Well, I’m gonna officially call the (unforeseen) debate between The Helen Kellers Of Small Town USA vs. The Rest of the World over. Once again, the judges at “So You Think You Can Dance” strike and not only declare Kent’s… let’s call it “flare”, as too gay for male dancing and definitely too gay for their show. Funnily enough, the only thing more blatant than their homo-suppression during Wednesday night’s performance episode was the anti-age comment made by the ever-awful Nigel Lythgoe [Note: that should read anti-FEMALE-age comment!]. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not Homorazzi’s authority on babysitting the do’s and do not’s of reality TV and especially not dancing, but these past two episodes and the amount of feedback I got on the last article have bolstered me to want to write these monkeys up (that and Dan’s recommendation to do so in his latest coverage article!)

Let’s start with poor (and apparently OLD) Anya Garnis.
WOW… really Nigel? After ALL those heinous and apparently age-ignorant comments you’ve made over the years about girls (yes, GIRLS) about 40 years your junior, you call Anya- a TWENTY EIGHT year-old- a cougar?? [4:15 on video]. In his classic, tactless style, Mr. Executive Producer then combines the mocking of Anya (who did a phenomenal job but that doesn’t seem to matter) with another imposition of straightness on little ol’ gay Kent Boyd, as Nigel tells him he’s “got a cougar” on his farm as WhatchaNoHomo smiles at the camera and pretends to be interested in anything Anya has underneath her dress. The real gem of the night however came as a reaction to Kent’s “Jessica Rabbit” gay flare move- as the judges put it- regarding a particularly “limp-wristed” moment during the routine [1:25 on video].

Dear residents of Whatcha USA, (or those pretending to be them on my previous “SYTYCD is Anti-Gay” article), I’ll take your apologies in the form of silence from now on. Cheers.

Well, if there was any doubt before haha… I’m kidding of course, you all have ears and eyes (and apparently “no values” if you swing the gay way), so of course you’ve always known this boy was a mo [1:30 in video and 2:10 for what we call "gay face" ;)]. Still, it’s good to put that final nail in the coffin, isn’t it? According to Nigel and the judging panel of the show though, this was one fact they did not want confirmed. As a reaction to the frou-frou move during Tuesday night’s show, Nigel called out the kid and stated [2:38 on video]:

Nigel: Now please please be careful. You did something (does imitation)… it looked like Jessica Rabbit, love. Now please be careful when you’re doing that because that ruined the whole thing for me.

The judges continue to criticize the gay portion of the dance as Mia- resident lesbian on the show- takes over [4:04 on video]:

Mia: But that thing (does imitation)… I think you even pursed your lips a little bit (said with a gay lisp)… that needs to be a no-go for the rest of your career.

And- for those naysayers out there (ugh, I can hear you breathing out through your mouths)- the final confirmation that this nambee-pambee move is being dismissed as a “gay thing” when Adam Shankman (GAY OUT MALE) takes over [4:25 on video]:

Adam: You know what was ironic, is that I did do that at homecoming… (Mia and Cat do imitation). NO, not that… I’m sorry I’m a pin cushion, my name is Adam Shankman.

Now, while it’s obviously their job to critique the dancers and the performances, I felt I had to write this follow up as a sort of continuing coverage of the SYTYCD Kent Boyd Story: No Land For Homos, as every time this kid gets on stage the show’s judges focus on constantly molding him into this straight, machismo-exuding heartthrob the show and its advertisers so desperately need. Especially in the wake of shows like “America’s Got Talent” beating SYTYCD in the ratings a week previous, the simple fact that these shows, their producers and the on-air talent in their employ are all about the Neilsens is inarguable.

Ay, but there’s the rub. While I do completely understand that shows need to pander to their lowest and most populated common denominator (which unfortunately is often the most un-educated and conservative group in the bunch) to appease their advertisers (ie. “the money”), I feel shows that attempt to offer life-changing opportunities to often extremely down-trodden individuals, need to take a bit of responsibility for what they put out there. This isn’t a show about connecting a single bachelor with one of 18 bachelorettes… this is a reality show about a career that has been historically and is currently today replete with gay men. In portraying this art form and its artists to the entire world with their hugely successful show, the people at “So You Think You Can Dance” ought to be conscious of the damage it does to current practitioners and future wannabe-dancers by in-ing its most susceptible and malleable contestants.

If they had never asked Kent Boyd “What kind of girl” he wanted I wouldn’t have likely said a word on this topic. But, from day one of that can of worms, this show has continued to deny who this kid so painfully is- and one day, like Aiken and Lambert before him shall be- by forcing him into the role of tween-girl-crush-material, and in doing so tells the other young gays of the world that to make it in TV and possibly even dance (as this is ALL a lot of boys and girls in those small cities are gonna see about the world/career of dance), you need to be straight, manly and without a drop of man-on-man-love in ya.

And, that just ain’t the case.

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