DCIHasBeen Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 I recall seeing studies where it was stated that as little as 1% of the population was gay. 10% has not been proven. In any event, in the 80's or prior, how was it addressed if it was addressed at all, is a valid question, IMHO. Possible. I never did a head count, and between Drum Corps, one degree in Theatre, and working in the entertainment business, it's quite possible that my personal experience is skewed towards exposure to a larger percentage of the Gay community than others ... It just never really mattered much to me. (We had name for Theatre majors in college that didn't have gay friends: Lonely.) It sounds from the original poster that if it was addressed at all, it was usually to the negative and that's a shame. It seems that the activity has grown in tolerance either through a much larger percentage of participation by openly gay individuals and/or a more enlightened talent pool. I'd like to think it is the latter. I guess everyone's experiences is/were different ... When I was in junior corps in the '70s, there were a number of Gay folks in the corps. I mean, they didn't wear signs or anything, but everyone more, or less, knew who was who ... In that respect (and in comparison to other posters experiences) we may have been a lot further ahead of the times than many; The Gay kids in the corps were treated with the same amount of respect as anyone else (and just as subject to the one-liners and bad jokes that we were all subject to ... It was a pretty smarmy environment, but we were equal-opportunity offenders.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradrick Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 (edited) It sounds from the original poster that if it was addressed at all, it was usually to the negative and that's a shame. It seems that the activity has grown in tolerance either through a much larger percentage of participation by openly gay individuals and/or a more enlightened talent pool. I'd like to think it is the latter. My guess is that it's a combination of both. For me personally, I appreciate the timing of the OP posting this topic. I just celebrated my 20 year anniversary of marching my rooking season in the 1987 Sky Ryders "West Side Story" program. I consider myself very fortunate to have been a part of that show for my rookie season. (Although I've posted in other threads about how difficult that season was because of all the bus problems etc.) Lots of DCPers look back now and talk about how the Sky 87 show moved them. I give a lot of the credit for that to our amazingly talented and driven Program Coordinator, Tommy Keenum. He made sure that each one of us understood and felt the emotion that was supposed to be conveyed by every minute of our show. He also took every available opportunity to emphasize to us that the core motif of West Side Story (and thus the 87 Sky Ryders) is that “Everything that’s wrong in our world today is somehow caused by or related to the fact that people just can’t accept those that are different.” I remember one particular time when Tommy had the entire corps get together to talk about the show and how each of us have been affected in our own lives by some form of discrimination or being considered an “outsider”. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the entire corps after that amazing pow-wow. (I mean, just by being a band kid or a drum corps kid, made us all part of something that many people look at sideways… right?) And looking back, I know how ironic it is that even with the show topic and how we came to relate to it - the gay people in 87 Sky Ryders pretty much had to remain closeted (or only out amongst themselves) for fear of being shunned or not accepted by the others. It was just ... the way it was back then. Meanwhile, we played our closer "Somewhere" with a huge push, and as much internal emotion as I'd ever hope to be able to feel during a performance... "Somewhere. We'll find a new way of living, We'll find a way of forgiving Somewhere . . . There's a place for us, A time and place for us. Hold my hand and we're halfway there. Hold my hand and I'll take you there Somehow, Some day, Somewhere!" ... and reunited Tony and Maria (no longer seperated by hate) ran off the field and out of the stadium... holding hands. B) Edited August 15, 2007 by bradrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sexyguardcap Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 I would assume Madison and Cavies had more tolerance back then.NOT a slight on those two corps, but just based on the fact that when you get 30-40 male dancers together the odds are that there might be a few gay dudes in the bunch. Now that guards are more mixed (and no, I'm not saying that "only guard guys are gay", or anything like that...wow, touchy subject huh? lol), more corps have gay members I should think. (hey, I work for Disney...I wouldn't have a job very long if I weren't tolerant :)) When you get 30-40 men together period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apoch003 Posted August 15, 2007 Author Share Posted August 15, 2007 Okay, now that we all see that. I'm going to adjust it a bit with another question... I wonder how our generation of former marchers feels about their kids joining a corps with so much "outness". I'd like to think that we all matured enough in time that it's still no big deal. Still.... there's Texas. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIHasBeen Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Okay, now that we all see that. I'm going to adjust it a bit with another question...I wonder how our generation of former marchers feels about their kids joining a corps with so much "outness". I'd like to think that we all matured enough in time that it's still no big deal. Still.... there's Texas. :P Don't have any kids, unless my Parrot counts, but if I did I would encourage him/her/them to march with an organization that supported diversity to the point that it wasn't even something anyone needed to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deftguy Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 (edited) I recall seeing studies where it was stated that as little as 1% of the population was gay. 10% has not been proven. In any event, in the 80's or prior, how was it addressed if it was addressed at all, is a valid question, IMHO. I do not think its one percent, we exceed that right here in San Francisco let alone Los Angeles and New York. I marched in the Cavaliers colorguard in the 80's. I knew who was gay and who wasn't. Didn't care, not moved. While I agree that those were tough years to be gay in anything lest alone Drum Corps, I was glad my parents taught me to judge ones actions, and not their orientation. Besides, it was tough being latin in drum corps, the Puerto Rican jokes where ruthlessly.....pauses for effect.....hilarious. Edited August 15, 2007 by deftguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntheMood Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Possible. I never did a head count, and between Drum Corps, one degree in Theatre, and working in the entertainment business, it's quite possible that my personal experience is skewed towards exposure to a larger percentage of the Gay community than others ... It just never really mattered much to me. (We had name for Theatre majors in college that didn't have gay friends: Lonely.)I guess everyone's experiences is/were different ... When I was in junior corps in the '70s, there were a number of Gay folks in the corps. I mean, they didn't wear signs or anything, but everyone more, or less, knew who was who ... In that respect (and in comparison to other posters experiences) we may have been a lot further ahead of the times than many; The Gay kids in the corps were treated with the same amount of respect as anyone else (and just as subject to the one-liners and bad jokes that we were all subject to ... It was a pretty smarmy environment, but we were equal-opportunity offenders.) I agree with you 100%. When I marched in the 70's we never looked at each other in that way. We were Family, period. Warts and all. Many of us went to the same schools, our familys hung out, worked and shoped at many of the same places. As you can see there were not many secerts. LOL LOL. No one cared what the color of your skin was or if you were gay or not, standing beside each other in front of a bank in full uniform under a hot sun on a Saturday asking for nickles, dimes, and quarters to help support your Local Drum and Bugle Corps. Really, In the Corps that I marched in no one cared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malibu Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Okay, now that we all see that. I'm going to adjust it a bit with another question...I wonder how our generation of former marchers feels about their kids joining a corps with so much "outness". I'd like to think that we all matured enough in time that it's still no big deal. Still.... there's Texas. :P For you original question, when I marched, the subject was voodoo. If there were gay folks in the corps they kept it to themselves.....it was not widely accepted back then. As far as having my kids march in a corps where gays are open....I have no problem with it. Some of my best friends are gay and many folks that I work with are gay as well. They are people too even though their live styles may be different, they are still human beings. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansea Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 It's been said that most guys are a six pack away anyway... Is it really an issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stifled4mallettechnique Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 It's been said that most guys are a six pack away anyway...Is it really an issue? Can I buy ya a beer? I was a bit sheltered in my old corps days, and aside from the occaisonal snickers about certain all male corps having couples busses, I didn't really think about such things. Now that I'm older and wiser (and have a wife that's a former "hag") I know most of the time, but just don't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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