Avenue Q creator has had enough of Leno's gay jokes

azezil

From: http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid30116.asp

Dear Mr. Leno,

My name is Jeff Whitty. I live in New York City. I'm a playwright and the author of Avenue Q, which is a musical currently running on Broadway. I've been watching your show a bit, and I'd like to make an observation:

When you think of gay people, it's funny. They're funny folks. They wear leather. They like Judy Garland. They like disco music. They're sort of like Stepin Fetchit as channeled by Richard Simmons.

Gay people, to you, are great material.

Mr. Leno, let me share with you my view of gay people:

When I think of gay people, I think of the gay news anchor who took a tire iron to the head several times when he was vacationing in St. Martin. I think of my friend who was visiting Hamburger Mary's, a gay restaurant in Las Vegas, when a bigot threw a smoke bomb filled with toxic chemicals into the restaurant, leaving the staff and gay clientele coughing, puking, and running in terror. I think of visiting my gay friends at their house in the country, sitting outside for dinner, and hearing, within hundreds of feet of where we sat, taunting voices yelling "Faggots!" I think of hugging my boyfriend goodbye for the day on 8th Avenue in Manhattan and being mocked and taunted by passing high school students.

When I think of gay people, I think of suicide. I think of a countless list of people who took their own lives because the world was so toxically hostile to them. Because of the deathly climate of the closet, we will never be able to count them. You think gay people are great material. I think of a silent holocaust that continues to this day. I think of a silent holocaust that is perpetuated by people like you, who seek to minimize us and make fun of us and who I suspect really, fundamentally wish we would just go away.

When I think of gay people, I think of a brave group that has made tremendous contributions to society, in arts, letters, science, philosophy, and politics. I think of some of the most hilarious people I know. I think of a group that has served as a cultural guardian for an ungrateful and ignorant America.

I think of a group of people who have undergone a brave act of inventing themselves. Every single out-of-the-closet gay person has had to say, "I am not part of mainstream society." Mr. Leno, that takes bigger balls than stepping out in front of TV-watching America every night. I daresay I suspect it takes bigger balls to come out of the closet than anything you have ever done in your life.

I know you know gay people, Mr. Leno. Are they just jokes to you, to be snickered at behind their backs? Despite the angry tenor of my letter, I suspect you're a better man than that. I don't bother writing letters to the "God Hates Fags" people, or Donald Wildmon, or the pope. But I think you can do better. I know it's The Tonight Show, not a White House press conference, but you reach a lot of people.

I caught your show when you had a tired mockery of Brokeback Mountain, involving something about a horse done up in what you consider a "gay" way. Man, that's dated. I turned the television off and felt pretty ****ing depressed. And now I understand your gay-baiting jokes have continued.

Mr. Leno, I have a sense of humor. It's my livelihood. And being gay has many hilarious aspects to it—none of which, I suspect, you understand. I'm tired of people like you. When I think of gay people, I think of centuries of suffering. I think of really, really good people who've been gravely mistreated for a long time now.

You've got to cut it out, Jay.

Sincerely,

Jeff Whitty

New York, N.Y.

Hmm_Messiah

I like

lucernarian

Great letter. Reminds me of another letter posted here a while back, written by the mother of a homosexual male.

damien

If Mr. Whitty did his research he'd have seen the amount of work Mr. Leno has done for the gay community, the equality he's fought for and the huge amount of money he's raised for HIV charities. Moreso than a lot of gay people in fact. Mr. Leno has used his fame to do a huge amount of good, a good deal of it for gay people.

If a brokeback mountain joke upset Mr Whitty then maybe he shouldn't really partake in the real world where people take the piss. Have you seen the jokes? Tame and lame. There is not one bit of malice or hatred.

