Turns out, Barbieland isn't as gay as s queer fans had hoped

It’s a jt quick kiss, but ’s a long step forward for Archie Comics’ only openly gay character Kev Keller. The Riverdale teen fds his life turned upsi down after lockg lips wh his boyiend, Devon, Pop Tate’s der, drawg the ire of at least one disapprovg Riverdale mom. * archies gay character *

Televisn historian and thor Jim Colucci, who is currently -wrg wh Norman Lear a 50th-anniversary book voted to All the Fay, ments, “This was a brand new show g blazg out of the gate, bee if they were gog to tackle touchy issu 1971, gay reprentatn was certaly among the touchit. Jim mentns that when he wrote his book Goln Girls Forever, he mented that the first regular gay character on televisn was the short-lived s The Corner Bar, which aired 1972.

Gay liberatn and Stonewall had been 1969, so certaly was somethg the world was talkg about.

GAY ARCHIE CHARACTER: THE FAL FRONTIERWHAT DO SAY ABOUT PROGRS WHEN THE MOST MASTREAM, MIDDLE-AMERIN IC BOOK TRODUC A GAY CHARACTER? BARBARA SPL ON ARCHIE’S OL NEW HEARTBREAKER.BARBARA SPLUPDATED JUL. 14, 2017 6:10PM EDT / PUBLISHED AUG. 30, 2010 6:36PM EDT A TEENAGER HAS E OUT RIVERDALE, AND NO, 'S NOT NOTED "WOMAN-HATER" JUGHEAD JON.IF EVER THERE WAS A SIGN OF CHANGG ATTUS TOWARD HOMOSEXUALY, ARCHIE COMICS, THE AGGRSIVELY MASTREAM AND RELENTLSLY WHOLOME IC BOOKS FEATURG REDHEAD ARCHIE ANDREWS AND HIS IENDS, WILL TRODUCE GAY TEEN KEV KELLER VERONI NO. 202, ON SALE SEPTEMBER 1.VETERAN ARCHIE ARTIST DAN PARENT SAYS HE'D BEEN TOYG WH THE IA OF A GAY CHARACTER FOR A WHILE. KEV FALLY ME TO LIFE A STORY MEETG PARENT HAD WH JON GOLDWATER, THE -CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF ARCHIE COMIC PUBLITNS, AND EDOR CHIEF VICTOR GORELICK."WE'RE BATTG STORY IAS AROUND AND DAN SAYS, 'WHAT IF VERONI, WHO'S ABLE TO GET EVERYTHG SHE WANTS, ISN'T ABLE TO GET SOMETHG? WHAT IF A NEW GOOD-LOOKG BOY TO TOWN AND VERONI WANTS TO DATE HIM AND HE TURNS HER DOWN?'" GOLDWATER RELLS AN TERVIEW. "AND I SAY, 'WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?' AND DAN SAYS, 'BEE HE'S GAY.' AND I SAY, 'NOW THAT'S FUNNY. THAT'S A GOOD PREMISE.' " IN PARENT'S STORY, TLED "ISN'T IT BROMANTIC?," KEV ARRIV RIVERDALE AND IMMEDIATELY PIQU THE TERT OF RICH, SPOILED VERONI. AFTER KEV AND JUGHEAD ENJOY SOME HOMOSOCIAL BONDG AT A HAMBURGER-EATG NTT, JUGHEAD WARNS THE NEW KID THAT VERONI ISN'T LIKELY TO STOP PURSUG HIM UNTIL HE RETURNS HER FLIRTATNS. "IT'S NOTHG AGAST HER. I'M GAY," KEV EXPLAS NONCHALANTLY, SHOWG HOW MUCH MORE SUAL G OUT HAS BEE SCE THE X-MEN SUPERHERO NORTHSTAR MA HEADL 1992 WH THIS CLUNKY ANNOUNCEMENT: "FOR WHILE I AM NOT CLED TO DISCS MY SEXUALY WH PEOPLE FOR WHOM IS NONE OF THEIR BS—I AM GAY!"