Dynasty’s Journey om Gay Panic to Gay Pri - The Stranger

gay dynasty

Offerg scen of unfettable mp and troducg one of the first out gay characters to mass dienc, the primetime TV seri Dynasty achieved inic stat, pecially among LGBTQ+ dienc.

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DYNASTY’S JOURNEY OM GAY PANIC TO GAY PRI

Origal Dynasty Star Jack Coleman on playg the first gay character a primetime drama, a new stage show honorg the TV soap, and much more. * gay dynasty *

The TV show Dynasty featured a gay in (and her son).

But for years, spe the show’s anythg-go nature, there was one thg that Dynasty uldn’t get away wh: showg a happy homosexual.

Puttg a gay man on one of the most inic and popular shows of the was a long, multi-year fight — both on-screen and behd-the-scen — but was nothg pared to the battle took to keep him there. The story of Dynasty’s ntroversial gay son starts back 1979 wh, of all thgs, the oil crisis.

'DYNASTY' STAR GORDON THOMSON COM OUT AS GAY

After season three aired on The CW, fans have been wonrg where Steven Carrgton is. Hailg him as the first gay character, viewers want him back * gay dynasty *

And the son, Steven, who’s hidg his homosexualy om his nservative dad. ” There had seldom been any recurrg gay characters on primetime TV — there was Jody on Soap, a fotten barfly on The Corner Bar, and gut-player Lori Shannon as Beverly LaSalle on All the Fay. Dynasty’s pilot posns Steven ont and center, wh a climactic scene which Blake nonts his son about beg gay.

He mands that Steven “straighten yourself out, ” hurls slurs at him, and sists that Steven never brg homosexualy to the hoe.

‘I’M GAY’: GORDON THOMSON, DYNASTY’S ADAM CARRGTON, COM OUT—AND TRASH CW’S REBOOT

Between troducg one of the first out gay characters to mass dienc and offerg up scen of unfettable mp, the 1980s prime-time soap, whose early episos were filmed at Filoli, achieved inic stat, pecially among LGBTQ+ dienc. * gay dynasty *

There was so much stigma around homosexualy then that for many queer people, was simply easier to acquice and pretend they’d gone straight — pecially around fay. Over the 1970s, there had been a steady rise gay characters, acpanyg the growg queer liberatn movement.

) But the rise gay visibily on televisn ran to a brick wall late 1980s wh the electn of Ronald Reagan.

 PRI MONTH 2020 STEVEN CARRGTON DYNASTY FIRST GAY CHARACTER TV ABC 1981 SHOW THE CW REBOOT 2017

* gay dynasty *

There were over a dozen gay characters on TV 1979, but by 1981 there were almost none.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Kev Maxen, Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach, is the first male ach a major U.S. men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * gay dynasty *

He’d appeared on a gay-ish episo of The Love Boat a year earlier, and had lots of ias for where he uld take one of TV’s only gay characters.

And then there was Newt Dieter, a gay muny lear who was often sought out by TV producers to vet their scripts. His job was to make sure Dynasty didn’t ploy any offensive trop; for example, he advoted for a rctn the number of f-slurs, as well as removal of the somewhat ls egreg phrase “gay schmay. So when this pilot fally aired, was wh a lot of liberate work on the part of creators, the producer, the actor, and even a gay muny lear to make sure they got the Steven character right.

And bee of the sudn reluctance to put gay characters on TV the wake of Reagan’s electn, Dynasty wound up beg one of the only shows of s time to even attempt a storyle like this.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY

Dynasty eely showed Steven gettg gay bashed, he jt uldn’t have have a gay kiss. Season 1 ends wh Blake on trial for murr, which provis ample opportuny for him to reerate his homophobia.

The show’s settg up a real-life legal tactic known as a “gay panic fense, ” whereby a person argu that they were so upset by the prence of a homosexual that they beme, for legal purpos, temporarily sane, and therefore no longer legally rponsible for their actns.

DYNASTY’S JOURNEY OM GAY PANIC TO GAY PRI

A study 2020 found that gay and trans panic fens rulted urts rcg charg 33% of s where was ed. Blake was origally gog to be found not guilty until Newt Dieter tervened, aghast that the show would pict the killg of a gay man as havg zero nsequenc. Executiv noted that Steven appealed to women viewers, and wanted the producers to end the gay storyl and pair him wh women — sentially they wanted a py of the popular Bo character on CBS’s D of Hazzard.

