Dick Clark’s secret: ‘Bandstand’ dancers were havg a gay old time | PhillyVoice

Contents:

• EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE FOTTEN A SURPRISG GAY MOMENT OM DISNEY’S THE PRCS DIARI 2
• THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY
• DISNEY'S ACTUAL 'FIRST GAY CHARACTER' HAS BEEN FOTTEN ABOUT
• RICK COST REVEALS HE IS GAY
• THE FLASH, VAMPIRE DIARI ALUM RICK COST PUBLICLY OUT AS GAY CHEERFUL VIO
• DICK CLARK’S SECRET: ‘BANDSTAND’ DANCERS WERE HAVG A GAY OLD TIME
• ‘AMERIN BANDSTAND’ KEPT SECRET THAT TEEN STARS WERE GAY
• FEATURED FANFICTN

EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE FOTTEN A SURPRISG GAY MOMENT OM DISNEY’S THE PRCS DIARI 2

In 2004, Disney quietly troduced s first openly gay character  The Prcs Diari 2: Royal Engagement – and the entire world promptly fot happened.

The film’s gay moment occurs when Prcs Mia is shown a PowerPot prentatn of potential suors.

THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY

The surprisg gay moment  The Prcs Diari 2 has been largely fotten. However, is surprisg to see a Disney character – all the way back 2004, nohels – exprsg support for gay rights.

DISNEY'S ACTUAL 'FIRST GAY CHARACTER' HAS BEEN FOTTEN ABOUT

Much has been ma about gay characters Disney films the years sce.

In 2020, Disney was quick to pot out that Lena Wahe was voicg an openly queer character  Onward – however, there was some disappotment among LGBT+ filmgoers when the gay moment didn’t exactly live up to expectatns.

Marvel, which is owned by Disney, is set to troduce an openly gay superhero  Eternals, due for release later this year.

RICK COST REVEALS HE IS GAY

Image ptn, Claire Pickerg Wakefield library imag the diary wrer speakg a Yorkshire accentA diary wrten by a Yorkshire farmer more than 200 years ago is beg hailed as providg remarkable evince of tolerance towards homosexualy Bra much earlier than prevly imaged. Historians om Oxford Universy have been taken aback to disver that Matthew Tomlson's diary om 1810 ntas such open-md views about same-sex attractn beg a "natural" human diary challeng prenceptns about what "ordary people" thought about homosexualy - showg there was a bate about whether someone really should be discrimated agast for their sexualy.

"In this excg new disvery, we see a Yorkshire farmer argug that homosexualy is nate and somethg that shouldn't be punished by ath, " says Oxford rearcher Eamonn O' ptn, The diari were handwrten by Tomlson the farmhoe where he lived and workedThe historian had been examg Tomlson's handwrten diari, which have been stored Wakefield Library sce the thoands of pag of the private journals have never been transcribed and prevly ed by rearchers terted Tomlson's eye-wns acunts of electns Yorkshire and the Ludd smashg up O'Keeffe me across what seemed, for the era of Gee III, to be a rather startlg set of arguments about same-sex relatnships.