“I LOVE THE IA THAT WHEN JUGHEAD FDS OUT KEV’S GAY, HIS REACTN ISN’T, ‘WHOA, THAT’S WEIRD!’ BUT, ‘HEY, I N TOTALLY E THAT TO PRANK VERONI.’”FAR OM BEG LABORED, KEV'S G OUT FEELS ENTIRELY RELEVANT TO A IC BOOK ABOUT HOW TEENS RELATE. WHAT'S MORE, PARENT KEV'S SEXUALY AS AN GEN PLOT VICE THAT FS SEAMLSLY WH THE WELL-WORN ARCHIE NARRATIVE. "KEV IS GOG TO TELL HER THAT HE'S GAY, BUT JUGHEAD TELLS HIM NOT TO BEE HE ENJOYS SEEG VERONI MAKG A FOOL OF HERSELF," PARENT EXPLAS. "EVERYONE KNOWS HE'S GAY EXCEPT VERONI. BETTY DON'T PH BEE SHE REALIZ IF VERONI IS CHASG KEV THEN SHE'S GOT THE TIME FOR ARCHIE."IF KEV'S SEXUALY ISN'T IMMEDIATELY OBV TO VERONI—WHO, AS RIVERDALE'S MOST URBANE RINT, SHOULD SUPPOSEDLY HAVE THE MOST SOPHISTITED GAYDAR—THAT MIGHT BE BEE OF HOW PARENT HAS DRAWN THE CHARACTER. "HE'S WELL-DRSED, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE HIM TOO FLAMBOYANT," THE ARTIST SAYS. "HE N BE METROSEXUAL, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY UP TO THE STEREOTYPE. BUT HE IS FASHNABLE, AS MANY YOUNG GUYS ARE." (HE'S EVEN MORE FASHNABLE WHEN IMAGED BY DONATELLA VERSACE, WHO CREATED THE ABOVE RENDN OF KEV EXCLIVELY FOR THE DAILY BEAST.)KEV'S ARRIVAL WAS ANNOUNCED APRIL, AND GOLDWATER DIDN'T WORRY ABOUT PROTTERS STORMG THE GAT. "I REALLY THK WHAT WE'RE DOG REFLECTS WHAT GO ON THE WORLD. I'M REALLY THRILLED WH HOW PEOPLE HAVE REACTED," HE SAYS, ADDG THAT THE FEW ANGRY REARS WHO HAVE NCELED THEIR SUBSCRIPTNS HAVE BEEN FAR OUTNUMBERED BY SUPPORTERS WHO'VE BEE NEW SUBSCRIBERS BEE OF KEV."THERE HAS NOT BEEN THAT MUCH BACKLASH," SAYS PARENT, WHO NOT THAT HIS DGHTER AND GOLDWATER'S DGHTER, BOTH TEENAGERS, HAD BEEN NUDGG THE PANY THIS DIRECTN FOR A WHILE. "I WAS PREPARED, BUT REALLY 'S BEEN OVERWHELMGLY POSIVE. ANYONE UNR 25 THKS 'S A NON-ISSUE. EVEN IENDS OF ME WHO ARE VERY NSERVATIVE, I WASN'T SURE WHAT THEIR TAKE WOULD BE, BUT THEY'RE AT LEAST SAYG, 'I UNRSTAND . IT'S 2010, 'S A DIFFERENT WORLD.' "BY WAY OF PARISON, GORELICK, WHO'S WORKED AT THE PANY FOR 51 YEARS, C THE MAY 2009 ANNOUNCEMENT OF A IC BOOK THAT PICTED ARCHIE SETTLG DOWN WH VERONI. (IT WAS EVENTUALLY FOLLOWED UP BY A BOOK IMAGG AN ALTERNATE FUTURE WH THE MORE OBV CHOICE, BETTY.) "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE BACKLASH WE GOT WHEN WE ANNOUNCED THAT ARCHIE WAS MARRYG VERONI!" LGHS GORELICK.CHRIS SIMS, A IC-BOOK WRER AND SENR WRER AT WHO BLOGS AT CHRIS'S INVCIBLE