A few months ago, I featured a segment on the "Exotic" Adrian Street, a rule-breaking professional wrestler who acted gay to unnerve his opponents.
At the time, I said Street's portrayal was an excellent satire on homophobic fears.
Unfortunately there have been other exploitations of homophobic fears in pro wrestling and they weren't all as well done as Street.
The late Adrian Adonis (Keith A. Franke) is not known to many except for the die-hard pro wrestling fans (like myself) and this is a shame because he was one of the best.
In the American Wrestling Association, he and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura formed the East-West Connection and held the tag team titles:
Then he moved to the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wresting Entertainment) where he held tag team titles with the late Dick Murdoch.
During this time, he had a tough guy leather gimmick which was pretty cool:
The man interviewing Adonis is one "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Then Piper was in his super rulebreaker, bad guy wrestler mode with his show "Piper's Pit," which made him legendary amongst wrestling fans. Remember this because it's important for later.
Then things changed. Adonis took to not only wearing dresses and make-up during interviews and also while he wrestled:
This led to a very interesting angle. An "angle" in wrestling terms is a storyline. In this particular "angle," Roddy Piper had left the WWF due to a leg injury and Adonis had taken over his show, changing it from "Piper's Pit" into the "Flower Shop."
Needless to say when Piper came back, he wasn't pleased. And yes it was because of the homosexual implications. If you don't want to watch the entire clip below, here is the gist. Piper is HIGHLY offended by Adonis's show and his manner and says so, leading him to be destroyed by not only Adonis but two other wrestlers:
Which led to a match at Wrestlemania 3 where the loser gets his hair cut. Guess who lost?:
I don't know what's worse - the fact that a talented wrestler like Adrian Adonis got saddled with such an ugly, homophobic storyline or the fact that it's probably the main thing people remember about him because he was killed in a car accident soon afterwards.
It's sad because he deserved better.
Past Know Your LGBT History postings
Know Your LGBT History - The Night Strangler
Know Your LGBT History - All in the Family
Know Your LGBT History - Tongues Untied
Know Your LGBT History - The Celluloid Closet
Know Your LGBT History - Querelle
Know Your LGBT History - Theatre of Blood
Know Your LGBT History - Strange Fruit
Know Your LGBT History - Designing Women
Know Your LGBT History - The Children's Hour
Know Your LGBT History - Sylvester
Know Your LGBT History - Once Bitten
Know Your LGBT History - The Boys in the Band
Know Your LGBT History - Christopher Morley, the crossdressing assassin
Know Your LGBT History - Midnight Cowboy
Know Your LGBT History - Dracula's Daughter
Know Your LGBT History - Blacula
Know Your LGBT History - 3 Strikes
Know Your LGBT History - Paris Is Burning
Know Your LGBT History - The Women
Know your LGBT History - Soul Plane
Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club
Special Know Your LGBT History - Fame
Know Your LGBT History - Welcome Home, Bobby
Know Your LGBT History - Barney Miller
Know your lgbt history - The Jerry Springer Show
Know your lgbt history - Martin Lawrence and that 'gay guy' on his show
Know your lgbt history - The Ricki Lake Show
Know your lgbt history - Which Way Is Up
Know your lgbt history - Gays in Primetime Soaps
Know your lgbt history - Boys Beware
Know your lgbt history - The Boondocks
Know your lgbt history - Mannequin
Know your lgbt history - The Warriors
Know Your LGBT History - New York Undercover
Know Your LGBT History - Low Down Dirty Shame
Know Your LGBT History - Fortune and Men's Eyes
Know your lgbt history - California Suite
Know your lgbt history - Taxi (Elaine's Strange Triangle)
Know your lgbt history - Come Back Charleston Blue
Know your lgbt history - James Bond goes gay
Know your lgbt history - Windows
Know your lgbt history - To Wong Foo and Priscilla
Know your lgbt history - Blazing Saddles
Know your lgbt history - Sanford and Son
Know your lgbt history - In Living Color
Know your lgbt history - Cleopatra Jones and her lesbian drug lords
Know your lgbt history - Norman, Is That You?
Know your lgbt history - The 'Exotic' Adrian Street
Know your lgbt history - The Choirboys
Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy
Know your lgbt history - The Killing of Sister George
Know your lgbt history - Hanna-Barbera cartoons pushes the 'gay agenda
'Know your lgbt history - Cruising
Know your lgbt history - Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones
Know your lgbt history - I Got Da Hook Up
Know your lgbt history - Fright Night
Know your lgbt history - Flowers of Evil
The Jeffersons and the transgender community
Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
Friday, June 11, 2010
President Obama says 'ass,' Concerned Women for America fan themselves and other Friday midday news briefs
President Says Potty Word, Concerned Women for America Hit Fainting Couch - This is the SAME group which doesn't have a problem with the discredited research of Paul Cameron.
Survey: Bisexual women in poorest health - BEFORE the religious right tries to distort this study's outcome to demonize the lgbt community (and they will), take a look at what it says as to the why bisexual women have health problems. Two to one, the religious right will omit this crucial part of the study.
Gay Youth Homeless Shelter Vandalized - This doesn't make any sense at all. But since when does hate ever make since?
Gay flag raises issue at VA - Other flags have been raised. Those who disagree with this should get over themselves.
WeHo issues Lesbian Health Bill of Rights - An excellent idea whose time has come. It needs to be expanded to other cities and states.
Survey: Bisexual women in poorest health - BEFORE the religious right tries to distort this study's outcome to demonize the lgbt community (and they will), take a look at what it says as to the why bisexual women have health problems. Two to one, the religious right will omit this crucial part of the study.
Gay Youth Homeless Shelter Vandalized - This doesn't make any sense at all. But since when does hate ever make since?
Gay flag raises issue at VA - Other flags have been raised. Those who disagree with this should get over themselves.
WeHo issues Lesbian Health Bill of Rights - An excellent idea whose time has come. It needs to be expanded to other cities and states.
Arizona mayor insults gay troops during Memorial Day speech
It's one thing to have a personal belief that homosexuality is a sin, but it's something else entirely to have that belief lead you into acting like a damn fool
Someone should make Yuma, AZ mayor Al Krieger aware of this fact. At a Memorial Day service honoring fallen troops at the Desert Lawn Cemetery, he disrespected our lgbt fighting men and women by saying the following:
And then to make matters worse, while refusing to apologize for the comment, he compared himself to former presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln:
I hate situations when public officials make ugly anti-gay comments and then try to make themselves seem noble for doing such.
The ugliness of Kreiger's comments is only exacerbated by his self-righteous tone.
Kreiger would do well to remember that the freedom he enjoys, including the right to run his mouth like a horse's ass, was bought and paid for partly by the lives and limbs of "lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people."
And if he can't say thank you, then maybe he shouldn't say anything at all.
Just a suggestion.
Someone should make Yuma, AZ mayor Al Krieger aware of this fact. At a Memorial Day service honoring fallen troops at the Desert Lawn Cemetery, he disrespected our lgbt fighting men and women by saying the following:
I cannot believe that a bunch of lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people could do what those men have done in the past.
And then to make matters worse, while refusing to apologize for the comment, he compared himself to former presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln:
I hate situations when public officials make ugly anti-gay comments and then try to make themselves seem noble for doing such.
The ugliness of Kreiger's comments is only exacerbated by his self-righteous tone.
Kreiger would do well to remember that the freedom he enjoys, including the right to run his mouth like a horse's ass, was bought and paid for partly by the lives and limbs of "lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people."
And if he can't say thank you, then maybe he shouldn't say anything at all.
Just a suggestion.
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