'Breakg Bad' Star Apologiz For Gay 'Power Rangers' Remark | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• ORIGAL BLUE POWER RANGER DAVID YOST ON GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX'S POWER RANGERS RNN SPECIAL
• GAY ‘POWER RANGERS’ STAR TEAS ‘AWOME’ LGBTQIA2S+ CONTENT NETFLIX RNN FILM
• ORIGAL POWER RANGERS STAR DAVID YOST TEAS ‘AWOME’ GAY REPRENTATN RNN SPECIAL
• BLUE POWER RANGER DAVID YOST ON GAY NVERSN THERAPY, G OUT, AND FDG PEACE
• ORIGAL BLUE POWER RANGER REVEALS THAT HE WAS HARASSED ON SET FOR BEG GAY
• GO, GAY POWER RANGER!
• 'BREAKG BAD' STAR APOLOGIZ FOR GAY 'POWER RANGERS' REMARK
• ONE OF THE POWER RANGERS IS GAY
• BLUE POWER RANGER REVEALS THAT HE QU THE SHOW OVER HARASSMENT AS A GAY ACTOR
• BLUE POWER RANGER DAVID YOST WAS DRIVEN OFF THE SHOW BEE HE'S GAY

ORIGAL BLUE POWER RANGER DAVID YOST ON GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX'S POWER RANGERS RNN SPECIAL

Origal Blue Power Ranger David Yost on gay reprentatn Netflix's Power Rangers rnn special "It's taken a long time to get there, " says the actor, who me out as gay after leavg Mighty Morph Power Rangers 1996. In the begng, I certaly didn't want people to know that I was gay, " he said.

""I put myself through nversn therapy bee I didn't wanna be gay. When I first moved to Hollywood the ‘90s to be an actor, was still nsired taboo to be gay, pecially if you wanted to be a leadg actor TV seri or film.

GAY ‘POWER RANGERS’ STAR TEAS ‘AWOME’ LGBTQIA2S+ CONTENT NETFLIX RNN FILM

If you were gay, you certaly were not allowed to make public.

I was stgglg so much wh who I was and not wantg to be gay bee of what society was tellg me — that ’s not a good thg, that ’s agast God, that you are somehow different. There were ments at work that were ma about me terms of beg gay or “beg a faggot, ” and as time went on jt got old and I was tired of listeng to . I was dog any and everythg I uld to get rid of beg gay.

I n remember lyg bed my first night the hospal, and sayg, “God, if you give me my md back, I will be gay.

ORIGAL POWER RANGERS STAR DAVID YOST TEAS ‘AWOME’ GAY REPRENTATN RNN SPECIAL

I remember listeng to my peers talkg about him and sayg really horrible thgs about gay people. People always ask me, “Wouldn’t be great if there’s a gay character on one of the Power Rangers TV seri?

The more Hollywood puts lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr, qutng, tersex characters a film or TV show, helps people unrstand and see that people are jt people. Many fans of the inic 90s kids’ show Power Rangers may be unaware that David Yost, who played the origal blue Power Ranger, is both gay and a survivor of nversn therapy.

BLUE POWER RANGER DAVID YOST ON GAY NVERSN THERAPY, G OUT, AND FDG PEACE

Millennial gays growg up the 90s will know Bill Cranston as the blue power ranger, the cute nerdy power ranger we all secretly fancied, played by David Yost. He scribed how he was harassed on the Power Rangers set by some crew members “bee he was gay”, and said that this was one of the talysts that drove him to enter nversn therapy after leavg the show 1996. “I put myself through nversn therapy bee I didn’t wanna be gay.

The scene Yost was referrg to reportedly featur a gay uple, who Mh — the dghter of Yellow Power Ranger Tri — helps fend agast the evil Ra Repulsa and her Putty Patrollers.

“Basilly, I jt felt like I was ntually beg told I was not worthy of beg where I am bee I’m a gay person. Warng: The article ntas referenc to homophobia and suici. David Yost, who played Billy, the Blue Ranger, knew he was gay while workg on the show and had to take preutns to make sure no one would fd out.