SUPER-BLOG, IS AMONG THE ARCHIE FANS APPLDG KEV'S TRODUCTN. "I THK 'S GREAT," HE SAYS AN EMAIL. "THIS IS ARCHIE COMICS, THE LAST BASTN OF IALIZED SMALL-TOWN LIFE, GOG, 'YEP, THIS IS TOTALLY OK.' PL, I LOVE THE IA THAT WHEN JUGHEAD FDS OUT KEV'S GAY, HIS REACTN ISN'T, 'WHOA, THAT'S WEIRD!' BUT, 'HEY, I N TOTALLY E THAT TO PRANK VERONI.' "SIMS ALSO VOIC HIS APPROVAL FOR OTHER RECENT NOVATNS AT ARCHIE, WHICH CLU TWILIGHT AND JERSEY SHORE PARODI AND DIGAL ICS. "A LOT OF THE ARCHIE BOOKS HAVE THIS FEELG TO THEM THAT THEY'RE LIKE OLD FOLKS TRYG TO MAKE JOK THAT KIDS LIKE. THEY DO GAGS ABOUT TEXT MSAGG, BUT OM THE WAY THEY SET THE JOK UP [ SEEMS] THEY'RE NOT QUE SURE WHAT EXACTLY TEXT MSAGG ENTAILS," HE SAYS. "LATELY, THOUGH, THEY'VE REALLY BEEN STEPPG UP THEIR GAME."MUCH OF THIS CHANGE, SUMMARIZED A RECENT NEW YORK TIM PROFILE, N BE ATTRIBUTED TO -CEO GOLDWATER, SON OF JOHN GOLDWATER, WHO -FOUND THE PANY 1939. "ONE OF MY BIG MISSNS G WAS TO NTEMPORIZE ARCHIE," SAYS GOLDWATER, WHO TOOK OVER FOLLOWG THE ATH OF HIS HALF-BROTHER APRIL 2009. "I FELT LIKE THE WORLD WAS MOVG FORWARD AND ARCHIE WAS NOT."AS FOR HOW KEV WILL MOVE FORWARD, PARENT SAYS THE CHARACTER'S NEXT APPEARANCE WILL BE VERONI NO. 205. HIS SEXUALY "IS BROUGHT UP AGA," PARENT SAYS. "THERE WILL BE STORI WHERE ISN'T AN ISSUE.WE'RE TABLISHG THE FACT THAT HE'S GAY AND THEN 'LL E UP WHEN 'S NECSARY."FOR THE FOREEABLE FUTURE, HOWEVER, EXPECT KEV KELLER TO BE TO ARCHIE COMICS WHAT MATT FIELDG WAS TO MELROSE PLACE: THE GAY GUY WHO PLAYS A SUPPORTG ROLE THE DRAMA OF THE STRAIGHTS WHOUT GENERATG MUCH DRAMA OF HIS OWN. "WE HAVEN'T PLANNED ANYTHG LIKE THAT AT THIS POT," GORELICK SAYS WHEN ASKED WHETHER KEV MIGHT GET A BOYIEND DOWN THE ROAD. "HE STILL HAS TO GET TO THE SWG OF THGS WH BEG A STUNT AT RIVERDALE HIGH."BUT WHILE MAY BE YEARS BEFORE KEV GETS TO BRG A DATE TO THE SOCK HOP, THE FOLKS AT ARCHIE, AWARE OF THE SOCIAL MSAGE KEV PROJECTS—"RIVERDALE IS ACCEPTG OF EVERYBODY AND WE HOPE THE WORLD IS ACCEPTG OF EVERYBODY," GOLDWATER SAYS—PROMISE THAT HE'LL BE A PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE GANG. "ESPECIALLY THE GAY MUNY, WE'VE REASSURED PEOPLE THAT WE'RE NOT GOG TO DUMP HIM AFTER THIS," SAYS PARENT. "THE KEV CHARACTER IS HERE TO STAY."PL: CHECK OUT MORE OF THE LATT ENTERTAMENT, FASHN, AND CULTURE VERAGE ON SEXY BEAST—PHOTOS, VIOS, FEATUR, AND TWEETS.BARBARA SPL IS A WRER AND EDOR WHO VERS BOOKS AND CULTURE. SHE HAS NTRIBUTED TO TIME OUT NEW YORK, DETAILS, SP, THE BARN & NOBLE REVIEW, , AND OTHER PUBLITNS. SHE HAS A PH.D. AMERIN STUDI AND LIV BROOKLYN. BARBARA SPL

