Meet Gay Bob, the Out and Proud Anatomilly Correct Dis-Era Doll

LGBT FLASHBACK 1997 – THE BILLY DOLL: THE WORLDS FIRST ANATOMILLY CORRECT GAY DOLL

The First Openly Gay Doll (for everyone) Was a Trailblazer Toy * billy doll gay *

Billy was troduced 1997, he was based on drawgs created by artist John McKterick and marketed the Uned Stat by London-based Totem Internatnal as “the first out and proud gay doll”, although that distctn actually belongs to Gay Bob, troduced 1977.

Gay Bob, the actual first gay doll, plete wh his closet and a talog promisg many tongue--cheek-outfs that didn’t actually exist.

WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?

Well look who's g to dner....unwrapped, unsthed and untouched (really?), Billy - the first gay doll - is priste his all-around, all-ocsn black leathers and famo Tom of Fland... * billy doll gay *

Billy had a number of guis based on stereotypil gay characters, cludg Sailor Billy, Cowboy Billy, Master Billy and San Francis Billy. Billy and Carlos donned drag 1999, wh Billy drsed a ggham checkered pantsu as “Dolly” and Carlos as “Carmen” a polka dot outf remiscent of those worn by Carmen Miranda to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, an event which lnched the gay liberatn movement the Uned Stat. The “Billy Doll” created by artist John McKterick and marketed the Uned Stat by London-based Totem Internatnal was known as “the first out and proud gay doll” McKterick who origally signed Billy as limed-edn n of 1, 200 dolls created to benef an AIDS chary cid to mass market his creatn after the entire first lot sold out a matter of days.

Billy was 13 ch tall and was troduced a number of versns, many based upon stereotypil gay characters of the time. Thirteen ch tall and plastic, Gay Bob was marketed as the first openly gay doll and ma his retail but mail-orr talogs.

At face value, Gay Bob’s msage about the mers of g out seems earnt, pog the valu of urage, honty, and livg thentilly; however, the brandg and sign of the Gay Bob doll are brash. We had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the black civil rights movement, and the women’s movement and that is havg the urage to stand up and say, ‘I have a right to be what I am.

LOT 11 - GAY BILLY DOLL

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While Rosenberg did not intify as gay, he stated that he had created the doll to liberate men om tradnal sexual rol. Acrdg to Rosenberg, regardls of a person’s sexualy, Gay Bob uld serve as an example for havg the urage to “e out of the closet” and be your te, thentic self. Durg a prs blz for the doll’s release, Rosenberg also dited that Gay Bob was a spoof of other “amorpho, sexls dolls, ” which was undoubtedly a reference to Mattel’s KenTM and BarbieTM.

"GAY BILLY" DOLL

The gay "Billy Doll," drsed as a "bps" livery driver, has drawn threateng legal letters om a law firm reprentg the Uned Parcel Service . The New York law firm of Kg & Spaldg,... Get premium, high rolutn news photos at Getty Imag * billy doll gay *

He had plans to release addnal dolls that would have ma up the rt of Gay Bob’s fay (a mother, father, and two brothers); however, the other dolls were never produced. Gay Bob dolls were sold via mail-orr advertisements gay magaz and a few boutique shops New York Cy and San Francis.

Consequently, ten thoand more dolls were produced, and Gay Bob was btowed wh Esquire magaze's "Dub Achievement Award" 1978. A handsome and mascule doll, Gay Bob had a short feathery blon crew cut and was signed to look like a cross between Pl Newman and Robert Redford. He had a preprogrammed voice rerdg that played the earnt msage, “Gay people are no different than straight people… if everyone me ‘out of their closets, ’ there wouldn’t be so many angry, trated, ightened people.

” This reerated msagg om his fashn talog that fed “g out of the closet” as what uld be scribed as Gay Bob’s manifto—be urageo by g out of your closet and livg hontly, like Gay Bob!

GAY BOB AND EARRG MAGIC KEN: A SHORT HISTORY OF GAY DOLLS

But Gay Bob was more than jt clever packagg; he also promoted the ia that g out of the closet, beg open and hont wh the people your life, was a powerful and urageo act. “It’s a real giggle and kd of fun, ” said Bce Voeller, executive director of the Natnal Gay Task Force said at the time, “I thk we should al wh lightly and enjoy .

Many nsir Stonewall, a New York Cy uprisg to prottg police harassment at the Stonewall Inn, as the start of the Gay Rights movement the Uned Stat. Los Angel has a long history of Gay Rights Protts and anti-gay ordanc, such as the Anti-Masqueradg Ordance of 1898.

The rtrictive anti-gay Hays Co, which forba and then limed the way LGBTQ+ characters uld be seen on film, was disband the early 1960s.