The ltle-known, real-life backstory behd the Barbie movie's very funny gay Ken joke - Queerty

Contents:

• KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• GAY EGYPT TRAVEL GUI
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN IS FIRST AMERIN MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• BEG A GAY MAN EGYPT IS 'TERRIFYG AND THRILLG'
• CAIRO GAY GUI - CAIRO FOM
• GAY CAIRO
• THE LTLE-KNOWN, REAL-LIFE BACKSTORY BEHD THE BARBIE MOVIE’S VERY FUNNY GAY KEN JOKE
• CAIRO, ONCE 'THE SCENE,' CRACKS DOWN ON GAYS
• GAY TRAVEL EGYPT
• 'YOU N'T BE OUT': GAY EGYPTIANS NTUE TO FEAR PERSECUTN
• HOW ONE GAY EGYPTIAN WOMAN STOOD UP TO HOMOPHOBIA AND PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE

KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND

The film won’t say , but a post-creds punchle about Ken’s handwrg, plete wh hearts and stars surroundg his name, tells what we need to heavily implied nature of Ken’s gayns Toy Story 3 harkens back to Hollywood’s tradnal gay bt iend-type characters. In the Hays Co era, explic referenc to homosexualy weren’t allowed, so characters like Van Buren (Frankl Pangborn) 1937’s Easy Livg, Kip (David Wayne) 1949’s Adam’s Rib, or Addison (Gee Sanrs) 1950’s All About Eve stead were imbued wh effemate characteristics, offerg a glimpse outsi of heteronormativy whout explicly beg of the characters were the same—some were tty, others sweet. Des later, 2010, the gay bt iend was all the rage; Teen Vogue even went so far as to proclaim the GBF as the summer’s mt-have accsory.

In movi like Mean Girls (2004), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Easy A (2010), No Strgs Attached (2011), and Isn’t It Romantic (2019), gay iends exist entirely the orb of their female iends.

” But Barbie do, and for Ken, that’s are plenty of reasons why the film wouldn’t outrightly state that Ken is homosexual. Mattel, of urse, vehemently nied any claims that Ken was gay, let alone that he had somethg as prepostero as a ck rg around his neck.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

As a rult, gay men bought the doll drov, and spe Mattel ultimately rellg the doll and wipg away any trace of Earrg Magic Ken, was near-impossible to see Ken as anythg but the glor homosexual he was born to be om then on. Though Mattel don’t seem to be willg to say Ken is actually gay, the Ken dolls of recent years seem to really lean to Ken’s queerns. While there is no way to “drs gay, ” there are several dolls that seem to suggt otherwise, such as:Fashnista Ken #193, who looks very exced to tell you about his new obssn, Troye Sivan;Travel Ken Doll, who has a satchel perfect for bathho and a purple overnight bag that lerally proclaims he’s “extra;”Ken Looks Doll, servg “I’m gonna give you a makeover”-type realns while sportg black pleather pants;This Ken, who wears the least heterosexual double nim I have a feelg the new Barbie movie will put the work to nvce that Ken is a hetero du who lov nothg life more than Barbie herself, the wrg’s already on the wall: Ken is, and always will be, Barbie’s gay bt obssg!

Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen cid on Thursday to e out publicly as gay hop of livg his life whout fear and to spire others. Before jog Jacksonville’s achg staff, he was a strength ach for the football teams at Baylor and Febary 2022, Maxen reached out to NFL player Carl Nassib, who me out as gay 2021, to seek advice. "To be a gay man Egypt is que perplexg, tough, strsg, dangero and thrillg at the same time, " Mo (not his real name), a 27-year-old gay man who works media and munitns Cairo, told The Advote an terview nducted jt before a recent late-night raid on a bathhoe the pal raid has changed everythg, Mo said a follow-up terview.

GAY EGYPT TRAVEL GUI

But Iraqi's report, which she has fend as an attempt to expose sex traffickg and the spread of HIV Cairo, is jt the latt twist the ever-tighteng vise-grip of LGBT opprsn beg helmed by Egyptian print Abl Fattah el-Sisi's current ernment crackdown on LGBT Egyptians has been amplified by hyperbolic media verage, helpg to foster an crease antigay sentiments wh society -- which arguably serv el-Sisi's need for a spegoat muny upon which to blame Egypt's wo unr his le. But acrdg to sourc si the untry and expatriat terviewed for this article, there was a time not so long ago when to be gay or trans wasn't as terrifyg as is today. Activists like Abl-Hamid believe el-Sisi is tryg to create a sheen of legimacy followg his btal up agast the equally (but ls proactively) homophobic and transphobic Mlim 2012 the Mlim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi was mocratilly elected to Egypt's princy.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN IS FIRST AMERIN MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

