'The Bachelor' has a troubled history when to gay romance. It's not alone

Contents:

• THERE’S ALREADY BEEN A GAY ‘BACHELOR’-TYPE SHOW, AND IT WAS ESRTED OFF AIR AFTER JT ONE SEASON
• IT’S TIME FOR AN ACTUALLY GAY SEASON OF THE BACHELOR ALREADY
• FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• 'THE BACHELOR' HAS A TROUBLED HISTORY WHEN TO GAY ROMANCE. IT'S NOT ALONE
• FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR SAYS HE IS GAY
• 'BACHELOR' COLTON UNRWOOD'S GAY REVEAL PLIT HIS PAST — BUT DON'T ERASE
• COLTON UNRWOOD, THE FIRST GAY ‘BACHELOR,’ CONONTS HIS CONTROVERSIAL COMG OUT
• THE BACHELOR'S COLTON UNRWOOD COM OUT AS GAY
• A GAY BACHELOR PARTY PRIMER TO PLAN AN AWOME PARTY

THERE’S ALREADY BEEN A GAY ‘BACHELOR’-TYPE SHOW, AND IT WAS ESRTED OFF AIR AFTER JT ONE SEASON

" The show's stg ll is askg for both men and women — a first for the entire anchise Unrwood beme the first openly gay man Bachelor Natn April Unrwood. It was dropped that April 2021, Unrwood me out as gay durg an terview on "Good Morng Ameri. "This mak him the first former lead to be part of the LGBTQ muny, and the first gay male volved wh the Burt me out as bisexual durg "Bachelor Paradise, " and she later proposed to her girliend durg the Burt.

In realy, there’s already been a gay “Bachelor”-type show — “Fdg Prce Charmg. ”Thirteen gay men moved to a mansn to try to w the affectns of a handsome eligible bachelor, terr signer Robert Sepuvelda Jr. Former ‘NSYNCer Lance Bass played the Chris Harrison-que Read: Billy Eichner to Colton Unrwood 2019: 'Maybe You're the First Gay Bachelor and We Don't Even Know' (Vio)In the end, Sepulveda chose hairstylist Eric Leonardos as his guy.

“Fdg Prce Charmg” was not whout ntroversy, though, but not for s gay filmg and jt prr to s premiere, reports emerged that Sepulveda had prevly been a sex worker. ” Unrwood has been filmg a realy TV seri for Netflix about his journey g out as a gay origal story There’s Already Been a Gay ‘Bachelor’-Type Show, and It Was Esrted Off Air After Jt One Season At TheWrap.

IT’S TIME FOR AN ACTUALLY GAY SEASON OF THE BACHELOR ALREADY

“I’m gay, ” he told anchor Rob Roberts, shaken though visibly relieved. I’m hant to ame Unrwood’s g out as some kd of signifint “gay first”, given how such narrativ often end up portrayg LGBTQ+ people as new, as if we haven’t been here the whole time. “The media that make visible simultaneoly obscure our prence history by ntually amg trans people [and, this stance wh Unrwood, gay people] as new, as a morn, medilized phenomenon only now g to light, ” wrer and artist Man M Page wrote 2017.

FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

Other nttants have, siar to Unrwood, publicly e out after filmg all that md, feels like would be a real missed opportuny for the Bachelor powers that be to not rest Unrwood for the anchise’s first-ever Actually Gay season wh an Actually Gay would the first gay season of The Bachelor look like?

That was one of the first major attempts at givg gay guys the gay versn of The Bachelor so many longed for, though greatly hred self by secretly addg a bunch of straight men to the st whout rmg s starrg bachelor first. Drawg on stereotyp about gay people beg ceptive and untstworthy? Though for all the ways that Fdg Prce Charmg provid better reprentatn than s spirual precsor, was also borg – seemgly more ncerned about provg to viewers that gay men’s romantic aspiratns were every b as normal as their straight unterparts than wh pictg gay men on their own The Bachelor portrayed love eply heteropatriarchal terms (multiple women pete for the attentn of a sgle man, lookg for monogamy and, of urse, marriage), Fdg Prce Charmg simply gave the long-nng seri a h at of homosexual pat.

'THE BACHELOR' HAS A TROUBLED HISTORY WHEN TO GAY ROMANCE. IT'S NOT ALONE

Could the first gay season of The Bachelor offer somethg different om what the aforementned rivativ spired gave years past?

