Give Garrison a Break

On March 14, Garrison Keillor offended a lot of people. Garrision is, of course, the satirist of Prairie Home Companion fame. Garrison said on Salon.com that "The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men—sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in overdecorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers. If they want to be accepted as couples and daddies, however, the flamboyance may have to be brought under control." The proverbial firestorm has since ensued.

If you have listened extensively to Garrison on NPR's Prairie Home Companion, you can't help but find him endearing. He has a colloquial way of putting things that generally makes you laugh your ass off. He makes fun of the Lutheran's and family members and anything else that comes to mind. The satire is done in a very gentle fashion however, with glancing blows for effect, never with direct hits. The problem with the gay remark is that it didn't make us laugh, it wasn't colloquial, and it was a direct hit. It is the flamboyance of our Queer brothers that is such a big problem for so many heteros and even some of butcher Queer brethren. It is the flamboyance that people point to as a deficiency and a reason not being good enough; not a good enough son, not a good enough co-worker, not a good enough parent.

Garrison's awkward apology didn't make things any better. He said he works around gay people. He said he comes from a small world. I really hate when people use the "I knew a gay guy once" credibility builder. I don't care about your one real or imaginary gay friend. So, Garrison, because you know gays doesn't mean you can make bad fun of them. Good fun is fine, but you have to pretend punch, not really punch. You remember that from the Kindergarten playground, right? As far as Garrison's "small world" goes, he travels around the nation with his show each week. His world is seemingly larger than most. (You can read his response here: http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/).

So why give Garrison a break? Because he is an entertainer. He is a comedian of sorts. And he is usually very, very good at what he does. I don't know how many years I have listed to him and have, until now, never been even remotely offended. There will be those out there who will not give Garrison a second chance and I would suggest that while his statement was a mistake, it was innocent and not mean-spirited. I am most certain he will never come close to the edge of this abyss again.

Besides, if Garrison is going to apologize for anything, I would rather he begin with apologizing for last year's Prairie Home Companion movie.