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Friday, May 22, 2009
Update: Nigel Lythgoe Issues An Aopolgy via GLAAD Blog
Of all the places you would think homophobia would rear it's ugly head. If you were watching the premiere episode of the FOX reality show So You Think You Can Dance last night or if you've been privy to the brewing online controversy over judge Nigel Lythgoe's homophobic remarks toward same -sex dance couple Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel, then you won't be surprised to know that GLAAD has acted swiftly and demanded an apology.
Upon watching the couple's samba routine Lythgoe had this to say: "I think you'd probably alienate a lot of our audience. We've always had the guys dance together on the show but they've never really done it in each other's arms before. I'm really one of those people that like to see guys be guys and girls be girls on stage. I don't think I liked it, to be frank."
Lythgoe tells them he'd like to see them dance with a woman, "You never know, you might enjoy that, too."
If this wasn't bad enough Lythgoe continues his homophobic and insensitive rant on Twitter further digging a hole for himself.
"The same sex ballroom guys did remind me of "Blades of Glory". However, I'm not a fan of 'Brokeback' Ballroom.
It's going to be very interesting to see how Lythgoe is going to fix this PR nightmare that he's created for himself. Not to mention the thousands of gay and lesbian dancers who watch this show or have been featured in seasons past. It's quite ironic that Lythgoe didn't take into account the fact the dance industry is built on the backs of LGBT people, specifically gay men. I know from over ten years experience as a professional dancer. If gay men were taken out of the equation he wouldn't a have show and that's a fact.
Get into the moment that started the controversy in the videos below.
4 Comments:
This is similar to comments during SYTYCD Canada Season 1 auditions made by Adam Shankman (of all people, one to talk) about the male dancers needing to be more masculine. This homophobic attitude is totally disgusting. I commented to the show, but never received a response back, so I never watched the show again. I won't be watching the US SYTYCD this year either, based on the outrageous statements from all three judges. It's not that the dancers were great. It was that the homophobia was way out of line. It's stuff like this that leads me to firmly believe that if Nigel was still with American Idol, he would have directed the judges and staff to sideline Adam Lambert (they have ways, read VFTW) for being too feminine for American audiences.
May 23, 2009 3:57 AM
Brokeback Ballroom..he did not say that, he could not have..lol You know this can really go both ways on if part of what he was saying were just general comments or hurtful and degrading comments. As a judge of a dance show, his comments should have possibly focused more on the dancing and technique that the two same sex guys were doing. He possibly crossed the 'Homophobic' line by getting away from the technical aspect of his duty as a dancing judge and into the personal preferences of two grown men and their individual personal lives and choices. Part of his 'twitter' responses is what made me think this could go both ways, either they were sincere remarks or his PR team twittered those comments for him. The ones in particular that I am referring to are "I believe overtly effeminate dancing destroys the oppurtunity for many male dancers to be supported. Being gay doesn't mean effeminate". This response was well crafted, it shows he is not against Gay men, but the stigma that is placed upon Gay people as a result of certain assumptions based on a certain level of effeminate behaviors from some gay men who feel it is their life long deed and responsibility to force the world to know that they are gay and this is how gay people behave, which is so not true.
I am not a fan of effiminate dancing by two men, for the similar reasons stated earlier, it gives the wrong and very stigmatized impression of who Gay men are and how they should or are behaving.
dueces...
May 23, 2009 11:36 AM
Why is there drama over this topic? First of all, one of the guys says he is STRAIGHT. WTF is that? So, no need for anyone to get all upset about this. It wasn't even a gay couple. Second, Nigel is right. They are not what I would want a gay male couple to be (and they WERE NOT a gay male couple...one says he is straight!!!).
May 24, 2009 10:01 PM
Last night on SYTYCD Canada the judges told one of the contestants auditioning to put on his "man face." The homophobia of the series is blatant and spoiling what is otherwise a terrific show. Aside from the simple issue of human rights, I can tell you that as a straight woman I do not appreciate the tightly defined and repeated little boxes for men and women. As a mom of daughters I find it scary to be honest. Not every woman has to be or ought to be a butt shaking sex pot and not every man has to be or ought to be a muscular bull. Those are extreme ends of human sexuality and dance, as an expression of humanity, ought to reflect the entire range. As I watch this show with my kids I am concerned about what this might teach them.
August 19, 2009 6:30 PM
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