As the new print overreached and began makg cre that negated the very mocratic ials laid out the untry's new nstutn -- the ials the got him elected the first place -- the Egyptian ary began warng the print to stay te to the revolutn by actg even unr the le of Morsi and his fundamentalist Mlim Brotherhood party, LGBT people uld rely upon a modicum of predictabily about how to get by beg lbian, gay, bi, or trans, acrdg to numero sourc. E., more Mlim than Mohammed Morsi], " says a source who is a gay man workg at a proment nonernmental anizatn Cairo, who asked to be attributed by the ials "R.

Meanwhile, "Mo" says the suatn on the ground for gay and transgenr Egyptians has always varied om person to person, suatn to suatn, and lole to lole.

"Gays and pecially the obv-lookg on, [you] name feme, 'lady boys, ' transgenr guys, uld alway be subjected to a wi range of discrimatn terms of their place society and their personal secury, " he tells The Advote. He believ those cints were perpetrated by a closeted, severely reprsed gay man rather than a straight there has been a fundamental change the orr of thgs for gay men, lbians, bisexuals, and transgenr people Egypt sce el-Sisi took the res of power by force, acrdg to LGBT people si the untry. "But if the police ci to arrt a guy or entrap him one day, or raid a gay party, then you are unlucky and your life would be ed.

BEG A GAY MAN EGYPT IS 'TERRIFYG AND THRILLG'

"Although homosexualy is technilly not illegal Egypt, LGBT people are regularly prosecuted for crim such as "bchery, " "perversn, " or "sexual practic agast Islam. Dozens of allegedly gay men were arrted on mera as secury forc were led to the "hammam" by televisn journalist Mona the 26 men who had been arrted along wh the bathhoe owner appeared urt two weeks later, many hid their fac, wept, and implored the urt to believe their nocence lt they and their fai be stroyed.

CAIRO GAY GUI - CAIRO FOM

He also remd the urt that is natural for people si of a bathhoe to be drsed only towels, as reporter Mona Iraqi told viewers her "expose" of the bathhoe -- as if the arrted men wearg only towels dited they were engaged men were acquted this month -- such an acqutal is rare, and the ernment has appealed -- but LGBT Egyptians rema , the ubiquo gay hookup app, had to disable s GPS functn Egypt September bee thori were g to entrap gay same month, Egyptian police hunted down as many as 16 men who allegedly appeared a viral vio that purported to show a same-sex weddg that took place on a riverboat on the Nile.

GAY CAIRO

Dpe "ttg negative" for homosexualy and claimg the whole thg was a joke, eight of the acced were sentenced to three years jail, found guilty of "spreadg cent imag and cg bchery. "Mo is quick to pot out that the posed Mlim Brotherhood is no more nocent regardg the opprsn and arrts of the men the "gay weddg" vio than the ary ernment that toppled them om power. "Some members of the Mlim Brotherhood policized the issue and blamed the so-lled ary up for the 'gay-weddg' vio, " he says.

"Naturally, I'm sure how aware you are of the suatn the Arab world general and Egypt ncerng the homophobic society we are livg , " he tells The Advote. "We are fally startg to align ourselv to be able to work as a work the regn, wh an objective of enuragg and supportg those who support LGBT, which is the first step that needs to be remove the topic om beg a taboo the culture or media, " he out how the LGBT muny Cairo is tryg to mobilize agast all odds the send part of The Advote's si look at life for gay men Egypt unr the reprsive el-Sisi regime.

Do not openly exhib the fact that you are gay, do not show any affectnate behavur public and do not seek out or vis any plac or events which have been offered to you as beg specifilly for gays.

THE LTLE-KNOWN, REAL-LIFE BACKSTORY BEHD THE BARBIE MOVIE’S VERY FUNNY GAY KEN JOKE

Havg said that, I know of many gay upl who have vised the untry whout problems and know of many who return year after year. I agree Egypt is not "gay iendly", you n feel ee to vis any place, hotels or clubs there is no worry but try to avoid showg your sexual behavr public as you will look wired for most of the lols. Most people have a perceptn that the world is divid to groups of “gays are wele” and “ath to gays” when realy the issu are much more plex.

