Feb 24th, 2006
Gay Boys, Golden Girls
My book gets a mention in “Move over, Cher, TV’s “Golden Girls” become gay icons” by Jaime Buerger, Columbia News Service.
While thirty-something gay men are watching Golden Girls for the first time in re-runs, I know the show from when it originally ran, because of my upbringing that gives me a gay sensibility twice my actual age. “The Golden Girls” was one of those signs that suggested to me that maybe having a gay dad made my world different — at least in terms of popular culture. For example, I noticed that my friends’ straight parents didn’t tease by referring to one another as “Blanche” or “Rose.”
The article’s opening vignette — a GG watcher lobbing out a line and only getting blank stares from non-GG watchers — is an experience all to familiar to me. I developed a habit of re-telling experiences from my life with a Sophia-esque opening.
It took me way too long for me to figure out that my classmates’ furrowed brows and squinty eyes were not expressions of disapproval for my stories, only pure confusion. Other eighth graders had no idea what I was talking about when I opened my mouth to say: “Picture it. South Minneapolis. 1981.”
“The Golden Girls” are just *now* becoming gay icons? I’d say that story is a bit behind the curve. The Golden Girls had a special place in my senior thesis!