“Why are gay men over 50 being erased by our culture?
About a year ago, after five years work, endless rewrites and table readings, a film-festival award, and input from gay friends in the industry, I finally took a deep breath and sent my queer-themed sitcom pilot, “Life After Death,” to agents and producers. I was ready to go to battle with the bigwigs.
The reactions were swift and merciless, one (gay) agent writing me that, although the show was funny, the characters were depraved, the language vile, the sexual references unthinkable for a mainstream, albeit cable TV, audience. Among dozens of offenses listed, he said that no one will watch a leading man make a joke about bottoming. “Where,” he asked, “are the heroes who show how far the community has progressed?”
Combatting the Invisibility of Older Gay Men