I'm cynical so I think Mr. Whitty decided to write that letter to get himself and his play attention cashing in on genuine letters like those that TBC mentioned to actual bigots. Graham Norton makes a camp joke it's HAHA. WIll and Grace make gay people out to be complete imbeciles, that''s ok. Queer Eye for the Straight guy plays up every fag stereotype around and that's ok. Leno takes the piss out of brokeback, like he takes the piss out of 100s more movies and he's compared to Fred Phelps? Could he pick a softer and less famous target? So we want special treatment not equal treatment now? That'll work.

The letter should be sent to Bill O'Reilly, it should be sent to Jerry Falwell, it should be sent to Ann Coulter, it should be sent to anyone that writes for the Irish Daily Mail, or those other tabloid rags.

Just found a nice reply to whitty:
http://jackiebeatrules.com/blog/?p=55

Dear Mr. Whitty,

Anyone who thinks that Jay Leno or The Tonight Show is in any way responsible for violence against gay people is just plain reaching.

Homophobes are looking for any reason to express their ignorance and hatred. Should the film “Brokeback Mountain” not have been released simply because it’s very existence could possibly inflame more anger or incite more violence?

Gay people have fought to be accepted and I for one am happy that we are so mainstream now that we’re “fair game” when it comes to comedy. Jay Leno is personally responsible for the fact that millions of people now welcome a young gay man into their living rooms on a regular basis. Does that man talk about gay rights and gay marriage and his personal life? No. He’s too busy doing his job — making people laugh — WITH him, not AT him. And to those few who may indeed be laughing AT him, nothing is going to change their closed minds. Not all the assimilation and butching-it-up and “See?-We’re-just-like-you!” in the world. When you attend Gay Pride are you embarrassed by the drag queens and the leather daddies because they are somehow fanning the flames of homophobia? “If they would only tone it down and stop making it so hard for the rest of us.”

You claim that when Mr. Leno thinks of gay people, it’s funny. Could that possibly be because he is a comedian? When Mr. Leno (or more accurately, his writers) thinks of anyone or anything, it’s funny. Images of people being brutalized have no place within a comedic monologue. That, unfortunately, would undermine the comedy. Mr. Leno also thinks that Women, Blacks, Teenagers, Asians, Celebrities, Latinos, Stupid Criminals, Old White Politicians, Lousy Proofreaders and even Our President, are funny. He does not feel the need to include serious commentary on sex discrimination, abortion, spousal abuse, hate crimes, slavery, racism, classism, etc. Since he does not balance his comedy with the complex reality of social issues, does that mean gay people are completely off-limits to him?

Why is it okay for gay people to cash in on stereotypes (Queer Eye’s fab five sashaying into some clueless breeder’s tacky apartment and giving it a gay makeover), but the moment someone we assume to be straight does it, we start crying homophobia? Would it be different if Jay Leno was gay? Bisexual? Experimented in college? Where is that line, exactly?

Black comedians do impersonations of boring white guys who can’t dance with nerdy newscaster voices. Women and gay stand-ups make fun of straight men all the time. Does Jay Leno write them letters? Nope. And I won’t even get into the fact that Christian bashing (of which I admit I’m guilty, they make it so easy, the jokes just write themselves!) is prevalent and unchecked among most left-wing comedians. It’s okay to make fun of them because they’re stupid and wrong, right?

Be honest, are you totally comfortable with everything that comes out of Margaret Cho’s mouth? Is comedy about being comfortable or about pushing the envelope? Why is Ms. Cho’s material not only acceptable, but lauded, while the similarly foul-mouthed shock comic Andrew “Dice” Clay was practically burned at the stake? Perhaps it is because Clay did not make it crystal clear that he was a character who was playing devil’s advocate. Margaret Cho is NOT a gay man, but I can laugh at her gay jokes, impersonations of drag queens and even when she says that England is where white people go to begin the whitening process. Or something like that — I was laughing too hard to get every word.

