As the Mighty Morph Power Rangers celebrat s 20th anniversary, David Yost, the actor who played the origal Blue Ranger, shar the story of how he overme bullyg Hollywood, suicidal tennci, and a nervo breakdown on the road to acceptg himself as a gay man.
Contents:
- THE POWER RANGERS INTRODUC ITS FIRST GAY CHARACTER
- POWER RANGERS FEATUR FIRST GAY SCREEN SUPERHERO
- POWER RANGERS FILM FEATUR OPENLY GAY SUPERHERO
- ‘POWER RANGERS’ MAK BLOCKBTER HISTORY WH FIRST GAY SUPERHERO
- GO, GAY POWER RANGER!
THE POWER RANGERS INTRODUC ITS FIRST GAY CHARACTER
* lgbt power rangers *
And jt last year, reports were circulatg that the follow-up Power Rangers film was set to clu a transgenr ranger the st and that the Blue Ranger was gog to be wrten as a gay character, though no new velopments on those onts have surfaced sce then. LGBTQIA+ pertas llectively to people who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer (or those qutng their genr inty or sexual orientatn), tersex, and asexual. Riley Griff's actor, Michael Taber, stated that he portrayed the character as gay and as "havg a thg" for Chase Randall.
POWER RANGERS FEATUR FIRST GAY SCREEN SUPERHERO
Monty's actor, Caleb Bend, stated that he portrayed the character as gay and as havg a csh on Victor Vcent.
↑ 'Power Rangers' Gay Character Storyle: Yellow Ranger Plot Explaed | Hollywood Reporter Tri om the movie. 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. 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.
POWER RANGERS FILM FEATUR OPENLY GAY 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.
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. 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.
‘POWER RANGERS’ MAK BLOCKBTER HISTORY WH FIRST GAY SUPERHERO
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. 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.
GO, GAY POWER RANGER!
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. “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?