ORIGAL BLUE POWER RANGER REVEALS THAT HE WAS HARASSED ON SET FOR BEG GAY

“I said I’m not gonna be gay, I’m gonna foc on my reer. Yost rells overhearg producers and -stars watchg footage of him and throwg out homophobic slurs. The emotnal toll Yost alt wh exemplifi what was like for many gay people Hollywood at the time.

“Everybody thks everybody Hollywood is accepted and s great to be gay. That homophobia me to a head durg productn of the show’s fourth season, Power Rangers Zeo. It was a major step down for the character and Yost feels was part bee many the productn staff believed that bee he was gay he uldn’t be a superhero.

” However, durg a panel at Power Morphin 2012, Pagter played d clips om behd the scen on the show cludg one that featured a homophobic slur. The harassment Yost faced sent him to a eper darkns and he spent many years tryg to “get rid of” his sexualy, cludg many versns of the horrific “Pray the Gay Away. While gay character and relatnships, nor a gay actor like Yost, weren’t acceptable on the seri, straight characters and relatnships were.

GO, GAY POWER RANGER!

Marchand, who was an out lbian at the time, and the other wrers knew a gay Ranger was never a possibily at the time but 2004’s Power Rangers Do Thunr they troduced Hayley, the team’s rint tech expert. We were startg to thk, uld we, any pacy, troduce a gay character on this show? In an terview wh Den of Geek, Marchand crg at the memory, parg to the famo Hays Co of early Hollywood that effectively banned direct reference or posive portrayal of gay characters films outsi of ep subtext.

The memory also provok great tratn om Marchand who knew that many executiv at Disney durg that time were gay but, “ jt wouldn’t have flown.

Acrdg to Bend there ially wasn’t any reactn to him playg Monty as gay sce was “obv” to anyone who’d read the script.

'BREAKG BAD' STAR APOLOGIZ FOR GAY 'POWER RANGERS' REMARK

Bend is key to strs that Monty beg gay was only his terpretatn for the character, he never would have openly nfsed his love for Victor. Director (and now current executive producer) Simon Bent nfirmed to Den of Geek that the gay relatnship was never implied the script.

While all of the directiv were tryg to be put place to curtail Bend’s performance he learned that this wasn’t the first time the topic of a gay character had e up recent years. He’d been told by people workg on the show for years that durg velopment people behd the scen had wanted and been phg for a gay character. Addnally, Michael Taber, who played the character of Riley Power Rangers Do Charge om 2015-2016, revealed 2020 that he terpreted and played his part as gay.

What mak this suatn all the stranger was that all of this was takg place at the same time that work was beg done on the 2017 Power Rangers film, which clud a gay character, although one that wasn’t out. “Anythg that I make, I want those gay storyl. I don’t want to be like ‘the gay character.

ONE OF THE POWER RANGERS IS GAY

’ I want to be a world where the characters are gay and this is their life. Comics was another area which Power Rangers uld have add gay characters. “I was tryg to sneak gay this and queer that to everythg, ” she remembers, “(I would) get ught and be told, okay, well, ’s not the right time.

It was a giant leap forward for the anchise after endls years of subtext, missed opportuni, and outright homophobia.

Wh feedback om GLAAD (Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn), the wrers refully crafted Izzy’s story to, as Bent scrib, “portray a piece of what kids may see their everyday life. “From my first day on the show where there was a gay man who uldn’t even be out and who got a very hard time about beg gay?

BLUE POWER RANGER REVEALS THAT HE QU THE SHOW OVER HARASSMENT AS A GAY ACTOR

Now we’re at a pot where you n have a gay character on screen.

BLUE POWER RANGER DAVID YOST WAS DRIVEN OFF THE SHOW BEE HE'S GAY

Played by the openly gay actor David Yost, the Blue Ranger was often was known as the team’s most telligent member, helpg to novate var technologil solutns to assist the Power Rangers.

While statements addrsg the actor’s qutg blamed ntract disput, the accepted explanatn is the one Yost gave which ced homophobia behd the scen. Havg bee more monplace wh the medium, Billy beg gay or bisexual wouldn’t be as taboo as when the origal show premiered. As Yost is a survivor of nversn therapy, allowg his character to be openly gay would be a powerful msage to fans that ’s ok to be yourself.