The truth is, you cannot please everyone. There will always be someone who will be offended. “This is too gay. This is not gay enough. This does not represent me.” When you attempt to please everyone, you please no one. I heard many people complaining that “Transamerica” was not an accurate portrayal of M to F transsexuals. Guess what? It is only ONE story. AND it’s a fictional movie, not a documentary.

Why do people get so up in arms when we have the audacity to actually admit that people are different? News flash: Gay people are different than straight people, AND THANK GOD! That does not mean we are aliens or monsters. It simply means that we are different, just like Blacks and Latinos and Asians and Whites are different from each other. There is a time and a place to celebrate and focus on what makes us all alike and a time and a place to celebrate (yes, celebrate!) what makes us all different.

Several of the new gay networks have approached myself and/or friends of mine to develop Saturday Night Live-style sketch comedy shows. After submitting outlines we have actually been told that they do not like our “tone” — that our style is too edgy and too mean-spirited. Hello? And speaking of SNL, I adore their “Gays In Space” sketch — overflowing with lisping, snapping, mincing, crotch-obsessed queens. To me, the joke is that any genre can easily be “fabulized” and made gay. Personally, I am more offended by GLAAD favorites “Will & Grace” (and it’s supposedly all-straight cast) and “Queer As Folk.” They’re not my cup of pee, but I can stand back and say, “Go on with your bad (writing) self!”

My point is this: Stereotypes and broad strokes have always — and will always — have a place in comedy. In our overly-PC world, we have become so hypersensitive that the arts and especially comedy have become safe and boring. Thank God the pendulum always swings back and we get in-your-face bitches like Lisa Lampanelli and tell-it-like-it-is geniuses like Dave Chappelle. To paraphrase Justice Potter Stewart’s infamous quote regarding obscenity, “I may not know the definition of homophobia, but I know it when I see it!”

Sorry, but I just don’t see it when I watch Jay Leno.

Sincerely,
Jackie Beat
Los Angeles, CA

BuffyBot

Mr. Leno, I have a sense of humor.

You can only wonder where he misplaced it.

eskimo

Jeff Whitty has a stick up his ass. That letter is nothing more than a product of his delusional high level of self-importance, and the increased level of self-importance he clearly thinks he has a right to feel simply because he's gay. He should get over himself and start a search for his sense of humour, a search that will probably be life-long. Furthermore, Jay Leno's take on the gay community is one of the least offensive things I've ever seen on tv. I rarely find it funny, but it's certainly not offensive. Jeff Whitty's letter, on the other hand, borders on offensive.

Boston

I'd just like to say, before I start, that the first letter was bound to come into some heavy critism from certain parties for it's outlining manybof the negative and ulgy aspects of being gay in modern society. People can't fight the bigots so they turn on those highlighting the problems. I disgree with the assertion that Mr witty was claiming Jay leno is reponsible for the violence towards gay people, this was an attack on jay leno himself, where he outliend why he found his jokes offensive. He never claimed that joke = homophobic attack, and I wonder did people actually read his letter before lighting a match under it. All that said, I don't agree with the guy. He doesn't have a right to demand Jay leno not make those jokes. He has a right not to be subjected to them, which he excerciesed when he turned off his Tv.

damien.m wrote:

If Mr. Whitty did his research he'd have seen the amount of work Mr. Leno has done for the gay community, the equality he's fought for and the huge amount of money he's raised for HIV charities. Moreso than a lot of gay people in fact. Mr. Leno has used his fame to do a huge amount of good, a good deal of it for gay people.

If a brokeback mountain joke upset Mr Whitty then maybe he shouldn't really partake in the real world where people take the piss. Have you seen the jokes? Tame and lame. There is not one bit of malice or hatred.

Not that long ago you there was a thread where you argued passionately that regardless of spite,malice, or hatred, if someone used the word ****/gay in a degrodatory fashion, it was wrong. But someone can make jokes about the gay community in degrodatory fashion nad it's ok, a wee bit of a contradiction, no?


Graham Norton makes a camp joke it's HAHA. WIll and Grace make gay people out to be complete imbeciles, that''s ok. Queer Eye for the Straight guy plays up every fag stereotype around and that's ok. Leno takes the piss out of brokeback, it's ok because he makes contributions to gay charities, but some kid says "faggoty ass fag of a car" and their a bigot?

btw, who are you to say that his letter isn't genuine?

eskimo wrote:

Jeff Whitty has a stick up his ass. That letter is nothing more than a product of his delusional high level of self-importance, and the increased level of self-importance he clearly thinks he has a right to feel simply because he's gay.

I'd imagine it comes from

When I think of gay people, I think of the gay news anchor who took a tire iron to the head several times when he was vacationing in St. Martin. I think of my friend who was visiting Hamburger Mary's, a gay restaurant in Las Vegas, when a bigot threw a smoke bomb filled with toxic chemicals into the restaurant, leaving the staff and gay clientele coughing, puking, and running in terror. I think of visiting my gay friends at their house in the country, sitting outside for dinner, and hearing, within hundreds of feet of where we sat, taunting voices yelling "Faggots!" I think of hugging my boyfriend goodbye for the day on 8th Avenue in Manhattan and being mocked and taunted by passing high school students.

eskimo wrote:

He should get over himself and start a search for his sense of humour

You can say that he doesn't have a right to force the "leno" guy to stop tellign gay jokes, but who the hell are you to tell someone they should find it funny, and if they don't that their fuked up and self deluded. The key thing here is that no one forces you to be around or watch this "comedian", If it was someone you had to work with, who was constantly having a go at gay people, would oyu tell them to get a sense of humor? Th

Furthermore, Jay Leno's take on the gay community is one of the least offensive things I've ever seen on tv. I rarely find it funny, but it's certainly not offensive.

Obviously you're wrong.

Jeff Whitty's letter, on the other hand, borders on offensive.

I'm reading the letter and no where does he claim to be speaking for the gay community, so why should you find it offensive?

damien

Ah Boston, it's a shame that only when I replied to this did you find it interesting enough to reply to it too. I truely doubt you'd have made any comment at all if it wasn't for the fact that I wrote in this thread.

I should start a thread with the title "Black" and see how long before you have to argue for white and highlight I'm some sort of hypocrite for what I posted three years ago which invariably I didn't actually say. How many times have you gotten it wrong now? Still I'm glad that you can focus all those confused feelings in your head and point them toward attacking me. Saves the attacks on women and anyone else that confuses you I suppose.

You should ask yourself why I seem to have so much influence and control on your life though. It's quite fun from my side where I know how you'll react to one of my posts before I even finish writing. I feel almost like Ivan Pavlov at times. Fetch boy!

Boston

Theres something about damien, I just don't get.

damien

Rollover!

eskimo

LiouVille, there is a difference between having a sense of humour and finding something funny. You can find something unfunny but still have a sense of humour about it and acknowledge that it was meant in good humour and was not meant to cause offence. It is this sense of realising when something is meant in good humour that Whitty clearly lacks, i.e. a sense of humour.

Yes, he notes that gay people have been put through hell in the past and still go through hell today, but there are countless groups in society that also go through hell, not just gays; yet they cope with jokes made about them without getting so horribly offended.

Jay Leno's jokes are not offensive. I do not claim to speak for the gay community, I speak personally. However, I would maintain that I view Whitty's "offense" by Leno's jokes to be not actual offense, rather a product of his own self-importance.

Whitty's letter borders on offensive since it does nothing but attack and criticise Jay Leno who, in my view, is an innocent man.

Does Whitty believe that Leno's jokes are influencing gay hatred? If he does, then I would like to see some proof of this before acknowledging his views. If he doesn't, then what was his real motivation for writing such a letter to Jay Leno?

Boston

He wrote the letters because he finds the jokes offensive. There will always be people who will find certain topics offensive to make light of. That is his right.