WASHINGTON, 11 August 2003 — From Canada’s legalization of same-sex marriage to the Episcopalian leaders’ confirmation of a gay bishop to the first TV gay dating show (Bravo’s “Boy Meets Boy”), the barrage of homosexual news crowded Iraqi news for top billing.
The Supreme Court struck down anti-gay sodomy laws and suddenly “queer” was no longer a pejorative. In fact, the politically incorrect insult now elicits pride rather than revulsion, according to Online Journalism Review. “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,” trumpets “Queer Eye.”
Jerry Springer, the pentathlon and decathlon champion of sleaze, reached rock bottom before deciding it was still too classy an audience and began digging deeper into human depravities. After his daily cruise round the lower circles of Dante’s inferno, Springer got himself on all the networks and cable channels to simply declare he had considered, but after months of campaigning, had abandoned a run for the US Senate. But there was still hope in California where two porn stars in the multi-billion-dollar blue movie industry, along with former smut king Larry Flynt, are running for governor.
For 10 years — between the Gulf War and Sept. 11, 2001 — the media dumbed America down with the constant melodrama of constant trivia, from Tonya Harding to Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., (who was rescued in extremis by Osama Bin Laden). The Afghan and Iraqi wars provided a respite of sorts. But no sooner did Operation Iraqi Freedom bog down in the depressing routine of a G.I. a day getting killed than the stampede back to trivia was under way.
For days and nights on end, Kobe Bryant’s brief interlude of marital infidelity — and the $4 million pink diamond ring of atonement (perfect replica of this 5ct emerald cut cubic zirconia on sale on the ‘Net for $39.95) — monopolized the airwaves. A late-night comedian suggested that at those prices, Mrs. Bryant might start encouraging her husband to come home less frequently. Scores of TV cameras and some 500 journalists were on hand for Bryant’s seven-minute court appearance during which he uttered two memorable words: “No, Sir.”
Surfing one evening at 10:45 p.m., this reporter came across two naked males, going all the way. After all, heterosexual couples answering the call of Kama are now almost standard fair. Gay is so cool these days that on Aug. 14, Jay Leno has agreed to a total makeover to look gay so that he can extend a friendly greeting on stage to “Queer Eye’s Fab Five.” The show that night will be devoted to a special “make-better” session. The gay smorgasbord will include tips on grooming, food, fashion, culture and interior design. Straight people apparently are ignorant about the finer things of life.
Leno hopes to be life imitating art for Bravo whose “Queer” drew the network’s highest audience numbers ever. There is little doubt at this point that the gay craze reflects the growing influence of gays in Hollywood, where a meaningful percentage of directors are gay. The Ten Commandments are now multiple choice.
That gays should be considered normal is no longer the agenda. Desirable, as in the “Sacred Band” of Thebes in ancient Greece, is now the ticket. But overt gay behavior in Spartan and Cretan society is largely myth, according to Professor Kenneth Dover, the Brit who wrote the definitive work on the subject, titled “Greek Homosexuality.”
Gay men and women have left little to the imagination in Showtime’s “Queer as Folk.” Next on Showtime’s menu is “The L Word” about how lesbians live in Los Angeles. “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” pulled in 1.6 million viewers for its first two episodes in July. NBC broadcast a 30-minute version of Queer that drew 7 million people, which was the second highest score on NBC’s Thursday 9:30 p.m. slot since mid-June.
The extremes of yesteryear have become the norms of today. But the pace is quickening. And a backlash was inevitable. Legislators are considering a ban on gay marriages. The Pope and President Bush are now on the same page in the counter-offensive against the diktats of Hollywood’s talented gays. This is the same culture that told the world, in a seemingly endless series of technically superb movies, that the CIA, the FBI and the Pentagon dispatched assassins around the world with a license to kill — were the good guys, of course. Trouble is countless millions around the world love these movies — and believe them, of course. Frequently the same people are convinced America is on the road to Sodom and Gomorrah. We have heard clerics from Marrakesh to Muscat and from Rabat to Rawalpindi rant about the grotesque distorting image of what they believe is 21st century America.
We decry the flaws in the Arab character and blame them on their retrograde societies. But shouldn’t we care how they see us? After 9/11, Bush expressed surprise that anyone could hate us “because we’re such good people.” The overwhelming majority of Americans share those noble sentiments. But only 14 percent of 280 million Americans have passports and most don’t really care what the rest of the world sees and thinks. After all, millions are still trying to get into the United States every year. But if we insist on adopting the ungainly posture of the proverbial ostrich, we shouldn’t be surprised if we get kicked in the most obvious place.
— Arnaud De Borchgrave is UPI Editor at Large.
