It’s time for an Actually Gay season of The Bachelor already | Life and style | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE BACHELOR STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• COLTON UNRWOOD, THE FIRST GAY ‘BACHELOR,’ CONONTS HIS CONTROVERSIAL COMG OUT
• COLTON UNRWOOD, ‘BACHELOR’ STAR, COM OUT AS GAY
• ‘BACHELOR’ FANS MAND GAY SEASON AMID COLTON UNRWOOD’S G OUT
• ‘THE BACHELOR’ HAS A TROUBLED HISTORY WHEN TO GAY ROMANCE. IT’S NOT ALONE
• A FORMER BACHELOR STAR ME OUT AS GAY. THE ANNOUNCEMENT WAS AS MSY AS HIS SEASON.
• IT’S TIME FOR AN ACTUALLY GAY SEASON OF THE BACHELOR ALREADY

THE BACHELOR STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

"And I'm gay. Ms Randolph then filed for a rtrag orr agast Mr Unrwood, accg him of stalkg her, but she later requted the police vtigatn be source, Getty ImagImage ptn, In The Bachelor, he chose nttant Cassie RandolphMr Unrwood said he cid to e out after the panmic h, addg that was a time which forced people to "look at themselv the mirror and figure out who they are and what they've been nng om or what they've been puttg off their liv" said he had been aware of his sexualy for a long time, knowg he "jt felt different" om the age of Unrwood said he "learned the Bible that gay is a s" Catholic school.

Durg his time playg football, he relled the term "gay" held "a nnotatn of negativy". "I thk there's a lot of thgs, when I look back, I'm like, 'No wonr I held , '" he may also be terted : Media ptn, Kenh Felts has e out as gay at 90 years old... Colton Unrwood didn’t plan on ever tellg the world that he was gay.

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

“I’ll jt say , ” Unrwood reveals on a recent afternoon, still adjtg to his new life as an openly gay man. Acrdg to him, last year, while livg Los Angel, he secretly vised a spa known for terg to gay clientele. At one time, g out of the closet was emed a reer killer, but shows like “The Real World, ” “Survivor” and the origal “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, ” now rebooted on Netflix, led to a profound, posive transformatn how gay people are perceived, and helped brg about progrsive chang to LGBTQ civil rights.

As new generatns of lennials and Gen Zers have grown up wh LGBTQ iends and role mols, gay Amerins have attaed the right to marry, and queerns has bee more mastream media, as proven shows like HBO’s high school h “Euphoria” and sentially half of the characters the Ryan Murphy universe. A gay “Bachelor, ” though? His announcement that he was gay cid wh news that he was filmg a Netflix realy show about his new media l up wh accatns that Unrwood was moizg his g-out story.

COLTON UNRWOOD, ‘BACHELOR’ STAR, COM OUT AS GAY

And others legimately argued that as a hunky whe gay man, he was benefg om privilege, takg a platform that other members of the queer muny served more than he did. “If you’re gay, be gay!

“I had never seen a football player that had ma to the NFL that had been gay, growg up Catholic. “I’ve had hundreds of gay Christian men and women who are nfed their walk wh J say, ‘I felt closer to God when I me out.

“I never want people to thk that I’m g out to change the narrative, or to bsh over and not take rponsibily for my actns, and now that I have this gay life that I don’t have to addrs my past as a straight man, ” Unrwood says. Cled to ment for this story, or answer qutns about whether there have been discsns about velopg a gay season of “The Bachelor. • • •Realy TV has the power to change mds, showsg unrreprented muni to sectns of the untry who might not e across gay, bisexual or transgenr people their everyday Hollywood, progrs has still been slow.

‘BACHELOR’ FANS MAND GAY SEASON AMID COLTON UNRWOOD’S G OUT

The number of high-profile gay love stori at the movi — among them, the Hulu romantic edy “Happit Season” and 2017 Sundance darlg “Call Me by Your Name” — remas small. It’s rare to see a full-fledged gay love story, or hts of gay romance, on a realy TV show. When Lance Bass, who is openly gay, appeared on the program 2008, he was paired wh a female partner.

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

Unrwood’s faced mons as a closeted gay man.

For Unrwood, growg up Washgton, Ill., wh a populatn of 15, 000, there were no gay role mols. “We had one gay person my entire town, ” Unrwood says. ”Though he felt that he was different at the age of 6, Unrwood never got the chance to teract wh gay people.

“I would have done anythg to see a gay football player, ” he says, gettg choked up.

A FORMER BACHELOR STAR ME OUT AS GAY. THE ANNOUNCEMENT WAS AS MSY AS HIS SEASON.

He ed a iend’s Blockbter rd to rent the movie, so that no one his fay would spect him of beg gay. “Gay porn was sort of what I gravated towards, ” Unrwood adms, clenchg his the time, Unrwood nied beg gay to his father. He remembers that when Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL 2014, no one the locker room supported the ia.

Their homophobia only drove him eper to the closet. “Growg up sports, I was tght that gay is wrong and gay is bad and football players are not gay, ” Unrwood says.

“By the time I realized that I was gay, I didn’t want to be gay. ’” Unrwood says of his gay enunters. But producers have ma sure not to jt foc on whe privileged gay the seri, Unrwood will explore his posn of privilege, partly thanks to Kenworthy, who is featured by his si as someone who n relate to Unrwood’s experience, as a gay athlete who me out the spotlight.

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

“He’s been somebody that I’ve not only learned so much om, but he’s held me acuntable and he’s allowed me to see the privilege of beg a straight-prentg gay, whe man, ” Unrwood says of Kenworthy. “Here he is, a cisgenr whe man who out as gay, and he gets a show, ” says Garcia. He wish his son wouldn’t live his entire life the public eye, but he se the impact his Netflix seri may have on fai who abandon their children for beg gay.