Homophobia isn't funny, so why are liberal comedians using it?

[dsc]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-casual-homophobia-comedy-trump-jokes_us_5b698a50e4b0de86f4a5143d?section=us_queer-voices



It appears more glaring in the Trump era. We’ve seen well-meaning liberals and late-night comedians, from Jimmy Kimmel to Stephen Colbert (and, more recently, even the New York Times editorial page), come under fire for joking that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are sex partners, often with Trump in the submissive role. Trump is Putin’s “cock holster,” Colbert cracked last year.

Chelsea Handler attempted to demean Attorney General Jeff Sessions a few months ago by calling him a “bottom.” She’s also joked that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) ― who’s long denied rumors that he’s gay ― must be a victim of blackmail, with someone holding a “dick sucking video” over his head. “Wouldn’t coming out be more honorable?” Handler asked.

Queer people have certainly joked about Graham and the rumors. I have myself. But Handler’s tweets about these Republican men, coming from a straight liberal within a particularly mocking context and using gay and bisexual men’s sexual slang, comes off as an attempt to humiliate the target by associating them with gay sex.

In fact, bottom shaming is a running theme. Kimmel, feuding with Sean Hannity on Twitter in April, asked Hannity whether Trump prefers him to “bottom,” trying to ridicule him in the same way Colbert tried to ridicule Trump with his “cock holster” line. Over the past decade we’ve seen similar kinds of jokes in Seth Rogen’s films and films by director Judd Apatow. Yet both men ― like Kimmel, Handler and Colbert ― are progressive Hollywood champions of LGBTQ rights.

Tolerating casual homophobia opens up a space for more blatant forms of bigotry. Thus, in 2018 we still see comedians imitating gay men with stereotyped, effeminate, high-pitched voices, something Dave Chappelle continually works into his routines. Another classic smear persists as well: calling someone gay as an insult in retaliation for something offensive he or she did. The most prominent recent example was Kim Kardashian’s slap back at Tyson Beckford for fat shaming her in discussing her body. “Sis we all know why you don’t care for it,” Kardashian tweeted, followed by teacup, frog and nail polish emojis.

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It is worth reading the entire article. It has become harder to be gay in this country in the last year and a half. At some point, we have to decide this behavior isn't OK. It isn't OK to use homophobia to attack your enemies. Just like no one would let liberals use racism to attack conservatives we shouldn't be using sexism and homophobia to do so. The simple fact is that it is hard enough to be gay in some parts of this country. Every time being gay is used to attack our enemies makes it that much harder.

In a couple of days I return to school. I will be advising our county's first GSA. But this isn't about me. It is about the students. We can do better. They deserve better. We haven't arrived yet and the fact that homophobia still works is proof of that.

[manor321]

1. I disagree

"....by associating them with gay sex"

I think it's associating with sex, not gay sex. These exact same kinds of comments have been made for hundreds (thousands?) of years regarding people's motivations because they're intimate with each other. In the modern age, gays and straights are treated the same here.

[bitterross]

2. I'm not reading/seeing it as homophobia. I see it as dominance.

I am gay man and I've seen a lot of homophobia in 50+ years. Especially growing up in the South.

I don't agree with Signorile and some of the other writers who have taken this position. I like his writing most of the time but I don't love and believe everything anyone says/writes. I form my own opinions.

They call Trump "Putin's Bitch." That's misogynistic if you let it be. Suggesting that Trump does sexually submissive acts with Putin is not about gay sex it is about dominance. It is about Trump giving up all of his person to someone else.

I don't choose to be offended by it. I choose to take it the way it is intended. It is intended to demean Trump for being submissive. If it were Theresa May and they drew cartoons of her in a dominatrix outfit whipping Trump it would be on the same par to me.

[TheFrenchRazor]

14. so "insulting" trump by comparing him to a woman (the "bottom") is ok? this shit is as old as the hi

as the hills, and it isn't fooling anybody, except, as you alluded to, those who "choose" to be fooled.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. It is happening because people don't give a shit.

