Opn: Are mils only for gay men? | Blog | Stage Fav

Contents:

• DID YOU THK EVAN HANSEN WAS GAY? YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
• OPN: ARE MILS ONLY FOR GAY MEN?
• THE 10 BT GAY MILS OF ALL TIME
• THE DIRECTOR OF "HIGH SCHOOL MIL" EXPLAED WHY RYAN WASN'T OPENLY GAY AND SAID HE WOULD "COME OUT IN COLLEGE"
• THANKS TO WHNEY HOTON, ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ HAS S FIRST GAY ROMANCE
• JAM CORN PROV WHY STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD THK TWICE BEFORE PLAYG GAY
• GAY TEENS ON 'HIGH SCHOOL MIL' SERI FALLY GET A LOVE SONG OF THEIR OWN
• DO BOBBY NEED TO BE OPENLY GAY STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S REVISED ‘COMPANY’?
• WHY DID PEOPLE THK DEAR EVAN HANSEN WAS A GAY MIL?
• ALL GAYS LOVE THEATER

DID YOU THK EVAN HANSEN WAS GAY? YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

You’ll fd no shortage of people the procs of disverg, as the Broadway mil–turned–major motn picture heads for theaters everywhere on Friday, that Dear Evan Hansen is not a queer story—that the tular Evan Hansen is not some sad, gay kid gettg bullied and ridg out high school the bathroom at lunch. Baked to the song are both homophobic unrton and the lgerg notn that perhaps Connor and Evan doth prott too much.

There are supposed jok about how life whout Connor was “rough” or “hard, ” and the even more blatantly homoerotic le, “Our iendship go beyond/ Your average kd of bond/ But not bee we’re gay/ No, not bee we’re gay/ We’re close but not that way/ The only man that I love is my dad. ) Which is not at all to suggt gay actors n’t play straight, but this public knowledge and stg pattern certaly do ltle to shape the narrative away om the ia that “this is a gay story. But ’s unfair to say that to watch Dear Evan Hansen and fd gay subtext is like readg tea leav for a hidn sign.

OPN: ARE MILS ONLY FOR GAY MEN?

Makg Connor nonilly queer only nfirms what so many fans and crics of the show knew herently, and what a zilln other people on Twter felt about the show whout really ever engagg wh the material beyond the surface: Dear Evan Hansen is, ep down, as gay a story as they e.

” Dear Evan Hansen traffics gay stereotyp and experienc, g them for s own benef to make Evan as othered om his classmat as possible (as othered as a whe man ever n be, that is). LGBTQ fans are wele to fd themselv him, while ternalized homophobia keeps the verse suatn, a straight dience member relatg to a gay character, om beg a realy the show nsirs. He said people assumed he would grow up to be gay, told him reasons he uldn't be gay or didn't believe him if he claimed to be eher gay or straight.

Drag queens such as Julian Eltge sang vville revu to broad acclaim while homosexualy was still illegal the Uned Stat durg the first s of the twentieth century. Raey’s song “Sissy Blu” also playfully celebrated feme gay men: “My man’s got a sissy / His name is Miss Kate / He shook that thg like jelly on a plate, ” she sgs.

THE 10 BT GAY MILS OF ALL TIME

In prewar Ameri, major rerd labels were willg to sell gay rerds so long as they me om black women, whose voic and prenc already viated om mastream norms.

“In that day was still unual to see a woman guarist, gospel or any mil field, ” wrote Gayle Wald a 2007 bgraphy of Tharpe.

In his 1993 book The Queen’s Throat, Wayne Kotenbm theoriz a nnectn between the proliferatn of rerd mic and the articulatn of homosexualy, wh s associated androgyny, as a social tegory. In the neteenth century, the first glimmerg of the morn gay rights movement cropped up among wrers who theorized the existence of the Uranian or Urng—a third-genr person assigned male at birth who hoed a feme spir.

THE DIRECTOR OF "HIGH SCHOOL MIL" EXPLAED WHY RYAN WASN'T OPENLY GAY AND SAID HE WOULD "COME OUT IN COLLEGE"

English thor Edward Carpenter suggted that mic was the form of exprsn most closely allied wh the Uranian—that is, that mic might be the gayt art possible. Why is that ’s okay for a grown man to still like the rtoon versn of Aladd, but when ’s on stage ’s sudnly “gay”? It shouldn’t be ed as an sult and if you’re a straight male who lov mils you shouldn’t take people llg your favoure pastime gay as an sult.

