Explorg the Hidn Gay History of the Wild Wt (Part I) • Salt Lake Magaze

Contents:

• AMERI'S WILD WT WAS SUPER GAY? WUT.
• THE 1960S' GAYT SHOW
• THE GEO PHOTOS FROM A GAY ROO WILL TRIGGER YOUR INNER COWBOY
• GAY COWBOYS? SURE, PARDNER.

AMERI'S WILD WT WAS SUPER GAY? WUT.

Detractors, largely spearhead by right-wg and relig groups, quickly and fervently emed the film’s pictn of a homosexual uple immoral, evince of an attempt to femize men, and even anti-Amerin.

” Other crics acced filmmakers of phg an “agenda” onto Amerins, wh one wrg that “Hollywood screenwrers and producers thk that ’s their duty to teach Ameri that homosexual nduct and cross-drsg are normal behavrs that should be affirmed Amerin culture. In this way, Cooper has embedd an acknowledgement of same-sex love the very heart of Amerin myth, directly ntrastg claims that homosexualy is an unnatural and/or morn ventn.

THE 1960S' GAYT SHOW

Furthermore, the homosocialy scribed Cooper’s work is not purely imagative, but actually reflective of historil rerds ditg the prence of homoerotic relatnships among wboys the ontier wt, keepg wh Cooper’s assertn that the stori were spired by tal he had been told by actual wboys. This is also nsistent wh fdgs like those Aled Ksey’s notor 1948 study, Sexual Behavr the Human Male, which reported the hight equenci of homosexual timacy to be among men ral farmg muni; probably, Ksey nclud, much like their pneer forebearers the ontier wt. One such source, a limerick that allus to homosexual timacy between wboys, was found by historian Clifford Wtermeier and published his 1976 say “The Cowboy and Sex.

THE GEO PHOTOS FROM A GAY ROO WILL TRIGGER YOUR INNER COWBOY

As Peter Boag explas, “to intify a homoerotic re s myth about the supremacy of whe Amerin masculy is to imply that Amerin dienc want their ontiersman to practice nonnormative sir as part of their rol natn-buildg” (12). In other words, if there is somethg natnal about the wboy and if there is somethg homoerotic about the partnerships he forms the wilrns, then there is somethg homoerotic about Amerin natnal inty. In forcg the dience to regnize a eper nnectn between the two protagonists, one that may reflect feelgs held by many other Amerin men, the dience is pelled to acknowledge the artificial boundary between homosocial and homoerotic that is imposed by homophobia and rerced by the Hollywood Cowboy.

GAY COWBOYS? SURE, PARDNER.

As Eric Patterson ncurs, “By lotg love between men wh the inographic system of landspe, clothg, and activi that are fundamental to the Wtern, Brokeback Mounta oblig rears and dienc to beg to regnize how the Amerin natnal fantasy of Wtern adventure and particularly the ialized wboy hero have distorted history and endorsed a homophobic nstctn of masculy” (117). Hton is back Cody, Wyomg diggg eper to the history of gay roos, Buffalo Bill’s iendship wh French artist Rosa Bonhr and thor Osr Wil and ntug through his wrgs, films and art projects illumatg the ntributns of the LGBT muny the history and culture of the Ameri Wt. “I thk that’s what the movie’s about, ” Maron said of the film, which ’s more than heavily implied that Benedict Cumberbatch’s rancher Phil Burbank is a reprsed gay man.

Ellt is of urse trendg on Twter, wh the ual woke spects llg for his head bee no one is allowed to say “Hey, not everythg is gay, ” or cricize a woman for tryg to force gay stuff to a wtern. Say the words “gay wboy” and chanc are the nversatn will turn to “Brokeback Mounta, ” the 2005 film starrg Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, and based on the Annie Proulx short Osr-wng drama, which is set the 1960s to ‘80s, highlighted a long-submerged facet of ontier culture.

But as a new seri at the Autry Natnal Center shows, the prence of homosexuals and transgenr dividuals the Amerin Wt is much olr than the movie might lead you to thk. He said his sexualy is a “nonissue” when to workg wh straight roo, he said that straight roo groups sometim engage Christian activi, such as group prayer and Bible study, that may make some gay participants feel unfortable. “Out Wt, ” which is budgeted at $25, 000 -- most for a mm program of this nature -- is still the fundraisg stage, though has already attracted some big name ntributors like seri is expected to feature a segment on homosexualy and Native Amerin cultur.