Norman Lear on Gay Characters and 'All the Fay' - Variety

Contents:

• ‘ALL THE FAY’: INSI THE EARLY EPISO THAT CHALLENGED ARCHIE BUNKER’S VIEW OF GAY PEOPLE
• GAYT EPISO EVER: HOW ‘ALL THE FAY’ GAVE US OUR FIRST GAY S CHARACTER
• NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG
• GAY ON TV: IT’S ALL THE FAY
• THE "ALL IN THE FAY" EPISO THAT CHANGED GAY RIGHTS IN AMERIMATT BME TAK ON A GROUNDBREAKG MOMENT TELEVISN {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}TVBY SNICKSOCTOBER 8, 2015/11:36 AMBY SNICKSOCTOBER 8, 2015 / 11:36 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"THE \"ALL IN THE FAY\" EPISO THAT CHANGED GAY RIGHTS IN AMERI","DATEPUBLISHED":"2015-10-08T15:36:32.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2015-10-08T15:36:32.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"SNICKS","KEYWORDS":"THE BACKLOT","ARTICLESECTN":"TV"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}MATT BME IS A KEEN OBSERVER OF GAY POP CULTURE, PECIALLY ABOUT HISTORIL GAY POP CULTURE. IN HIS LATT VIO, HE GO -PTH TO ONE OF THE WATERSHED MOMENTS OF '70S TELEVISN—A GAY-THEMED EPISO OF ALL THE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"OCTOBER 9, 1977—THAT'S THE NIGHT CBS AIRED AN ALL THE FAY EPISO ENTLED "CO LIZ," WHICH JT A HALF HOUR DID THREE AMAZG THGS: SHOWED AMERI THAT THEY ULD HAVE QUEER FAY MEMBERS. IT PICTED WHAT MAY BE TV'S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE. AND, OH YEAH, MAY HAVE CHANGED THE URSE OF AN ELECTN."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}OH EDH BUNKER, YOU HAD THE PURT HEART OF ANY CHARACTER TV {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}TAKE A LOOK!{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;POSN:RELATIVE;PADDG-BOTTOM:56.49999999999999%;} .TWTER-TWEET-RENRED, {M-WIDTH:65%;WIDTH:TO !IMPORTANT;} {WIDTH:100%;} {MARG-LEFT:TO !IMPORTANT;MARG-RIGHT:TO !IMPORTANT;} IMG{MAX-WIDTH:100%;WIDTH:100%;} > IAME{BORR:NONE;MAX-WIDTH:100%;} > *{MAX-WIDTH:NONE !IMPORTANT;POSN:ABSOLUTE;HEIGHT:100% !IMPORTANT;WIDTH:100% !IMPORTANT;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}THE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

‘ALL THE FAY’: INSI THE EARLY EPISO THAT CHALLENGED ARCHIE BUNKER’S VIEW OF GAY PEOPLE

One example is episo five, “Judgg Books by Covers, ” which prented an unexpected take on the subject of homosexualy — at a time that nobody was alg wh . The All the Fay wiki offers up this plot scriptn: “Archie thks he knows a homosexual when he se one and when Mike v his flamboyant photographer iend Roger (Anthony Geary) to the Bunker hoehold, Archie tomatilly assum that Mike’s iend is a “flamer. ” Retreatg to the safety of Kelcy’s Bar, Archie choos to spend time wh his “he-man” pals, notably his old arm-wrtlg crony Steve (Philip Carey), who, when hearg about Roger, reveals himself to be gay — which Archie never spected.

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. 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.

GAYT EPISO EVER: HOW ‘ALL THE FAY’ GAVE US OUR FIRST GAY S CHARACTER

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.

Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a woman.He said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love.

NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG

There are more than 60 untri wh laws that crimalise same-sex sexual acts acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, cludg Sdi Arabia.'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough".He said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'".When Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3,000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance blossomed.Three years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022. Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos".He relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife."Danny Beard on Same Sex Love and MarriageDanny explor same-sex weddgs, fdg out why upl chose to get married, the challeng unrpng this cisn and what mak the wedd relatnships work.The uple said they now wanted to help people who were not as ee and strive for "equaly for everyone"."Now I'm here a safe place I want to fight for others to be able to marry who they want," Adam said."I'm so lucky but I want everyone else Sdi to marry the one they love whout facg discrimatn and persecutn." Image source, Fay photographImage ptn, Peter McGrah and David Cabreza say they are "very proud" to have been the first same-sex uple married EnglandMore than 40,000 same-sex marriag took place between 2014 and 2020, acrdg to the Office for Natnal StatisticsPeter McGrah and David Cabreza, origally om Stland and the US, ma history when they beme the first same-sex uple to marry England on 29 March 2014.The trailblazers married jt after midnight at Islgton Town Hall. The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage"."It was so sweet seeg him so happy," Mr Cabreza said.

GAY ON TV: IT’S ALL THE FAY

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. 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.

THE "ALL IN THE FAY" EPISO THAT CHANGED GAY RIGHTS IN AMERIMATT BME TAK ON A GROUNDBREAKG MOMENT TELEVISN {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}TVBY SNICKSOCTOBER 8, 2015/11:36 AMBY SNICKSOCTOBER 8, 2015 / 11:36 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"THE \"ALL IN THE FAY\" EPISO THAT CHANGED GAY RIGHTS IN AMERI","DATEPUBLISHED":"2015-10-08T15:36:32.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2015-10-08T15:36:32.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"SNICKS","KEYWORDS":"THE BACKLOT","ARTICLESECTN":"TV"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}MATT BME IS A KEEN OBSERVER OF GAY POP CULTURE, PECIALLY ABOUT HISTORIL GAY POP CULTURE. IN HIS LATT VIO, HE GO -PTH TO ONE OF THE WATERSHED MOMENTS OF '70S TELEVISN—A GAY-THEMED EPISO OF ALL THE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"OCTOBER 9, 1977—THAT'S THE NIGHT CBS AIRED AN ALL THE FAY EPISO ENTLED "CO LIZ," WHICH JT A HALF HOUR DID THREE AMAZG THGS: SHOWED AMERI THAT THEY ULD HAVE QUEER FAY MEMBERS. IT PICTED WHAT MAY BE TV'S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE. AND, OH YEAH, MAY HAVE CHANGED THE URSE OF AN ELECTN."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}OH EDH BUNKER, YOU HAD THE PURT HEART OF ANY CHARACTER TV {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}TAKE A LOOK!{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;POSN:RELATIVE;PADDG-BOTTOM:56.49999999999999%;} .TWTER-TWEET-RENRED, {M-WIDTH:65%;WIDTH:TO !IMPORTANT;} {WIDTH:100%;} {MARG-LEFT:TO !IMPORTANT;MARG-RIGHT:TO !IMPORTANT;} IMG{MAX-WIDTH:100%;WIDTH:100%;} > IAME{BORR:NONE;MAX-WIDTH:100%;} > *{MAX-WIDTH:NONE !IMPORTANT;POSN:ABSOLUTE;HEIGHT:100% !IMPORTANT;WIDTH:100% !IMPORTANT;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}THE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

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.