Limbgh's paful legacy: Shapg my dad's view of gay people like me

Contents:

• DID RH LIMBGH'S 'AIDS UPDATE' MOCK THE DEATHS OF GAY PEOPLE?
• FACT CHECK: DID RH LIMBGH READ A LIST OF GAY MEN WHO DIED AS AN 'AIDS UPDATE'?
• RH LIMBGH CELEBRATED THE ATHS OF GAY MEN OM AIDS ON HIS RAD SHOW
• LIMBGH ADDS TO LONG HISTORY OF ANTI-GAY RHETORIC
• MY DAD LISTENED TO RH LIMBGH ATTACK GAY PEOPLE LIKE ME, AND ECHOED HIS NTEMPT
• HOW RH LIMBGH’S RELENTLS HOMOPHOBIA SHAPED A FATHER’S RELATNSHIP WH HIS GAY SON
• THE PARENTS WHO LISTENED TO RH LIMBGH — AND THE GAY CHILDREN THEY DIDN’T KNOW THEY HAD
• RH LIMBGH GAVE “AIDS UPDAT,” LISTG THE NAM OF AD GAY MEN SET TO DIS MIC

DID RH LIMBGH'S 'AIDS UPDATE' MOCK THE DEATHS OF GAY PEOPLE?

As nservative fans mourned the ath of the rad pneer, many on social media poted to Limbgh's history of makg sexist, homophobic, and bigoted remarks. Author Jsi Valenti, for example, posted a msage on Twter statg that Limbgh once had a segment on his show lled "AIDS Update" that mocked the aths of gay people:. Limbgh, who do not enjoy ntretemps, has cut some of his material, pecially on homosexuals.

While Limbgh would e to regret the segment, that didn't stop him om airg other homophobic ntent. Limbgh, for stance, had another segment that ed former Congrsman Barney Frank, a proment gay polician, as fodr.

FACT CHECK: DID RH LIMBGH READ A LIST OF GAY MEN WHO DIED AS AN 'AIDS UPDATE'?

Limbgh also spread the unfound claim that gay men practiced "gerbillg" (you n read more about the unfound urban legend here) and once said, acrdg to Jam Retter's book "The Anatomy of a Sndal, " that gay men "served their fate.

The media personaly passed away after a year-long battle wh lung nservativ mourned, many left-leang voic cricized Limbgh, who had been long acced of pog racist, sexist and homophobic views throughout his a rad pneer, Limbgh peddled nspiracy theori and ed his platform to ny climate ath has led to many to ment on a particular time his reer, when his show discsed the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ' AIDS crisis, ed by HIV, saw gay and bi men die om the sexually transmted disease at alarmg rat. This was at a time when homosexualy was still Thursday, the word "AIDS" was the third-most searched term on Google alongsi Limbgh's Limbgh had a segment lled "AIDS update" set to mic where he mocked dyg gay people so I don't really want hear about 'speakg ill of the ad' today— Jsi Valenti (@JsiValenti) Febary 17, 2021.

The ClaimMany high-profile people on Twter have been mentg to say that Limbgh once had a segment on his show, The Rh Limbgh Show, lled "AIDS Update" that mocked the aths of gay example, lumnist Jsi Valenti went viral wh her tweet that claimed: "Rh Limbgh had a segment lled 'AIDS update' set to mic where he mocked dyg gay people so I don't really want hear about 'speakg ill of the ad' today.

RH LIMBGH CELEBRATED THE ATHS OF GAY MEN OM AIDS ON HIS RAD SHOW

"Another viral tweet me om Pl Elltt Johnson, an assistant profsor at the Universy of Ptsburgh, who tweeted: "Rh Limbgh had a regular rad segment where he would read off the nam of gay people who died of AIDS and celebrate and play horns and bells and stuff. "Brish polil mentator Ash Sarkar tweeted: "In the 1980s, Rh Limbgh hosted a regular rad segment lled 'AIDS Update', where he celebrated and mocked the aths of gay and bisexual men.

"Actor Harry Cook add: "Rh Limbgh had a rad segment lled "AIDS Update" where he'd read out the nam of gay people who had died and celebrate wh horns and bells. A passage reads: "He chastised 'ant homosexuals' for their disrpectful behavr and shortly thereafter began broadstg irreverent and tastels 'AIDS Update' segments troduced by Dnne Warwick's "I'll Never Love This Way Aga. "The Los Angel Tim published an article 1998 about what was scribed as the "popular" feature of Limbgh's publitn stated that Limbgh even said, "Gays served their fate.

""The homosexual muny was offend by the segment and Limbgh's appearance on The Pat Sajak Show was dispted by ACT UP, a group of AIDS activists, " the book stat. One of the ways he ma the world a worse place to live was a regular segment on his rad show lled the “AIDS Update” where he would celebrate the AIDS-related aths of gay and bi men. In the 1980s, gay and bi men were dyg at an alarmg rate om the vis at a time when even mentng LGBTQ people was still very taboo.

LIMBGH ADDS TO LONG HISTORY OF ANTI-GAY RHETORIC

Then-Print Ronald Reagan didn’t talk about the epimic for years as ravaged the muny while ernment agenci dragged their feet rpondg to and relig lears celebrated as dive punishment for homosexualy. This upset Limbgh, acrdg to Ze’ev Chafets, who wrote his book Rh Limbgh: An Army of One: “He chastised ‘ant homosexuals’ for their disrpectful behavr and shortly thereafter began broadstg irreverent and tastels ‘AIDS Update’ segments troduced by Dnne Warwick’s ‘I’ll Never Love This Way Aga. He likely picked that song as another sult to the gay and bi men who had died; they’ll “never love this way aga” bee they’re ad.

