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Be more Mr Rogers (lazysoci.al)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/memes@lemmy.world
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[–] 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wikipedia:

In 1968, Fred Rogers told Clemmons that, while his sexuality did not matter to him personally, Clemmons could not be "out" and continue appearing on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, because of the scandal that would arise. In the late 1960s, Rogers and others suggested that Clemmons get married as a way to deal with his sexual orientation, which he did. His marriage to his wife Carol did not work out, and Clemmons divorced in 1974 so that he could live openly as a gay man. Rogers remained personally supportive of Clemmons, but required him to avoid any indication of his homosexuality on the program, such as the earring he began to wear as a signifier. Rogers later revised his counsel to Clemmons as countless gays came out more publicly following the Stonewall riots in 1969. Rogers even urged Clemmons to enter into a long-term, stable gay relationship, and he always warmly welcomed Clemmons' gay friends whenever they visited the television set in Pittsburgh.

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.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago*

    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.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    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.

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