All I Know I Learned from The Golden Girls

Today the New York State Senate voted 38-24 against gay marriage, which got no Republican support.  Tom Duane, our first openly-gay Senator (that I campaigned for when I was in high school, thank you very much) spoke publicly in chambers about his personal life.  Others spoke about their history of working against all kinds of discrimination.  My cousin is the Clerk for the NYS Senate, so I’ll get the full run-down when she comes to visit, and I’ll likely learn that my state representative voted against the bill.

But I digress.

In today’s session, State Senators talked about their personal relationships with gay individuals.   They invoked some good heartstrings-pulling in order to persuade their colleagues to vote for equality.  However I think that they should’ve aired a few episodes of NBC’s classic sitcom The Golden Girls to bring their point home.  In general, humor disarms people to the point that they can learn something, or maybe rethink an opinion.  This tactic was employed with great success over 7 seasons of Girls, and they covered many really important topics without losing the comedic appeal of the show:  addiction, homelessness, AIDS, euthanasia and interracial marriage are but a few issues that Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia wrestled with on prime-time television.  But the show’s treatment of homosexuality covered more than one episode, and produced a recommendation for gay marriage a full 18 years before our lawmakers would debate the issue.

In its first foray into homosexuality, The Golden Girls introduced a lesbian character – Jean, a friend of Dorothy’s – who falls in love with Rose.  In this episode, Sophia provides the voice of tolerance and acceptance: “I never understood what the big deal is?  Jean likes girls instead of boys.  Some people like cats instead of dogs.  Personally I’d rather live with a lesbian than a cat.”  Good stuff, isn’t it?

Later in the show’s history, Girls featured Blanche’s brother Clayton who came out to his sister in an episode called “Scared Straight”.  His being gay was kind of a non-issue, except for Blanche who really couldn’t reconcile Clay’s past womanizing image with his admitted sexuality.  After the requisite foibles, Blanche promises to support her baby brother.  Clayton returns to Miami in another episode (“Sisters of the Bride”) to introduce the roommates to his fiance, Doug; Blanche is none too pleased, and the same-sex jokes ensue while she tries to keep her brother’s sexual proclivities a secret.  The episode culminates with a discussion on why gays wanted marriage.  The turning point comes when Blanche remembers why she wanted to marry her husband: “We loved each other.  We wanted to be together.”  Again, Sophia provides the pro-gay response, “Doesn’t your brother deserve the same thing?” after which Blanche tells Clay “I can’t say I understand what you’re doing, but I do understand why you’re doing it.”

So all I’m saying is, the next time you’re feeling intolerant or hateful or frustrated and looking for some “minority” group to take it out on, instead tune in to The Golden Girls.  Then you’ll see a bunch of 60-year-old women who were more progressive in 1989 than you are now, and you may be humored into changing your mind.