), I’d want s hypothetil first-ever gay season to look somethg like MTV’s sexually fluid 2019 season of Are You the One?

I’d love to see a Bachelor season do new thgs like acknowledge the probable sexual tensn between the nttants, and a gay season of The Bachelor seems as well poised as any to explore that terrory. Somethg tells me that we wouldn’t see that kd of sex-posive change of format on the first gay season of The Bachelor though.

FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR SAYS HE IS GAY

) So, maybe I don’t really want a gay season of The Bachelor after all? Colton Unrwood is ready to live his former "Bachelor" star me out as gay an exclive terview wh Rob Roberts on "Good Morng Ameri" on Wednday. "And I'm gay.

"When Roberts, who is also openly gay, said she uld "see the joy" and "see the relief" Unrwood, he said he was "emotnal , like such a good, happy, posive way, " and is "the happit and healthit" he's ever been.

Unrwood said he went through a "dark and bad" time before feelg like he uld reveal this about himself and his "wake up ll" was feelg like he "would've rather died" than say he's gay. It took until high school for him to realize he "was more attracted to the boys and the men" than he was the oppose grown up the Catholic church, he remembered he "learned the Bible that gay is a s" Catholic gra school.

'BACHELOR' COLTON UNRWOOD'S GAY REVEAL PLIT HIS PAST — BUT DON'T ERASE

And durg his time sports, he remembered people g the word "gay" as a term that held "a nnotatn of negativy. Unrwood said he has grown "closer to God" this revelatn and said he knows some people will qutn how that's even possible for a gay man to say. "I ed to wake up the morng and pray for him to take the gay away.

I am proud to be gay.

COLTON UNRWOOD, THE FIRST GAY ‘BACHELOR,’ CONONTS HIS CONTROVERSIAL COMG OUT

(Craig Sjod / ABC; Gregg DeGuire / WireImage)“The Bachelor’s” Colton Unrwood on Wednday revealed that he's gay an emotnal terview wh Rob Roberts on “Good Morng Ameri. ” Compared wh the anchise's past handlg of the subject of gay romance, was a major step forward.

THE BACHELOR'S COLTON UNRWOOD COM OUT AS GAY

“And for me, I’ve ran om myself for a long time and I’ve hated myself for a long time, and I’m gay. (Na Prommer / EPA-EFE / Rex / Shutterstock)In fact, “The Bachelor” has prevly e unr fire for ments that proment personali om the anchise have ma regardg LGBTQ people and relatnships tryg to protect that 2014, Season 18 “Bachelor” Juan Pablo Galavis was lled out for sayg a potential “Bachelor” stallment built around same-sex romance would not be “a good example for kids” and ed the word "pervert" reference to gay people. In a 2014 terview wh New York Tim Magaze, Harrison si-stepped a qutn about whether there should be a gay “Bachelor” by tryg to make a qutn about bs cisns and parg love to pizzas and hamburgers.

But stead of lettg the foc of the show be one man’s search for love, "Boy Meets Boy" clud a twist: some of the nttants were straight 's 2003 gay datg seri "Boy Meets Boy. " (Glenn Campbell / Bravo)The twist was ially a secret to Jam, the lead, as well as the gay nttants, which meant the gimmick was purely for the dience to try to figure out each nttant’s sexual orientatn.

Given the homophobic stereotyp that exist around ceful gay men, this cel twist meant creatg a game out of straight men tryg to trick a gay man for a sh prize. Featurg a gay lead durg the first season ma the show particularly signifint bee there is still a noticeable lack of LGBTQ rom-s durg the holiday TV season.

A GAY BACHELOR PARTY PRIMER TO PLAN AN AWOME PARTY

Go to gaybros. Real Victorian dandy hours (except I'm actually gay).

Often ed to refer to asexual people  a siar manner as “gay” or “straight” are ed to refer to homosexual or heterosexual people. Ally: A person who supports and rpects sexual diversy, acts acrdgly to challenge homophobic and heterosexist remarks and behavrs, and is willg to explore and unrstand the forms of bias wh themselv.

A gay or bisexual man who has facial/body hair and a cuddly body. An umbrella term that refers to members of a subculture the gay and bisexual male muni and is often fed as more of an attu or sense of fort wh natural masculy and bodi.

Bicur: An dividual who typilly intifi as gay or straight while showg some cursy for a relatnship or sexual activy wh a person of the genr they do not favor. (Related terms: heteroflexible, homoflexible). Sometim adopted affirmatively by gay men to refer to themselv.