Marco Bernardi has done stand-up long enough to know that not every night up on stage will be your best, but one night in particular might have been the Welland, Ont. native’s worst.
“I did this show in North York, which I’ll never do again, and I was the only gay comic on,” says Bernardi, a 2010 Second City “Cream of Comedy” nominee. “I went on stage and I did my jokes and there was silence. All of these other frat boy comics got on stage and were using words like ‘fag’ and ‘gay.’ They kept on using these words in their acts and they would kill. I just got angry and I remember being in a foul mood that night. Everybody was homophobic in their jokes, even the emcee. I was just so frustrated and so angry.”
As the recent suicides of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student, and Jamie Hubley, a 15-year-old Ottawa-area teen, attest, homophobia and bullying are sadly still prevalent in 2011, especially among youth. In a study released this past May, Equality For Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE),
a Toronto-based human rights organization, estimates that almost one in five gay and lesbian students have been physically harassed or attacked because of their sexuality. An estimated two in five gay students and one in three lesbian students have been sexually harassed at school. While the numbers are troubling, some gay comics have used their art form to assert themselves in public and show gay youth that there is hope.
Richard Ryder co-hosts Toronto’s PROUD-FM’s “Your Morning with Richard and Chris.” A veteran stand-up, Ryder remembers his experiences growing up as a gay youth.
“I was never in the closet. I was called a faggot from day one in school. I was the fag,” says Ryder, who has been featured in his own Comedy Now special. “I wasn’t effeminate. I wasn’t dressed in girl’s clothing or any of that. I was just the fag. Somebody in school has to be it and I was it and, as luck would have it, I also was (gay.)”
Ryder has never set out to be a role model for gay youth, but both recognize the potential benefits in their exposure to them.
“I may be a role model to them and be looked at as that, but I don’t think of it or consciously think of it that way,” explains Ryder. “I’m glad they find me funny. I’m glad that they relate with what I’m talking about and they can identify and I’m glad that they want to see me again. Those are my concerns. I am an out gay man and if that helps kids who aren’t out see somebody who they can identify with like them, great. It’s not my intention. It’s not my impetus. I know a lot of people stay in the closet for business or work or whatever and I get that. I don’t judge it. Everybody’s coming out is different.”
For Bernardi, the message he wants to send is being true to one’s self.
“I’m not a role model, but I would say I’m helping other people in the audience who may be just coming out of the closet, “says Bernardi. “When they see me on stage they think, ‘Oh, ok. This isn’t so bad. He’s on stage and he’s showing visibility and maybe it will help me to come out of the closest, as well, or be a part of the gay community, as well.’ Hopefully, especially with all of the gay teen suicides, there will be less and less of it if people just stand up and show who they are.”
Paolo Kagaoan, a fledgling gay comic in Toronto, believes that the visibility of gay comedians for queer youth is important, but that those comics should be held accountable for their material and try to keep their acts positive.
“Now, I’m actually very wary of how gay (comics) represent themselves,” says Kagaoan, who is originally from the Philippines. “I think I watch out for what gay people say more than what straight people say (about gays) on stage. That could be hurtful for our community if somebody’s on stage and talking about Dynasty or whatever stereotypical stuff.”
Ryder thinks that stressing similarities over differences is key to bridging the gap between groups.
“There’s really very little difference between being gay and straight people,” says Ryder. “Because, gay or straight, we all get up in the morning, we all poop, we all put on clothes and we all go to work we hate.”
Posted in: 
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment