What's so Queer about it?

By: Margerry Yuhico

        The early 90s wasn't ready for Ellen DeGeneres, but times have changed. Today's biggest hits all have something queer about them. The most recent of these is Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

        Since it premiered in July, the show has earned record ratings for the station and has even crossed over into NBC's coveted primetime slot. The show has made the "Fab Five" huge stars, even in unlikely places like Louisville, Kentucky.

        But the real question is: Are shows like Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, Will and Grace and others that headline gay characters, stereotyping the gay community or is it providing an opening for closeted gay men?


        Some complain that homosexuality has become a joke on straight-themed shows. This season's premiere episode of Frasier poked fun at the main character by having guest star, Patrick Stewart, 'hit on' him throughout the episode. Stewart is best known for his role as the heroic captain of the TV series, Star Trek: Generations.

        And Will and Grace's fun-loving homosexual character, Jack, is portrayed as a giddy drama queen that some people believe only furthers stereotypes of gay men as being fashion- frenzied and artsy.

        But Carson Kressley, the fashion savant of the "Fab Five," disagrees and said that shows like these have an unanticipated benefit.

        "I know one 19-year-old kid who watched the show with his parents and when he saw how positively they were reacting to us on the show, he felt comfortable enough to come out to his mom and dad," said Kressley.

         He believes shows like these really opened up gay culture to the country. Kressley notes that even the older generation is accepting it.

        The phrase: "Are you that queer guy?" asked by older men at a Kentucky State Horse Fair wasn't said in a derogatory manner.

         "I used to get that all the time, but it wasn't said with such glee," said Kressley.

        This queer-show phenomenon may be good and it may be bad. It all depends on how you look at it. The media and the public have gone a long way from dropping Ellen's show to making Queer Eye for the Straight Guy one of the highest rated shows. The industry is picking up on the queer phenomenon. Ellen, whose TV career seemed closeted after her show was cancelled, now has her own daytime talk show on NBC.

        Kressley is just riding the "Queer Eye" wave and seeing where it will take him. Right now Kressley says it best: "We're just all about having a good time and making people feel better about themselves."