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DYNASTY'S ORIGAL ADAM CARRGTON COM OUT AS GAY"THE SHAME, THE BREATHTAKG LACK OF SELF-TEEM, HAS ONLY JT BEGUN TO SEEP OUT OF MY SOUL,” SAYS ACTOR GORDON {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}CELEBRIBY DAN AVERYSEPTEMBER 25, 2017/7:59 {HEIGHT:HER;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;POSN:RELATIVE;-WEBK-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-MS-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-WEBK-ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-ALIGN:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-ALIGN:CENTER;ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-WEBK-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;-MS-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;} IMG{HEIGHT:100%;WIDTH:100%;OBJECT-F:VER;}{HEIGHT:574PX;WIDTH:1020PX;}DYNASTY/ABCBY DAN AVERYSEPTEMBER 25, 2017 / 7:59 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"DYNASTY'S ORIGAL ADAM CARRGTON COM OUT AS GAY","THUMBNAILURL":","DATEPUBLISHED":"2017-09-25T11:59:11.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2017-09-25T11:59:11.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"DAN AVERY","ARTICLESECTN":"CELEBRI"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}GORDON THOMSON, WHO PLAYED TWISTED ADAM CARRGTON, ON THE ORIGAL DYNASTY, HAS NO LOVE FOR THE UPG CW REBOOT, LLG “TOTAL SH, AN ABOMATN” A RECENT TERVIEW WH THE DAILY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“WHY LL DYNASTY? IT’S NOTHG TO DO WH DYNASTY AT ALL. IT’S SULTG." THE 72-YEAR-OLD ACTOR SAYS. "IF THE AFTERLIFE EXISTS— DON’T, BUT IF DID—AARON [SPELLG] WOULD BE HAVG MAJOR FS HIS GRAVE. AND THE DIENCE THE CW IS AIMG FOR IS GOG TO THK ’S SH BEE IS SUCH SH THAT A CRETO 6-YEAR-OLD WOULD NOT BE TERTED. IT’S ABOMABLE.”PL ARCHULETA/FILMMAGICLOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 16: ACTOR GORDON THOMSON ATTENDS THE PREMIERE OF "WTERTHORNE" AT THE RENBERG THEATRE ON AUGT 16, 2015 LOS ANGEL, CALIFORNIA. (PHOTO BY PL ARCHULETA/FILMMAGIC){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN THE DB PROFILE THOMSON OPENS UP ABOUT BEG GAY FOR THE FIRST TIME. BORN OTTAWA 1945, THOMSON ADMS HE ALT WH A LOT OF HOMOPHOBIA HIS FORMATIVE YEARS, SOME OF {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"IT WAS NOT UNTIL I WAS NEARLY 30 THAT [HOMOSEXUALY] STOPPED BEG CLASSIFIED AS A MENTAL ILLNS THE U.S. SO YOU’RE ALG WH THAT. AND THE SHAME, THE BREATHTAKG LACK OF SELF-TEEM, HAS ONLY JT BEGUN TO SEEP OUT OF MY SOUL.”RON GALELLA/WIREIMAGEACTOR GEOFEY STT, ACTRS JOAN COLLS AND ACTOR GORDON THOMSON ATTEND THE 40TH ANNUAL GOLN GLOBE AWARDS ON JANUARY 29, 1983 AT BEVERLY HILTON HOTEL BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA. (PHOTO BY RON GALELLA/WIREIMAGE){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}AFTER DYNASTY, THOMSON STARRED ON SANTA BARBARA, AND NTU TO ACT TODAY. BUT HE WAS PART OF THE GENERATN OF GAY ENTERTAERS WHO KEPT THEIR SEXUALY A CLOSELY GUARD SECRET. AND HE STILL SEEMS UNSETTLED BY THE NEW OPENNS HOLLYWOOD, SUGGTG S NOT AVAILABLE TO {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}LEADG-MAN TYP, HE SAYS, ARE "A SOURCE OF FANTASY."DYNASTY/{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"IAN MCKELLEN AND DEREK JABI ARE WONRFUL PEOPLE, BUT PARDON ME, HOW MANY DIENCE MEMBERS FANTASIZE ABOUT FUCKG EHER ONE OF THEM? REALLY. IT HAD A LOT TO DO WH WHAT YOU LOOKED LIKE, I’M AAID."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}HE'S ALSO NDID ABOUT NOT LIKG HOW THE '80S SOAP HANDLED STEVEN CARRGTON, HIS ON-SCREEN BROTHER AND THE SHOW'S RINT GAY. (STEVEN IS FORTABLY OUT THE REBOOT, AND SAMMIE JO IS A MAN.)DYNASTY/{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“I THOUGHT WAS BULLSH,” THOMSON SAYS. “AT THE TIME, THE AIDS CRISIS HAD A LOT TO DO WH PRSURE ON THE WORK. I KNOW THAT AL CORLEY QU BEE HE FELT THEY WERE NOT ALLOWG HIM TO PLAY THE PART HONTLY. AND THEY WEREN’T."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}STEVEN FLIP-FLOPPED BETWEEN STRAIGHT AND GAY OVER THE SHOW'S NE SEASONS, AND BARELY HAD MORE THAN A FIRM HANDSHAKE WH ANOTHER {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“IT WAS APPALLGLY HANDLED," SAYS THOMSON. "THEY OPENED A N OF WORMS AND WEREN’T TE TO , AND THEY ULD HAVE BEEN. THEY HAD GOOD ACTORS PLAYG THE PARTS. IT WAS A BIG SHAME. I’M VERY SORRY.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

Durg a brief heterosexual experiment, Steven had a baby, and Blake is termed to take ctody — he feels that a gay man n’t possibly raise a child. That’s where the seeds are planted for the show’s next major gay twist.

That year, another Aaron Spellg seri, The Love Boat, featured a gay uple; Kate and Allie troduced a lbian landlady, and even Night Court had a gay episo.

This was happeng, part, bee the last few years gay activism had bee much more urgent and visible, particularly around HIV. But as queer activism got bigger, lour, and more prent than ever Amerin life, and was gettg harr and harr to rema stuck that old tradn of pretendg homosexualy didn’t exist. A recurrg gay uple on a primetime show was a big al — not gut stars, not sassy bt iends who are only there to support the straight characters’ stori, but two ma characters formg a relatnship as part of the re storyle.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY DYNASTY

'Dynasty' Star Gordon Thomson Com Out As Gay | HuffPost Voic .

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