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officialMpeg99 t1_j24od2y wrote

Officer Clemmons was also gay，which at the time was an even bigger no-no

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judehaz t1_j26b8kq wrote

My recollection is that Fred knew Clemmons was gay and encouraged him to stay in the closet, suggesting it would severly hurt Clemmons' career if he came out. I do not recall ever hearing that Clemmons felt less than accepted by Fred. Not defending it, but it was a different time. EDIT: typo

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Significant_Ant_2607 t1_j27jn0x wrote

They touched on this in the recent Rogers documentary. That yes, Rogers encouraged Clemmons to stay in the closet (not go to gay bars where he'd been spotted, etc) for the sake of the show's survival -- but that his message about loving his neighbor was also very specifically aimed at Clemmons "I love you just the way you are."

Clemmons says that he had a conversation with Rogers where Rogers confirmed he was specifically telling Clemmons that that phrase was specifically Rogers telling Clemmons he accepted him and loved him as-is. So if Clemmons felt that Rogers was as welcoming and understanding as a trained minister could reasonably be expected to be in that era, I take Clemmons' word for it.

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SWPenn t1_j28mtrd wrote

And Sears was the major sponsor of the show back then. If it got out, Sears would have pulled the sponsorship and the show would have ended. Sounds extreme today, but police were still raiding gay bars in 1969 and people went to jail, which ended careers inst.

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rhb4n8 t1_j25b65j wrote

He also felt Fred was a homophobe early in life and actively confronted him about it

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w0jty t1_j260nls wrote

In no way doubting this; I’d like to know more about this.

I have a very rosy image of Fred from growing up in pgh. I think getting a complete picture, however imperfect, is a good way to properly honor someone’s life.

Would like to know more if you have good sources to share. On mobile at the moment, and intend to research later, but figured why go down a previously traveled path, yknow?

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rhb4n8 t1_j2649hd wrote

I don't know the name of it but officer Clemons was talking about it in one of his many interviews about Fred for a documentary. I think it was years after the pool scene and he was talking about accepting the whole him... the way he talked about it I would be surprised if he didn't also talk about it in his book .

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w0jty t1_j26700x wrote

Sounds like a good start, I’ll start there for adding to my reading list. Thanks, cheers!

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Significant_Ant_2607 t1_j27jwy5 wrote

It's more complicated than that, as you may expect that it would be.

In the documentary, Clemmons says he was spotted going to gay bars, and Rogers confronted him about it because in that era, being spotted in a gay bar would mean the show would be cancelled and that was bad for the children. Rogers basically ordered Clemmons to be more discrete or he couldn't be on the show anymore.

But Clemmons also says that he eventually came to understand Rogers' message of "I love you just the way you are" was specifically aimed at Clemmons directly -- that it was Rogers way of saying he loved and accepted Clemmons including his homosexuality as a natural and okay part of who he was, and that Rogers confirmed that's exactly what he meant to Clemmons directly.

So Clemmons seemed to have ended things on a positive note with Rogers.

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hubbyofhoarder t1_j28f29u wrote

Clemmons talks about both the gay bar thing, and about realizing what "I love you just the way you are" meant in the documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor". The whole movie is worth watching, but man, someone was cutting onions in the theater during the segment Clemmons was talking.

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puppy_fan t1_j295cw5 wrote

People are funny. I had a best friend in college who came out as bisexual and told all his friends about it. As his most conservative friend, he was worried about me the most. But when I finally pried the information out of him (just something seemed off when we were together), I told him I was fine with it and he admitted some of his more liberal friends definitely weren't okay with it.

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