How Gay Bob, the World's First Openly Gay Doll, Came to Be

Contents:

• WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?
• MEET GAY BOB, THE 1977 DOLL THAT URGED PEOPLE TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET
• HOW GAY BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DOLL, CAME TO BE
• OUT AND PROUD: GAY BOB DOLLS AND THEIR PLACE HISTORY
• REMEMBERG BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY DOLL, WHO WANTED TO BE A HERO
• GAY BOB AND EARRG MAGIC KEN: A SHORT HISTORY OF GAY DOLLS
• LGBT FLASHBACK 1997 – THE BILLY DOLL: THE WORLDS FIRST ANATOMILLY CORRECT GAY DOLL
• TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’

WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?

At face value, Gay Bob’s msage about the mers of g out seems earnt, pog the valu of urage, honty, and livg thentilly; however, the brandg and sign of the Gay Bob doll are brash.

MEET GAY BOB, THE 1977 DOLL THAT URGED PEOPLE TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET

We had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the black civil rights movement, and the women’s movement and that is havg the urage to stand up and say, ‘I have a right to be what I am. Durg a prs blz for the doll’s release, Rosenberg also dited that Gay Bob was a spoof of other “amorpho, sexls dolls, ” which was undoubtedly a reference to Mattel’s KenTM and BarbieTM.

He had a preprogrammed voice rerdg that played the earnt msage, “Gay people are no different than straight people… if everyone me ‘out of their closets, ’ there wouldn’t be so many angry, trated, ightened people. ” This reerated msagg om his fashn talog that fed “g out of the closet” as what uld be scribed as Gay Bob’s manifto—be urageo by g out of your closet and livg hontly, like Gay Bob!

But Gay Bob was more than jt clever packagg; he also promoted the ia that g out of the closet, beg open and hont wh the people your life, was a powerful and urageo act. Gay Rights and Gay Inty had entered more mon areas the cultural nversatn, but LGBTQ+ people were still discrimated agast, stigmatized, and legislated agast on large and small sl.

HOW GAY BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DOLL, CAME TO BE

At the same time Gay Bob h the mail-orr adult-centric talogs (and a uple of biastal boutique shelv) sger and anti-gay rights activist Ana Bryant found Save Our Children, Inc, which opposed the gay rights movement. Rowe lled the Gay Bob dolls, “evince of the speratn of the homosexual mpaign has reached s effort to put the homosexual liftyle, which is a athstyle, across to the Amerin people.

That changed 1997 wh Totem Internatnal’s troductn of the Billy doll who claimed to be the first “Out and Proud Gay Doll”—although that distctn clearly belongs to Gay Bob.

While fans celebrated the cln of Mamie and Lyte as reprentatn and clivy, also led to homophobic backlash straight out of Ana Bryant’s book several s after Save the Children began.

OUT AND PROUD: GAY BOB DOLLS AND THEIR PLACE HISTORY

It would be easy to look at the story of Gay Bob and thk was simply a novelty em that got ught up the polics of the time for a brief moment and is now largely fotten. Enraged nsumers plaed that a toy wh a homosexual backstory would lead to other ”disgtg” dolls like “Priscilla the Prostute” and “Danny the Dope Pher.” Esquire award Gay Bob s “Dub Achievement Award.” And anti-gay anizatns across the Uned Stat bltered. The doll’s creator, Harvey Rosenberg, a former advertisg executive who veloped marketg mpaigns for var rporatns, wanted Gay Bob to “liberate” men om “tradnal sexual rol.” He created the doll soon after a seri of shocks rocked his life: quick succsn, his marriage fell apart and his mother beme serly ill.

Though Gay Bob was certaly humoro—the doll was signed to be anatomilly rrect, and proment gay activists such as Bce Voeller told reporters that people should “al wh [the doll] lightly and enjoy ”—Rosenberg’s tentns seem to have been scere. When asked why he would pour $10,000 of his money to the Gay Bob’s productn, he replied, “we had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the black civil rights movement and the women’s movement, and that is havg the urage to stand up and say ‘I have a right to be what I am.’”. When Gay Bob h stor 1978, that right to be gay and equal was once aga unr attack, most notably om Ana Bryant, a sger and well-known brand ambassador who mobilized opposn to a Da County, Florida ordance that outlawed discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn.

REMEMBERG BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY DOLL, WHO WANTED TO BE A HERO

“They will e money, dgs, alhol, any means to get what they want.” In June 1977, she had the le repealed, and her anti-gay csa—which gaed wispread media attentn—sparked siar ventur Mnota, Oregon, Kansas, and California.

And, turns out, those nsumers who feared the troductn of more “disgtg” dolls were partially rrect—Rosenberg soon gave Gay Bob a fay of his own, wh brothers Marty Macho, Executive Eddie, Anx Al, and Straight Steve (who lived the suburbs and wore blue sus), and sisters Fashnable Fran, Liberated Libby, and Nervo Nelly.

GAY BOB AND EARRG MAGIC KEN: A SHORT HISTORY OF GAY DOLLS

Jun 12, 2020Failed to save articlePlease try agaThis article is more than 3 years 1860s Germany, Karl Herich Ulrichs urged other gay people to publicly reveal their sexual orientatn.

Digned to look like a batn of Pl Newman and Robert Redford and packed to his own rdboard closet, Gay Bob was the brachild of former advertisg executive Harvey Rosenberg.

LGBT FLASHBACK 1997 – THE BILLY DOLL: THE WORLDS FIRST ANATOMILLY CORRECT GAY DOLL

In an terview to promote Gay Bob, Rosenberg once said, “Bob’s perfect for an executive’s sk, dash board ornament, the attache se, the bathtub rim, a health club gym bag. Edward Rowe, the executive director of Protect Ameri’s Children, was quoted a 1978 issue of the Ptsburgh Post-Gazette scribg Gay Bob as “another evince of the speratn the homosexual mpaign has reached s effort to put homosexual liftyle, which is a ath style, across to the Amerin people. Acrdg to the anti-gay lobby group Protect Ameri’s Children, Bob was “evince of the speratn the homosexual mpaign has reached s effort to put the homosexual liftyle across to the Amerin people.

” Funny enough, Bob’s “g out” party cid directly wh the righteo prence of the “Save Our Children” mpaign, a movement led by sger and polil activist, Ana Bryant, that manufactured an atmosphere of hatred on the basis that gay people were recg children. “I thk every gay man was aware of Gay Bob, ” says Chris Byrne, a 30-year-pl veteran of the toy dtry, thor of five books on toy history, and a featured expert on Netflix’s h documentary, The Toys That Ma Us.

TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’

The fal mol of the doll effectively exaggerated that penis, turng to both a parative crique of “real men” as well as an unmistakably unfortable jab at anti-gay activists. Gay Bob, as he was dubbed, wore tight jeans and wboy boots, and was by no means your average Ken (he sported a ltle extra, if you tch our drift), so his mere existence was a bold statement a world not yet ready to accept the LGBTQ+ muny.

Dpe beg somewhat tongue--cheek both name and sign—and spe beg wily cricized and eher rejected or banned by most retailers—Gay Bob did mark a step forward visibily and acceptance for the gay populatn, offerg a glimmer of hope for those fightg for equal rights and reprentatn 1970s Ameri. In June 1970, on the anniversary of the Stonewall rts, the first gay pri para was held several Amerin ci, wh participants marchg to memorate the events of the prev year and to ll for equal rights and regnn.