As a gay male who owns the entire seven seasons of The Golden Girls on DVD, I can honestly say that the show indeed carries the burden of being branded the TV show all gay men love. While I have met the gay man who has never seen a single episode, the majority of us have an intimate relationship with the groundbreaking sitcom of the 1980s. However, when Christwire decided to publish this article, I figured I had something to say about that. I suggest you read their opinion first, before continuing. Don’t worry, I’ll still be here. 
As I said, The Golden Girls has long been associated with being an iconic gay TV series. Why? I haven’t a clue. There were three gay characters on the show (Blanche’s brother, who appeared in two episodes, Dorothy’s friend, who appeared in one, and a chef who was cut after the pilot episode [in some syndicated versions, his scenes were re-shot without him]). None of the “girls” were ever in a same-sex relationship, in fact, all of them at one point or another stated that they never intended to go down that road.
As an avid fan of the show, I can honestly tell you, there is not ONE thing I can pinpoint that draws me to the show. Dorothy’s bitter, yet witty retorts; Blanche’s egotistical, sex-crazed lifestyle; Rose’s naïvité and colorful stories from St. Olaf; Sophia’s brutally honest, sarcastic remarks and morals from Sicily; the devouring of a cheesecake every third episode. All of these elements when separate could never work, but combined they call to the gays from the highest mountain.
Christwire’s accusations that The Golden Girls is responsible for many men “turning” gay is preposterous. First of all, no one “turns” gay. People are born gay, and at some point in their life they realize it and come out. Or they stay in the closet and remain miserable, don’t get me started there. Maybe another day. Secondly, how exactly did a TV show brainwash men into deciding they like dick instead of vag? The site claims that the show had a “gay agenda” targeting “slender, unathletic children who were left out of the fun militarism of the Reagan years”. You have got to be kidding me. Last I checked, in 1985 gays were not a very recognized demographic. Hell, we’ve just barely started being recognized in the past five years.
It goes on to citing Bea Arthur’s character as the reason why we gays are so witty. “Dorothy taught the gays to speak very fast and have the most superior attitude possible.” Hell yes she did. I wouldn’t have half the witty things to say if Dorothy hadn’t said them first (or Sophia, she had some zingers too). This is one point I won’t argue with. While Dorothy may not be the sole contributer, she was a generous benefactor.
Blanche is then accused of enticing men to have relationships that last a week. The timetable of a week being based on the amount of time between each newly aired episode. With syndication, gay men now find it the norm to have five new boyfriends a week! Having been “out” in the gay community for three years now, I have never once wanted a relationship to last only a week. I have strived to find a relationship that would stand the test of time. As have most of the men I’ve encountered. Not only that, but before I came out, I always wanted to be in a lasting relationship.
The dimwitted Rose Nylund is a representation of the lack of intelligence in the gay community. Christwire describes the macho, buff, beefcake men who can “bump out beats” but don’t know the difference between “Acapulco and an avocado”. First, Acapulco is a city in Mexico while an avocado is a fruit (PLU 4225, FYI). Second, all the beefcake men I’ve ever seen in the media… have been straight. Going on, “Lady Gaga references, truckstop handjob stories and Kevin Jennings defenses don’t add up to an intellectual argument.” OK, Lady Gaga, I agree, might not be the best artist to bring up in an “intellectual” conversation. Never once have I ever told a truckstop handjob story, and I don’t even know who Kevin Jennings is.
They don’t even bother discussing Sophia. I guess they couldn’t find any ways in which she turned America gay.
So let’s break this down. Dorothy taught the gays to be cold, disparaging, witty, and smart-mouthed. Blanche taught the gays to be fun, slutty, and egocentric. Rose taught the gays nothing as she was too stupid to teach, and they were too stupid to learn. Wait a minute… In the Dorothy argument, the author accuses the gays of being so witty that “by the time [the author] figure[s] out what the insulting gay man has said…he is long gone”. When he talks about Rose, he then accuses us of being stupid. He says gays are promiscuous and always looking for the company of men, but also that they are cold towards those around them. Anyone else notice something that doesn’t make sense?