CAIRO, ONCE 'THE SCENE,' CRACKS DOWN ON GAYS

- Egypt’s fadg LGBT movement (2012): As Islamists ga power, the gay muny's hop for a more open post-revolutnary society are beg cshed. - A glimpse behd the screen (2006): A novel about a gay newspaper edor was a h Egypt - but s movie release has ed a stir. You've probably heard of the "Cairo 52" se om 2001, when a group of 52 men were arrted at a gay party the "Queen Boat" moored on the Nile.

Dpe terventn by ternatnal human rights anizatns, the suatn for homosexuals remas que alarmg the untry, wh arrt and torture beg mon practice.

GAY TRAVEL EGYPT

Everyone ss people-watchg om the sofas as they enjoy specialty cktails, and this is where you're most likely to fd a discreet mix of straight and gay.

No hotel Cairo advertis self as gay-iendly, but the large chas do attract wealthy gay upl, pecially those lookg out to the pyramids and offerg all sorts of pamperg servic such as spa and fns center. Homosexualy is not actually illegal Egypt, but gay men are subject to a signifint level of officially sanctned police harassment, tentn, and, at tim, abe. An important pot unrstandg this peculiar ntrast is that, though is generally not acceptable to be gay -- a high gree of homophobia is not merely acceptable but expected here -- a man is not necsarily gay simply bee he happens to have sex wh men.

The distctn li beg eher the active partner (not necsarily gay) or the passive partner (to whom the rogatory term khawal appli). The health club at the Nile Hilton is also known to be que gay iendly, as well as the Hammam al Nahhas on Muizz d Allah Street across om Harat al Salihiyah Khan al Khalili. But there’s one gag particular we at Queerty had to know more about, one that’s super gay and—as turns out—a real part of Barbie history….

'YOU N'T BE OUT': GAY EGYPTIANS NTUE TO FEAR PERSECUTN

Among the group are two Kens om bygone eras, and the movie stops jt short of outright llg them “gay Kens, ” but e on—look at them! LGBTQIA+ travellers are those who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr (a more clive LGBT ialism), pl queer or qutng, tersex or asexual dividuals, as well as those who intify beyond the monly ed sexualy and genr exprsns. Though homosexualy is not officially outlawed, gay men and transgenr dividuals have been prosecuted g bchery and public morals laws and given long prison sentenc.

“There’s no greater reward than dog for the ltle Black gay boy who has someone to look up to now bee we didn’t have those people to look up to, ” says Phipps, reuntg a movg past experience where a preteen boy lled the duo his hero after seeg them perform.

(Jason Armond / Los Angel Tim) (Jason Armond / Los Angel Tim) Through the Freaky Boiz’s high-energy live performanc and slick raps over stmentals sure to make you dance, they’re rvg their own lane hip-hop and treatg dienc to mic that highlights Black gay joy, datg adventur and wo and empowerg antiexploatn bops tailor-ma for the digal age like “Cash App.

HOW ONE GAY EGYPTIAN WOMAN STOOD UP TO HOMOPHOBIA AND PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE

”“They’re tryg to teach kids that beg gay is wrong and that’s phg 50 years backwards om the work of people who started the Pri para like Marsha P. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTApril 3, 2003In the late 1990's, word was spreadg through the gay grapeve Egypt, and even through some nearby Middle Eastern untri, that this hectic and vibrant cy on the Nile was the place to was a rapidly expandg gay scene, said several who me here to be part of .

There were bars and diss and plenty of public meetg plac the cy center where was relatively easy to socialize, exchange cellphone numbers, hold hands and perhaps -- for the more darg -- sneak a urse, gay men did not lead a pletely reee life. Most Egyptians view homosexualy as heretil, and crics say the l of Islam and other laws are often btally seemed, for a few years, that gay life here flourished, eher largely unnoticed amid more prsg issu, like terrorism and a ernment crackdown on radil Islamic activists, or tacly tolerated.

''You would walk on a Thursday night, and was like you were a gay bar Europe, '' said a 23-year-old gay Egyptian man who moved to Cairo five years ago om Alexandria. ''All that changed dramatilly May 2001, when 52 men were arrted a police raid on the Queen Boat, a dis on the Nile known as a gay-iendly weeks ago, a Cairo urt nvicted 21 of the Queen Boat fendants of ''bchery'' and sentenced each to three years jail, after two highly publicized trials that were wily cricized by human rights groups and Wtern gay Egyptians, cludg several who have been arrted, lawyers and human rights groups say the Queen Boat se was only the begng of a harsh crackdown that has quietly the begng of 2003, the police have ma an average of one arrt a week.