” An LA Tim article om 1998 scribed the AIDS Update segment as a “popular” feature on his show and said that he played the Warwick song, addg that he even said, “Gays served their fate. “The homosexual muny was offend by the segment and Limbgh’s appearance on The Pat Sajak Show was dispted by ACT UP, a group of AIDS activists, ” the book said of the ntroversy, referrg to a 1990 ACT UP monstratn. But his donatn to the Pediatric AIDS Foundatn n be unrstood as another slight towards the gay and bi men who were dyg at high numbers at the time.

A mon way nservativ uld exprs homophobia while pretendg to re about HIV was to foc on the few children who ught the disease through blood transfns or at birth, which allowed people like Limbgh to appear passnate while potedly ignorg the largt groups of people who were dyg of the disease.

MY DAD LISTENED TO RH LIMBGH ATTACK GAY PEOPLE LIKE ME, AND ECHOED HIS NTEMPT

Rh Limbgh had a segment lled "AIDS update" set to mic where he mocked dyg gay people so I don't really want hear about 'speakg ill of the ad' today.

The webse dug up a 1990 Cedar Rapids Gazette article on his rise to populary and his regular segments makg fun of gay men, lbians, femists, out retired Rep. He said his target is not AIDS victims but ant homosexuals who blame church and ernment officials for the epimic, a practice he fds “outrageo.

Limbgh ran a regular segment lled “AIDS updat, ” which he mocked the aths of gay men by playg Dnne Warwick’s rerdg of the song “I’ll Never Love This Way Aga. ” He later exprsed regret for the segment, but he ntued to make homophobic remarks over the years; 2020, he dismissed the printial bid of Pete Buttigieg by claimg that Amerins would be repelled by a “gay guy kissg his hband onstage.

HOW RH LIMBGH’S RELENTLS HOMOPHOBIA SHAPED A FATHER’S RELATNSHIP WH HIS GAY SON

"Many of the church now perform homosexual marriage, they orda gay pastors or misters, and, some s, female and lbian pastors and misters, which you might thk would e some people to leave those church, " he said on his talk nsired, Rosenwald said no matter what the public thks of Limbgh, his impact both polics and media n't be Tmp award Limbgh the Printial Medal of Freedom, the untry's hight honor for a civilian, last year, he thanked him for "all that you have done for our natn, the lns of people a day that you speak to and you spire, and all of the credible work that you have done for chary. In Rh Limbgh’s long reer broadstg, his homophobic barbs were beamed out to more than 650 statns. He rallied agast marriage equaly, pared gay people to “paedophil“, lled beg trans a “psychologil disorr” and fend Ronald Reagan’s rponse to the AIDS epimic, among many other beltlg and blisterg ments.

Black people, gay men and lbians, femists, people wh AIDS, the 12-year-old dghter of a print, an advote for victims of domtic vlence: All found themselv the subject of nigratg put-downs by Mr.

” He nigrated Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay man to be a ser ntenr for print, as “a 37-year-old gay guy kissg his hband onstage. "If you were a Rh fan, even if your gay or Black or immigrant iends and relativ weren't pecially liberal, an affectn for Rh's program was a jarrg monstratn of divid loyalty to them — a ltle asterisk next to "I love you" that was often hard for those iends and relativ to grandfather ed to say of an pecially cheap gun that the only safe place to stand was behd ; that was how Rh attracted people to stand wh him, bee meant they were out of the le of fire. That women who need reproductive health re and gay people who need AZT might prefer not to expend their energy on gettg angry at Limbgh's ab never seemed to occur to him.

THE PARENTS WHO LISTENED TO RH LIMBGH — AND THE GAY CHILDREN THEY DIDN’T KNOW THEY HAD

In 1990, the wake of high-profile ACT UP protts, Limbgh ran a monthlong segment lled "AIDS Update, " which he would read the nam of people who had died of the disease and play edy sound effects — as well as lend his enormo platform to baroque urban legends about gay sexual the segment, he ed as tro mic the songs "Back the Saddle Aga" by Gene Autry or "I'll Never Love This Way Aga" by Dnne Warwick — an outspoken AIDS activist at a ccial moment, who forced Print Ronald Reagan to say the name of the disease for the first time 1987. More recently, Limbgh's segments gradg LGBTQ people were "Gay Communy Updat, " g the mic of Kls Nomi, who died of AIDS this was hardly by chance.

" Limbgh end up apologizg and donatg $10, 000 to pediatric AIDS rearch — a ftg penance for Limbgh, who loved to repeat the lie that AIDS affected only gay people. He popularized bons mots that nservative mentators still e today, like "femazi"; he may not be patient zero for mors about the fictnal "gerbilg" craze among gay men, but he is probably behd the mors' proliferatn the 1990s.

RH LIMBGH GAVE “AIDS UPDAT,” LISTG THE NAM OF AD GAY MEN SET TO DIS MIC

Pl Elltt Johnson, an assistant profsor at the Universy of Ptsburgh specializg munitn and rhetoric, reprented the most mon claim a viral tweet which he claimed, “Rh Limbgh had a regular rad segment where he would read off the nam of gay people who died of AIDS and celebrate and play horns and bells and stuff. Limbgh ran a regular segment lled ‘AIDS updat, ’ which he mocked the aths of gay men by playg Dnne Warwick’s rerdg of the song ‘I’ll Never Love This Way Aga. ” He went on to specific that he was not targetg AIDS victims but the ant gay rights movement of the time that “blame[s] church and ernment officials for the epimic.