Daily Archives: December 13, 2014



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NEWS

Was Bewitched The Most Progressive Gay Series Of Its Time?

Was Bewitched The Most Progressive Gay Series Of Its Time?

tumblr_nebeamoHoP1twx1pfo2_400Thirty years before Will & Grace opened up the floodgates for sitcoms centered around gay characters and a decade before Billy Crystal’s groundbreaking supporting work as a gay man on Soap, LGBT viewers eager for representation looked for coded versions of themselves on television. Few series offered more than the sparkly supernatural comedy Bewitched, which ran from 1964-1972 and starred Elizabeth Montgomery as a gorgeous witch married to mortal Darren (Dick York, later Dick Sargent) and mother of Tabitha and Adam, who subjugates her magic powers to pass as mortal. It wasn’t much of a challenge for queer viewers during the turbulent civil rights era to interpret the hit series as a metaphor for living in the closet. Another reason for the show’s popularity was surely its colorful cast of supporting characters such as Samantha’s flamboyant mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead), outrageous Uncle Arthur (gay actor Paul Lynde) and mischievous cousin Serena (Montgomery in a black wig). Author Adam-Michael James spent eight months watching all 254 episodes back to back and making copious notes for his recently-published The Bewitched Continuum: The Ultimate Linear Guide to the Classic TV Series. At nearly 700 pages, it’s indispensable for both longtime fans and newcomers to the series. James chatted with Queerty about the book, how the series was ahead of its time and Elizabeth Montgomery’s commitment to equality.

BCQueerty: It’s easy to see Bewitched as a metaphor for repressed people not allowed to be who they really are. Is there also a deeper hidden gay subtext in the series?

Adam-Michael James: This was a show that was dealing with a mixed marriage between a witch and a mortal and different cultures. The main witch had to repress and conceal her powers from the world so there was definitely some of that in there. Elizabeth Montgomery was certainly pro-gay and we’re talking about a show that was out at the height of the original civil rights movement and on through the hippie counter-culture and free love era of the early ‘70s. I think there was definitely a message in there, not only for gay people but for everyone.

It’s a series that still feels smart and sophisticated to modern viewers. What’s responsible for the continued appeal?

Part of it is the magic. People like to see that. Also the show was so intelligently written and sophisticated. It spoke to not only things that were going on at the time but also universal messages about tolerance and acceptance. Samantha, for being a witch, is so human in that she conveys human emotions. I think that’s why people connect to her. She’s the flashpoint for the whole thing.

Screen Shot 2013-10-11 at 3.59.50 PMWhich is your favorite or the most representative episode?

My favorite is “Sisters at Heart” during season seven. Tabitha had an African-American friend Lisa and they wanted to be sisters so much that Tabatha accidentally turned them polka dots in an effort to unite them. Samantha was very clear that all men are brothers even if they’re girls. There was another plot within that episode in which Darren had a bigoted client who thought Darren was married to a black woman so he pulled his account. Samantha fixes it so that when the client looks in the mirror he see himself as black. This was in 1971 so it was pretty renegade. It was also so well-written. I think the overall message of the series was tolerance and acceptance, but it was so clearly defiant in that episode that it makes the top of my list.

tumblr_n40z6g4gXf1qzk2apo1_500

Paul Lynde

That was a clever way to introduce civil rights to young kids.

Exactly. You watch it as a child and pick up on some things, but as an adult you get a whole other layer. You certainly get a good example that everyone should be free to live as they want as long as they’re not hurting anybody.

And for some it was likely their first exposure to such a character as Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur, who must have read very gay even then.

He had so much fun doing it. It’s amazing that Uncle Arthur was only in about 10 episodes but he made such an impression that when someone says, “Bewitched,” Uncle Arthur is one of the first characters you think of. There were certainly episodes with Uncle Arthur when he wasn’t hiding anything. Things got a little campy toward the end.

cdadc76d4973cdd0c206fae8d27f81e2Dick Sergeant who famously replaced Dick York as Darren was gay and eventually came out in 1991. It’s interesting that even though he was closeted publicly for much of his career, casting him as a straight leading man in a hit series back then didn’t concern the producers.