The Archie ics gay character is one to love, for reasons, cludg the band of misfs around him. AroundMen div to who might be gay on Archie. * archies gay character *

And the gay muny had started to fd s very nascent voice, but wasn’t beg reprented mastream media and certaly not on televisn. “Not only did they have gay reprentatn, but they also were breakg the harmful stereotyp that were the only thg that day and age people knew about gay people.

ARCHIE COMICS’ OPENLY GAY CHARACTER KEV KELLER SEALS NTROVERSY WH A KISS

In 1971 people probably thought all gay people were ty, feme, limp-wristed men wh lisps — jt all the stereotyp. While any stereotype has some tth, what the episo took pas to show is that never tells you whether Roger, Mike’s iend who wears the ast and is very boistero, and ee talks wh his hands, is gay or not. But what do show is that the macho man, the nfirmed bachelor who’s an arm wrtler and big and beefy, and a former play player, whom Archie idoliz and hangs out wh the bar all the time, has been gay all the years.

“So there was jt so much that the show did, ” Jim pots out, “to give reprentatn to a gay character, which would have been ground breakg enough, but also showed multi-dimensns to what beg gay meant. Not only that, gave Ameri s first gay s character — and que likely, the first LGBT character on a show of any kd that was portrayed sensively and posively. In short, if you’re an otherwise pop culture-savvy gay guy who’s never seen an episo of All the Fay, at least know about this one.

WHO IS ARCHIE GAY CHARACTER?

On Febary 9, 1971, jt five episos to All the Fay’s first season, “Judgg Books by Covers” turned Archie Bunker’s anger toward gay men — or as he lls them many tim throughout the episo, fags. While the episo begs wh Archie fumg that he has to teract wh his dghter’s effemate male iend, he’s shocked later on to fd out that Steve (Philip Carey), the manly ex-football player who hangs out at the lol bar, is himself gay.

What’s remarkable about this episo is that most prev TV pictns of gay people were fairly negative. But give this episo of my podst, Gayt Episo Ever, a sp. And if not, you’ll at least know the story of the first gay character to ever gut-star on a s.

You n subscribe to Gayt Episo Ever on iTun, on Google Play and on Soundcloud. Alter is bt known for playg Alex Edwards the 2012 drama film Son of Flower, Chicha the flashback sequenc of the 2012 actn edy Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi, and Dr. “First of all, I’m gay, ” he said, “and this movie is gog to be gay non.

JT MARRIED: ARCHIE COMICS’ FIRST GAY CHARACTER WEDS DOCTOR BE

"Alex AvilaAnd Gay Tim, a Brish LGBTQ news se, celebrated Friday, the day of the film’s official release, as “Barbie day“ and lled the world-renowned doll a “queer cultural phenomenon. PicturIn an terview wh Fandango, actor Kate McKnon, who is openly gay and plays “Weird Barbie” the film, said Barbie is about “imagatn. Many also flagged the teased scene which Barbie, now the real world, exchang a longg look wh Ameri Ferrera’s Gloria character; though, the relatnship between the two turns out to be a tribute to motherhood and the tradnal, nuclear before the film’s release, Robbie all but squashed the mors that some or any of the Barbi and Kens would be gay, tellg the Brish LGBTQ magaze Attu: The dolls don’t “actually have sexual orientatns.

ARCHIE COMICS’ FIRST GAY CHARACTER

There are brief appearanc by Earrg Magic Ken and Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken, both of which Mattel has always nied were tentnally gay-d.

”As far as the queer-d trailers and promotnal clips for the new “Barbie” film, Rand poted to a phenomenon known as “gay wdow advertisg, ” or the practice of advertisers gturg to queer dienc a way that will go over the heads of those who would disapprove. Not mentned the advanced ghg over the book is whether scientist character Dilton Doiley will now be portrayed as gay or if he was duped by Molloy sce the character has dated Molloy past issu of the Archie seri.

Back 2010, Ameri’s favore teenagers troduced a gay character a story entled, “Isn’t It Bromantic, ” bee, the pany’s reckong at the time, “Riverdale has to reflect the diversy of the world today. “Gay people share the same dreams.