Gay people make excuses for it. Straight people tell us to "lighten up". The gay community is constantly bombarded with demands to "examine" its white and male privileges, but when we ask they examine their heteronormative privileges, we are told to "get over it". I see a difference in stereotypes being used in some comedy because the "joke" is at the expense of the person who believes in the stereotype or it is a form of self-deprecating humor. I have even seen people claim they understand that homophobia is part of critique but it is acceptable because they (usually Republican targets) hate being called gay.

Prepare for the straightsplainin' and the excuse makers because that is all you are going to get. We are not worthy of respect and dignity, just as a weapon and a punchline.

[GeorgeGist]

4. Nearly all comedy makes fun of somebody.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Punching up is better than punching down.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Why people think cocksucking as a punchline doesn't hurt either women or gay people (or both!)

is beyond me.

[mythology]

12. Especially given that I imagine most of the people using the term as an insult

enjoy being on the receiving end of the act. You'd think that they would want to encourage such a thing rather than using it as an insult.

[Blue_true]

7. I honestly didn't know that you were gay. Not that it would have mattered one bit.

Your posts typically have class and sound analysis behind them.

My take on the progressive comedians or comidienes using gay sex jokes. Not cool when the jokes are trafficking on rumors to go after a person.

I am someone what less concerned about someone making a joke of a strangely close relationship between two people. What is the difference between saying to a man and woman who are acting close "why don't you to go get a hotel room" and saying the same thing to two men or two women? The implication is the same if the two people are just close, but not in a sexual way.

[Ms. Toad]

9. It has been 3 scant years since my marriage (of 37 years) was recognized

Last edited Wed Aug 15, 2018, 01:33 AM - Edit history (1)

and even in those three years there have been numerous attacks on my (and my fellow LGBT individuals') right to the same rights for ourselves and our families as everyone else.

So a relationship between a man and a woman does not inherently carry any negative civil or legal connotations. The same cannot be said of LGBT individuals or our relationships.

In most states LGBT individuals can still be fired for no reason at all, so if we marry and our employers find out about it - it puts our jobs (and health insurance) at risk. We also can be evicted from our homes (or denied housing in the first place). Trans individuals are being denied simple name changes, and forced to create a name change by common law (which makes it nearly impossible to obtain a driver's license in their correct names - or an ID to vote).

Although times are better, LGBT youth still have a hard time finding adult role models - and attempt to commit suicide at a significantly higher rate than straight/cis youth. Particularly older male LGBT individuals are not permitted to form close fostering/mentoring relationships with younger gay men that are so desperately needed because of the stereotype that gay men are pedophiles.

So suggesting that a man and a woman "get a hotel room," doesn't carry the same emotional and legal baggage as it does when you imply - as an insult - that someone is gay or trans. It is bad enough for me, as an out lesbian for nearly 4 decades - but it is devastating to teens just coming to grips with who they are (particularly those in religiously conservative households) to constantly hear themselves as the butt of a joke or to be used as an insult. As a mature adult who is well-supported by my family and my faith and general community, I have the matureity to write it off as ignorance on the part of the speaker - LGBT teens just feeling their way in the world tend to internalize it, especially when their families, neighborhoods, schools, etc. constantly tell them that they are evil.

[Blue_true]

10. I guess there is such a thing as straight privilege.

And as with White privilege, a person can not see issues that are obvious to a person that is on the other side. You raised a lot of issues that I frankly had not thought about. I would not discriminate against anyone in any way, but just not being discriminatory is not enough if problems are to be solved and everyone gets to live the life they were born into, without fear for their physical safety or economic wellbeing.

[Ms. Toad]

8. Thank you for posting this.

I have nearly given up pointing out that I don't appreciate being used as a weapon against Trump - and I typically get straight-splained to that the insult really has nothing to do with homosexuality.

DU has never been a kind place to its LGBT members - and it had gotten considerably worse since Trump's inauguration. Thank you for continuing to try. At the moment - I'm not finding DU worth the effort.

[Major Nikon]

11. Homophobia can and should be funny

Humor and ridicule are powerful weapons for social change.

The problem is using homosexuality as the butt of a joke because you know the receiver thinks the behavior is wrong. All this really does is validate those stereotypes. So make fun of homophobes for being homophobic, just don’t use homophobia to do so.

[mythology]

13. Thanks for sharing this. It's important to think about these things.