It is however the se that gay men are well-reprented the mil theatre world, while straight men seem to be unr-reprented.

THANKS TO WHNEY HOTON, ‘HIGH SCHOOL MIL’ HAS S FIRST GAY ROMANCE

But I promise you that unls you go see an extremely girly or specifilly LGBT-oriented mil, when you walk out you will no longer serly believe that all mils are gay. If my rant isn’t nvcg enough, jt check out this milized explanatn by Tony Award wng actor Neil Patrick Harris, who ironilly enough, is gay. Given that open exprsn of homosexualy the 1930s was dangero and uld face imprisonment, the pal was dotted wh clanste LGBTQ+ spac.

JAM CORN PROV WHY STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD THK TWICE BEFORE PLAYG GAY

Composer / wrer Taylor is keen to suggt -was-ever-th patterns to the gay scene wh pretty squabbl amongst the queer fay circl (the never-seen Benny and Wiled have a spat over the latter stealg the former’s kman), the weakeng of blood fay ti and dividuals predictably droppg out of the scene when they fd love. Is challenged is that the whole of London gay society has to be filtered through jt two performers and at an hour nng time, the journey of the ups and downs of their queer iendship is necsarily a cursory one. Is a heartfelt celebratn of the 1930s gay scene and, durg LGBTQ+ History month, a timely love letter to the queers who boldly paved the way.

News·Posted on 1 Jul 2020The Director Of "High School Mil" Explaed Why Ryan Wasn't Openly Gay And Said He Would "Come Out In College""I was ncerned bee was fay and kids that Disney might not be ready to cross that le. In a new terview wh Variety, director Kenny Ortega opened up about his experience makg the High School Mil seri and said he thought the character of Ryan would have e out as gay later life.

GAY TEENS ON 'HIGH SCHOOL MIL' SERI FALLY GET A LOVE SONG OF THEIR OWN

A lot of them see both Ryan and Kelsi — who went to prom together and had a subtle romantic storyle High School Mil 3 — as gay.

n you believe hsm they tried to pass off kelsi, a leral lbian, as a heterosexual who was datg ryan, a leral gay. But now Ortega has nfirmed Ryan would probably have e out as gay " llege", addg that his character the movi was "ls about g out and jt more about lettg his te lours e forward". He went on to say that while Disney is "the most progrsive group of people" he's ever worked wh, he had ncerns that they "weren't ready" to have an openly gay character a Disney Channel movie 2006.

DO BOBBY NEED TO BE OPENLY GAY STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S REVISED ‘COMPANY’?

I wanted people to thk, "That character's more plex than I thought, " stead of sayg, "Oh, he out pk and you know he's gay. After three h movi, a ncert tour and untls stage productns, the “High School Mil” anchise troduc s first gay love story wh Friday’s episo of “High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri.

WHY DID PEOPLE THK DEAR EVAN HANSEN WAS A GAY MIL?

”“Today’s world” was the operative amework for approachg a kd of story that never played out the earlier “High School Mil” films, spe many speculatg — and hopg — that the anchise’s origal choreographer character, Ryan, might be gay. Gay marriage wasn’t legal, so even though seems like that was 50 years away, really wasn’t, ” Rodriguez said. ”It wasn’t until 2017’s “Andi Mack” that Disney Channel troduced s first gay ma character middle schooler Cys Goodman.

ALL GAYS LOVE THEATER

Sgg gay love songs once killed the reers of artists like Patrick Haggerty, whose band Lavenr Country 1973 released what’s wily nsired the first untry album rerd by an out gay performer.

Osborne, one half of the Brothers Osbourne, me out last year, the first out gay artist signed to a major untry label.

” His lyrics, fiant and heartwrenchg, nmned the racism and homophobia that supprsed Haggerty and his bandmat. In 2014, the producer end up rereleasg the rerd, once only available by orrg om the backpag of Seattle’s gay newspaper. He views Lavenr Country as a “revolutnary obligatn” he’s bound to, now that he’s fally got a platform and a willg dience for his songs about racism, homophobia and the fltl Amerin society.