The New York Times is facing a backlash online after publishing a frankly bizarre animated video that depicts Trump and Putin as lovers who are going on a date that turns into a unicorn ride, and also they’re shirtless, and they kiss, and their tongues are entwined, but it turns out it was all just a fantasy in Donald’s mind.
In this episode of Trump Bites, Donald Trump’s not-so-secret admiration for Vladimir Putin plays out in a teenager’s bedroom, where the fantasies of this forbidden romance come to life. https://t.co/cWeQMuzWUz pic.twitter.com/4shBRkloot
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) July 16, 2018
No, I don’t know what you just watched either.
Eleven people were involved in the creation of this video, which means at least eleven people, if not more, saw nothing wrong with this level of homophobia if it meant getting in a few cheap digs at Trump and Putin.
I can’t believe that this still needs to be said, but implying that Trump and Putin are gay is homophobic regardless of your intention.
If your defence is that both men see being gay as a bad thing and that’s why it’s okay, you’re getting right into the gutter with them and buying into their belief that it is bad.
If part of your defence rests on the idea that it’s 2018 and homophobia is basically dead so it’s fine to use it to upset Trump, boy have I got some news for you.
HOMOPHOBIC JOKES: Come over
WOKE LIBERALS: I can't
HOMOPHOBIC JOKES: You can use the Trump/Putin meeting as a cover to say gay sex is gross
WOKE LIBERALS: pic.twitter.com/XQhjeqGV1h— Adam Moussa (@adamjmoussa) July 16, 2018
Otherwise well-meaning people who support same-sex marriage seem to think they’re incapable of perpetuating homophobia because they have gay friends, or they voted yes in the plebiscite, or whatever – but I see these kinds of jokes from this demographic more than any other, and they have always been and remain homophobic.
It’s incredibly jarring and disappointing to see America’s paper of record releasing a video that amounts to little more than schoolyard insults. It’s hardly the incisive political analysis you’d expect from The Times, is it?
And again: eleven people were involved in making this. That’s more people than are in attendance at my family’s Christmas lunch.
insinuating Trump is in a sexual relationship with Putin makes homosexuality a punchline & is uncalled for. there’s SO MUCH to take Trump to task for, it’s embarrassing to see NYT stoop to “ha ha men kissing is yucky” https://t.co/PsUmLJWCks
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) July 16, 2018
if your “critique” relies on calling someone fat, saying a woman looks like a man, talking about penis size, insinuating someone is gay, ragging on someone for looking old….you’ve lost the plot. none of that matters when someone’s words, actions & politics are harming people.
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) July 16, 2018
Franchesca Ramsey’s thread, linked above, makes a great point: these jokes don’t exist in a vacuum, they contribute to the normalisation of homophobia that already makes life difficult for gay people, and your intentions being harmless doesn’t negate the negative impact your actions have.
Being gay is not shameful or inherently humorous, and things like this video only reinforce those harmful notions. When otherwise supportive people – and when generally reputable outlets like the New York Times – make jokes like this, the only people they’re hurting are the gay people around them.