Queer as Folk

There was a fight in Washington D.C. a couple of weeks ago. It could’ve been like a fist fight on the school playground. That would’ve been bloody interesting. Senators Russ Feingold and Arlen Specter had an argument over the sanctity of gay marriages.

Feingold wasn’t opposed to it. Specter was. They had a falling out. As Feingold left the table, Specter said, “Ah, you’re leaving. Good riddance.” Feingold told the guy off. Good for him. Specter, like so many, can be ignorant.

Not many people realize that the gay community contributed much to the literary and historical context of society. People like Truman Capote, David Bowie, William S. Burroughs, and Oscar Wilde. Many of them are songwriters, actors of the entertainment medium trade. Wasn‘t Eleanor Roosevelt also gay too? So you find them in politics too.

That their sexual orientation shouldn’t matter. They still managed to contribute some good to society. Yet they’re still being persecuted.

However there might be some people out there you didn’t know was gay. You may be surprised.

Graham Chapman. Best known for his role in the Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He’s no dummy either. He earned an M.D. in practicing medicine, though he got interested in comedy right up the start. He had a knack for it. Some gay people have a remarkable creative output. Chapman certainly did.

He had brilliantly silly faces. He’s one of the funnier Pythons. You couldn’t help have a smile every time he put on one of those ridiculous drag outfits. One of his characters he did on Monty Python was the “Colonel.” He played it as a stiff, upper-lip military type who often walked in the middle of scenes to put a stop to silliness.

Chapman wrote together with John Cleese to put out an amazing number of sketches for the series. Some of them Chapman would lampoon his own days as a physician. It still blows my mind that this guy wanted to be a doctor at first, then decided that being silly might be more profitable.

Part of the success for “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “Life of Brian” was due to his excellent central performances. He played the lead part in both films. And he was brilliant in them. Despite being a straight man to the other Pythons in these films, he was still exceedingly comic.

The fact that he was gay had nothing to do with the way he was able to perform comedy. The public need to learn how to separate someone’s personal life and his work as a performer.
The sad fact is: people still mix the two things together. They shouldn’t. They should learn how to be more accepting.

People may have forgotten that is was a gay writer who brought back the Doctor Who series from limbo to become the most steadfastly popular series in England: Russell T. Davies was behind one of the most brilliant revivals of an old-time TV show. Not only that, he infused an incredible dramatic writing style into the stories. He turned a show that was once dead and made it into another BCC tradition on Saturday nights again.

Davies has a strong hand in the series' progression. He brings in a number of talented writers to create the series' direction.

He is very outward about being gay. In a news article for the British “SFX“ magazine , he was quoted as saying, “I know I’m gay. Now f---k off!” He’s not to be trifled with.

But again, someone’s personal life shouldn’t have to be dragged into the constant probing of today’s media mess. He breaks new ground with his television stories. And that should be noted. And I thank him for bringing back one of my all-time favorite shows on TV.

While I’m not a big fan of the more flamboyant homosexuals such as Elton John who might as well wear a party hat and high stiletto shoes (I can’t stand the guy, but do like his music), I’m willing to look the other way and not worry making a fuss over many gays.

I could care less what they do in their own time. And there are many who contributed a great deal to literature and TV. It’s an issue that shouldn’t be dwelled on. Let’s move on to more important things.