproar, seeking apologies and money for "emotional distress." It's typical, no matter how true it is, it's not funny.

-Vincent

It's a very old joke that really has no bearing on the contemporary gay community.

In the 1950s and 1960s, pre-Stonewall, a large percentage of gay men identified culturally through Broadway, Hollywood and popular song. (That also corresponded to the time when Broadway provided more material for Hollywood and popular song.) To be gay was SUPPOSED to be to talk about Judy and Marilyn and Bette and Joan and Ethel and Mary and all their vehicles and the ups and downs of their personal lives.

But this was an exaggeration even then. Lesbians were never as obsessed by pop culture as gay men were, and there plenty of gay men who came out of the military in WW2 and Korea who were never involved with or obsessed with the arts.

Even more to the point, since the 1980s and 1990s, the large majority of young gay men coming out know nothing of those camp references, and they probably never will.

So to call the Tony Awards a "gay event" because of the same-sex-spouse thank-yous has some validity; to call it a "gay event" because a significant portion of the relative small audience is gay is probably statistically correct; but to call it a "gay event" because Letterman assumes a majority of gay people watch it is just misguided and misinformed--and, ultimately, homophobic.

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hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha can you say OVER REACTION!!!!

My god we hear gay jokes everyday on TV shows etc in the UK and the gay community finds them hilarious, i dont get this thread

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I'm not offended. It is an old joke with some truth to it.

It falls in the same catagory of Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden B'way spoof of the Tony's.

"Straight people turn it off!"

PalJoey got me to thinking. I wonder now that is easier for younger people to be out... or at least find safer places to be "out."

I wonder if the safe haven for kids is school - The Theatre Dept - is as necessary for young gay people.

Just thinking...

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"Oh, please! Thankful that he mentioned the Tonys even though he made a joke to his straight American audience about gay people? Letterman is a supporter of Broadway? And you work for TV, boy? How clueless can you be? Letterman is a supporter of whatever they tell him he's a supporter of. You think he books the talent for his show? He's just the freakin' host. Wake the **** up."

This screams credibility...

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Updated On: 6/13/07 at 03:23 AM

Well, most of the winners & nominees were straight. But I totally enjoy the gayness of the Tonys! In the same way that Oprah Winfrey openly roots for black performers to win oscars, etc., I root for gay men and lesbians at awards shows. It's so refreshing to hear gay men thanking their partners on the Tonys - it makes me feel really good. When I win my Tony, I'll thank my partner, too!! (;

Talk to men under 35, Gay Night on Tv might just as easily be the Grammys. But one of my best friends had a huge super bowl party every year in SF, when the guest list was about 10% straight (if that). He would rather be shot than watch the Tonys, and he's lived in the Castro for years. Gay people watch DYNASTY ... and LOST, JERICHO and PROJECT RUNWAY, HGTV and ESPN. Logo and FOX--well, no, now I've gone too far.

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