THE FLASH, VAMPIRE DIARI ALUM RICK COST PUBLICLY OUT AS GAY CHEERFUL VIO

Tomlson had been prompted by what had been a big sex sndal of the day - which a well-rpected naval surgeon had been found to be engagg homosexual ptn, Historian Eamonn O'Keeffe says the diari provi a rare sight to the views of "ordary people" the early 1800sA urt martial had orred him to be hanged - but Tomlson seemed unnvced by the cisn, qutng whether what the papers lled an "unnatural act" was really that unnatural. "It mt seem strange ed that God Almighty should make a beg wh such a nature, or such a fect nature; and at the same time make a cree that if that beg whom he had formed, should at any time follow the dictat of that Nature, wh which he was formed, he should be punished wh ath, " he wrote on January 14 there was an "clatn and propensy" for someone to be homosexual om an early age, he wrote, " mt then be nsired as natural, otherwise as a fect nature - and if natural, or a fect nature; seems cel to punish that fect wh ath" diarist mak reference to beg rmed by others that homosexualy is apparent om an early age - suggtg that Tomlson and his social circle had been talkg about this se and discsg somethg that was not unknown to this time, and also Wt Yorkshire, a lol landowner, Anne Lister, was wrg a d diary about her lbian relatnships - wh her story told the televisn seri, Gentleman knowg what "ordary people" really thought about such behavur is always difficult - not least bee the loust survivg voic are ually the wealthy and has exced amics is the chance to eavdrop on an everyday farmer thkg aloud his source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Tomlson was appalled by the levels of rptn durg electns"What's strikg is that he's an ordary guy, he's not a member of the bohemian circl or an tellectual, " says O'Keeffe, a doctoral stunt Oxford's history acceptance of homosexualy might have been exprsed privately aristocratic or philosophilly radil circl - but this was beg discsed by a ral worker. O'Keeffe says shows ias were "perlatg through Brish society much earlier and more wily than we'd expect" - wh the diary workg through the bat that Tomlson might have been havg wh his the were still far om morn liberal views - and O'Keeffe says they n be extremely "jarrg" someone was homosexual by choice, rather than by nature, Tomlson was ready to nsir that they should still be punished - proposg stratn as a more morate optn than the ath ptn, Tomlson's former home was still there the 1930s (bottom left), but has sce disappeared beneath hog and a golf urseO'Keeffe says disverg evince of the kds of bate has both "enriched and plited" what we know about public opn this pre-Victorian diary is raisg ternatnal Fara Dabhoiwala, om Prceton Universy the US, an expert the history of attus towards sexualy, scrib as "vivid proof" that "historil attus to same-sex behavur uld be more sympathetic than is ually prumed".

Instead of seeg homosexualy as a "horrible perversn", Prof Dabholwala says the rerd showed a farmer 1810 uld see as a "natural, dively ordaed human qualy" Norton, an expert gay history, said there had been earlier arguments fendg homosexualy as natural - but the were more likely to be om philosophers than farmers. Charlie Sprg (Joe Locke) is an openly gay stunt who starts velopg feelgs for his new sk mate, Nick Nelson (K Connor).

DICK CLARK’S SECRET: ‘BANDSTAND’ DANCERS WERE HAVG A GAY OLD TIME

It wasn't Cella, Onward or The Rise of Skywalker; Disney's actual first gay character was The Prcs Diari 2: Royal Engagement.

‘AMERIN BANDSTAND’ KEPT SECRET THAT TEEN STARS WERE GAY

At this pot, headl clarg a Disney movie ntas the stud's "first gay character" of one kd or another have bee credibly predictable. Cella's Artie is the latt to get "first gay character" headl. In as much as Artie n make any real "first" claim, 's bee he at least has more scen than Spectre Onward, who at least had a name unlike the gay guy Avengers: Endgame, whose inty was at least ls ambiguo than Lefou's the 2017 Bety and the Beast, and so on and so forth the list of Disney's bare-mimum "firsts.

Amidst this cycle of unrwhelmg rporate hype, seems as if people have fotten who Disney's actual "first gay character" was, assumg they were even aware he existed the first place. Don't go to The Prcs Diari 2 expectg some sort of masterpiece of reprentatn or queer cema; the gay ntent is as mimal as that most of the films ught the "Disney's first gay character" hype cycle.

Unls you unt a lbian uple appearg the background of Toy Story 4, this might be the only direct reference to beg gay a G-rated movie ever, which is all the more imprsive given the MPAA's reputatn for ratg gay ntent more harshly than equivalent straight ntent. Mia's reactn is also a stronger gay rights statement than most of Disney's other "exclively gay moments" movi (Disney's TV seri and streamg programs have notably been a lot more LGBTQ-iendly than s movi have been).

FEATURED FANFICTN

It's a strange ltle footnote Disney history, but 's worth rememberg whenever you read the headl about Disney's next "first gay character.