The final note I will leave you with is this question posed by the author: “In a dozen years, the next logical step for these people is Florida. Will we see whole sections of this state devoted to horny gay retirees sporting the worst 1980s fashions?” Clearly he is unaware that the gays run the fashion industry. Even if we were to bring back the fashions of the 1980s, we’d never choose the worst ones. No worries.
Way to go! I can totally agree with what you say! Christwire.org is just another site out there to scare Christians and make them believe something as semi-innocent (I say semi bc of our lovely Blanche) show into smut. *shakes head* what is our society going to say next?
Dear Shane,
The Golden Girls was not groundbreaking in any way. Rather, it was quite mundane and would have been forgotten in the dustbin of history if were not for the gays who cleaved to the show like cats on hamburger meat.
And your “essay” really only proves the point of my investigative article on the association of this tv show and homosexuality. You claim that every gay man has seen the show, that you’re an “avid” fan, that the show “call to the gays from the highest mountain,” you admit that Bea Arthur made you bitter, etc. etc. Clearly the characters and scenarios of this show have taught you personally how to engage in the gay American “culture” of today. It has trained and indoctrinated you into this reckless world.
Thirdly, you state, “Last I checked, in 1985 gays were not a very recognized demographic.” You may not know much about the 1970s and the 1980s, but yes there were gay people back then. I guess you’ve never heard of disco music, The Village People, Elton John, flaired slacks, Gore Vidal, ACT UP, Stonewall Restaurant and all the other scandals from that era. As someone who was a horrible witness to those times, I can say that it was unpleasant. You saw the popularity of sodomy and cross dressing skyrocket, while traditional American values were thrown out the window. You should lay off Facebooking boys for a moment and read a history book.
I also see you’ve taken issue with an apparent contradiction in my thought-provoking article– that gays are witty and dim-witted. Yes, they are both because the herd of homosexuals is now large enough to have that diversity. I am not talking about one gay persona, but the variety of gay men on our streets today– from the buff beefcakes to the angry leather clad tramps. Sadly, as a youngster, you still have this terrible fate ahead you.
With my blessings and love,
Stephenson Billings, Investigative Journalist
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I think that this man is the comedian of the year, and that he deserves the award for the most ignorant person on the internet.
Who would choose to be gay??? Who would choose to be ridiculed, hated, made fun of, and ostracized from society?? Why are gay people less of a human to you?? Why do you feel you have the right to ridicule them? As a Christian, I thought that you were taught to “Love thy neighbor as thyself”! Are gay people excluded from that phrase ? As a practicing Catholic I know that I am taught to treat everyone with respect and that God loves everyone. As a matter of fact, I recently attended a large Catholic Conference, and the emcee stated on several occassions “Don’t worry, because God made you the way he wanted you, and he will always love you the way you are”. Doesn’t that mean that God loves everyone including gay people. As a closeted gay male, I am struggling with finding a way to come out, and start living my life the way I want. It isn’t like I asked God to make me gay, or I just want to be gay. I have come to terms with being gay, but at one point I sat up every night praying, and asking God to make me like women, because I didn’t want to be made to feel worthless for the rest of my life. I didn’t want ignorant fools like you to make fun of me for the rest of my life, because I may act tough when I have to, but I have a heart, and I have feelings and emotions, like every other straight person in the world.
Also, like Shane, I am a college student, and I was offered several full ride scholarships to large universities, to which I denied, and chose a smaller more prestigious liberal arts college, at which I participate in the honors program and hold a 4.0, while working 20 hours a week. I am drug, alcohol, sex free, and I am a responsible adult, moreso than most of the straight people at Universities, who I know drink several times a week, and then hook up with random strangers.
I will pray that you will see how wrong that you are, but I also believe that you have a right to your own opinion, however wrong I may deem it. I will also pray that you if you one day have sons that they turn out straight (really I would love if they turned out gay) because I would hate to have to abandon my parents and go live on my own, because my father feels that I am worthless.
God Bless,
P.S. Every gay male, and most of society over the age of 15 knows who Elton John is, a legend. And not all gays like leather, and random hook ups, for instance I believe in abstinence and I am waiting till marriage.