As I understand it, Elizabeth Montgomery and her husband William Asher (the producer) knew and they didn’t care. I don’t know why they would. it was their own acceptance in their personal life that led to the message on the show. Obviously it was a different era where you didn’t make these things public but I certainly don’t think it was a problem.

Elizabeth Montgomery was a longtime friend to the LGBT community and even served with Dick Sargent as pride marshals during the parade in West Hollywood in 1992. Why do you think this was something she was passionate about?

She just accepted everybody. As I understand it she grew up in a rather politically conservative family. Her father was the actor Robert Montgomery who was a staunch Republican but I guess she decided she had her own ideas about life and went int he other direction. She was for everybody — the gay and lesbian community, African-Americans, animals… Her heart was open to everybody and I think that’s what made her such a relatable actress.

Jeremy Kinser

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NEWS

Homeless Shelter For LGBT Youth To Open In San Antonio: VIDEO

Homeless Shelter For LGBT Youth To Open In San Antonio: VIDEO

Homeless

Growing up in a small town in the Texas Panhandle, Sandra Whitley says she knew she was gay from the age of 13 — in 1975.

“I thought I was the only person in the world that had these feelings,” Whitley writes. “As much as I tried to keep it a secret, it was not long until my classmates, the town, and my parents knew. The parents of my classmates would not let their children associate with a homosexual. I no longer had friends. I was the talk of the town and my parents were not pleased. The school board tried to expel me from school. I was very lost and had no one to talk to.”

Whitley (below right) said she considered running away but ended up in a mental hospital.

“As horrible as that place was and as angry as I was when I got out (and for years to come), I did not end up on the streets,” Whitley writes. “As my life continued, I was always in trouble for being gay.  My relationship with my parents suffered for 20 years. I often said my only crime has been being gay.”

Whitley moved away from Texas for two decades before returning to San Antonio, where she’s owned a business for the last 20 years.

Now, Whitley plans to open a homeless shelter in San Antonio exclusively for LGBT youth, one of the few of its kind in the nation. Whitley will serve as executive director of the Thrive Youth Center, and initially, is underwriting many of the shelter’s expenses.

“I want these kids to know there is hope and they are not alone,” Whitley writes. “They can lead happy and productive lives. We are here to help them discover their dreams and fulfill them!”

WhitleyThe Thrive Youth Center was initially scheduled to open at Travis Park United Methodist Church downtown in November, but the opening has been delayed until at least January due to a zoning problem, KENS-TV reports.  

Whitley told Towleroad the city notified her the day the shelter was scheduled to open — after a report appeared in the LGBT publication Out In SA — that the site needed to be rezoned. The application to rezone the site will be heard by the city’s Zoning Commission next week. Whitley said even if the rezoning application is rejected, she’ll find another site. 

“I might have to jump throughout five hoops instead of two, but it’s going to happen,” she said. 

Whitley said she thinks opposition to the shelter is based on the fact that the city is trying to keep homeless people out of dowtown, rather than anti-LGBT sentiment. 

About 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT, according to a 2012 study by UCLA’s Williams Institute. Of those, 46 percent said they ran away because of family rejection, while another 43 percent said they were forced out by their parents. According to Thrive Youth’s website, the rate in San Antonio is even higher, with as many as 50 percent of homeless youth in the Alamo City identifying as LGBT.

Whitley and the shelter’s assistant director, Joshua Lee Yurcheshen, said they visited The Ali Forney Center in New York City and the Los Angeles LGBT Community Center — two of the only other shelters exclusively for homeless LGBT youth. 

Initially, Thrive will provide emergency shelter for up to eight youth, two nights a week, and offer breakfast packs and bus passes. But Thrive’s founders say the shelter will eventually be open every night in addition to offering a daytime Drop in Center and a Transitional Housing Program.

“This is the first critical step for our organization,” they wrote on Thrive’s website. “As we gain strength and momentum, we will attain our goal of being able to provide a safe haven every night of the week for homeless and at-risk youth. It is the first step in breaking the cycle of homelessness.”

For more info on the Thrive Youth Center, or to donate or volunteer, visit the website.

Watch a report from WOAI-TV, AFTER THE JUMP … 


John Wright

www.towleroad.com/2014/12/homeless-shelter-for-lgbt-youth-to-open-in-san-antonio.html

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