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Becoming more familiar with wrestling’s gay history makes one realize what a different product it would be today without gay culture.īy examining lesser-known gay wrestlers, historical connections, and significant storyline events, you can track not only gay culture’s influence on the art form but the shifting perceptions of the industry and audience. While many workers felt they couldn’t be open, WWE continued to mine homophobic storylines to draw heat or mock a performer.Īs a world audience takes baby steps towards equality, so does the problematic product we love. Though perceptions of queerness by the general public had begun to change, many wrestlers were forced to stay in the closet during the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. Nobody wanted to chance their livelihood on the perception that they were more likely to have "The Gay Plague." When the AIDS crisis broke, the lack of information and fear of blood-borne pathogens made many wrestlers reconsider being open with their sexuality. Their stories are as varied as the finishers they used, but they all shared a dream of success at the things they loved. Through this abbreviated history are some of the lesser-known names. (As we’ll see when an LGBTQ gimmick has been used in the past, the performer is usually straight.) These are all names that any casual fan will know, but once you scratch the surface, there are so many stories of gay men and women in wrestling’s past. Terry Garvin was always out in that same period and is one of those rare gay wrestlers who used a gay gimmick. Pat Patterson may have come out on television in 2014, but he was out to the wrestling world by the 1970s. If you could prove yourself a great wrestler or worker, that was more important. In the ’50s and ’60s, when homophobia was rampant, generally, there is some evidence that the wrestling world was marginally more tolerant. Much of the journalism regarding early figures can be spotty, as kayfabe and "the closet" have a lot in common regarding obscuring information. "They all shared a dream of being successful at the things they loved."
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Their journeys paved the way for the present. It’s a job and a lifestyle that often draws people that feel "different," so perhaps it’s not surprising that from the earliest days of sports entertainment, gay men and women have struck out into the world of wrestling to make their fortunes. If you are going to be homophobic, maybe watch something less homoerotic?"ĭJ Summers Of course, that’s not the only rainbow that ends at the squared circle. "It’s interesting to me how many homophobic fans there are because you are watching sweaty men, in their underwear, fake fighting. The irony isn’t lost on gay workers like DJ Summers. While this kind of behavior was probably at its peak in the ’90s, it hasn’t completely abated today. In the same show, a babyface could borrow elements of camp to get over, and then in the next match, denigrate a character for being gay. The audience could boo and taunt the gay character to prove their machismo.Īs Heather Levi points to in her book The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Identity, it was as if they could point to the jeers and thereby confirm their masculinity. And historically, because of that, wrestling became a space where LGBT characters were there to be reviled. It seems in wrestling, with its close physical contact between the same sexes, there is the "inherently" gay.
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#Gay men wrestling group pro#
Most of the time, pro wrestling has turned and used that culture to denigrate the very people from whom it took. This isn’t to say it always lauded the things they borrowed or those they borrowed it from. Sonny Kiss recently after he signed to AEW. What’s less discussed is that sports entertainment has historically borrowed significant pieces of gay culture from the very beginning. Wrestling’s Gay Historyįrom its first steps out of sports and into entertainment, the squared circle has pulled from a multitude of theatre traditions, from soap opera to vaudeville. The tough team of Ron Dupree and Chris Colt – a tag team in the ring, and real-life partners outside of it. However, in moving forward, one must recognize the (often not so glorious) past as wrestling, and the world moves to its future. Others may cite the emergence of groups like Matter Of Pride Wrestling and the rash of signings of LBGTQ performers to the AEW flagship.Īll of these examples point to the idea that the treatment of gay workers and storylines is improving. Some might point to openly gay superstars whose sexuality isn’t part of their gimmick like Sonya Deville. From the Balor Club being for everyone to Drag Queens hosting WrestleMania events, there’s the sense that there is a gay renaissance going on in wrestling today.