(Here's a link to my second letter to Jay Leno, which I wrote for my own amusement because I've decided there's no point in actually writing him again.)

Below is a letter I wrote to Jay Leno. It's followed by

REFLECTIONS ON THE LETTER-TO-LENO ADVENTURE

plus

AN ADDENDUM.

Friday, April 19th, 2006

Dear Mr. Leno,

My name is Jeff Whitty. I live in New York City. I'm a playwright and the author of Avenue Q, which is a musical currently running on Broadway. I've been watching your show a bit, and I'd like to make an observation: 

When you think of gay people, it's funny. They're funny folks. They wear leather. They like Judy Garland. They like disco music. They're sort of like Stepin Fetchit as channeled by Richard Simmons.

Gay people, to you, are great material.

Mr. Leno, let me share with you my view of gay people:

When I think of gay people, I think of the gay news anchor who took a tire iron to the head several times when he was vacationing in St. Martin. I think of my friend who was visiting Hamburger Mary's, a gay restaurant in Las Vegas, when a bigot threw a smoke bomb filled with toxic chemicals into the restaurant, leaving the staff and gay clientele coughing, puking, and running in terror. I think of visiting my gay friends at their house in the country, sitting outside for dinner, and hearing, within hundreds of feet of where we sat, taunting voices yelling "Faggots." I think of hugging my boyfriend goodbye for the day on 8th Avenue in Manhattan and being mocked and taunted by passing high school students.

When I think of gay people, I think of suicide. I think of a countless list of people who took their own lives because the world was so toxically hostile to them. Because of the deathly climate of the closet, we will never be able to count them. You think gay people are great material. I think of a silent holocaust that continues to this day. I think of a silent holocaust that is perpetuated by people like you, who seek to minimize us and make fun of us and who I suspect really, fundamentally wish we would just go away.

When I think of gay people, I think of a brave group that has made tremendous contributions to society, in arts, letters, science, philosophy, and politics. I think of some of the most hilarious people I know. I think of a group that has served as a cultural guardian for an ungrateful and ignorant America.

I think of a group of people who have undergone a brave act of inventing themselves. Every single out-of-the-closet gay person has had to say, "I am not part of mainstream society."  Mr. Leno, that takes bigger balls than stepping out in front of TV-watching America every night. I daresay I suspect it takes bigger balls to come out of the closet than anything you have ever done in your life.

I know you know gay people, Mr. Leno. Are they just jokes to you, to be snickered at behind their backs? Despite the angry tenor of my letter, I suspect you're a better man than that. I don't bother writing letters to the "God Hates Fags" people, or Donald Wildmon, or the pope. But I think you can do better. I know it's The Tonight Show, not a White House press conference, but you reach a lot of people.

I caught your show when you had a tired mockery of Brokeback Mountain, involving something about a horse done up in what you consider a "gay" way. Man, that's dated. I turned the television off and felt pretty fucking depressed. And now I understand your gay-baiting jokes have continued.

Mr. Leno, I have a sense of humor. It's my livelihood. And being gay has many hilarious aspects to it—none of which, I suspect, you understand. I'm tired of people like you. When I think of gay people, I think of centuries of suffering. I think of really, really good people who've been gravely mistreated for a long time now.

You've got to cut it out, Jay.

Sincerely,

Jeff Whitty

New York, N.Y.

REFLECTIONS ON THE LETTER-TO-LENO KERFLUFFLE

Wednesday, April 24th, 2006

Well.  I wrote the letter above on a Friday in about 20 quick but intense minutes.  I sent it to three friends, who asked if they could forward it to their friends, it exploded within an hour, and by Wednesday this was happening:

The response to this letter escalated so quickly, it got a bit alarming.  Heartening on some level, but alarming.

Had I had the tiniest clue as to the response, I would have broadened the scope of the letter’s recipients.  Some people have asked, “Why Jay Leno?” to which I can only respond, “He’s the one I wrote the letter to.”

This has put me in the uncomfortable position of feeling like a comedy nanny.  I guess I prefer comedy that’s challenging, instead of regurgitating the same old well-masticated clichés for snack-size consumption.  I’m not interested in censoring anybody.  But by the same token, I wanted to express my views.

In my work I’m sure I’ve offended people here and there.  In fact, I know I have.  They can write letters to me.  I wrote a letter to Jay Leno.

I spoke with Jay Leno yesterday, Tuesday, and we had a good and feisty chat.  I appreciated his call greatly.  I’m not sure I was able to articulate my position well, and we both seemed to be gazing into a puzzle, to which the only response is: comedy is tough.

As far as TV appearances, CNN is the first and last.  I was in London speaking into the lens of an eerily moving robot camera.  I couldn't see anything -- all I had was an earpiece.  It was enough of the rabbit hole for one lifetime.

Now I must get back to work.  Would I write the letter again?  Sure.  I meant what I wrote, and I have been astounded by the response it received.  The responses, both positive and non, mean that it struck a major chord.  And I think that's worth considering.  It started many interesting discussions, which is what I find most compelling about this experience.  I traffic in ambivalence most of the time.  And to that I wish to return.

I recommend hitting my site www.gayconspiracy.com for some more leisurely thoughts.

Thank you to all who wrote.  I sign off with this:

I do love a good gay joke.  But by the same token, I love a good gay joke.

AN ADDENDUM

It's months later.  Late August, now, of '06.  It's all well-boiled-over -- except for an irritating article on AfterElton.com, coming out months after everyone else stopped talking about the kerfluffle.  The article's by Gay Comedian (tm) Bob Smith.  Here's a passage:

Recently another late-night straight comedian, Jay Leno of The Tonight Show was accused of being homophobic because of his seemingly relentless Brokeback Mountain jokes including a sketch he did in which a horse was done up in a “gay” way.

In his widely circulated letter published on the internet, Jeff Whitty, the creator of the musical Avenue Q tells Mr. Leno, “Gay people, to you, are great source of material. When I think of gay people, I think of suicide. When I think of gay people, I think of centuries of suffering.”

Mr. Whitty is an acclaimed comic playwright, but in his letter he frequently sounds melodramatic. His blanket statements make him sound strangely narrow-minded as if he can't imagine gay people in the past ever having a moment of joy, receiving a kiss or, God forbid, cracking a joke in a lull from their sad and lonely lives.

Of course, humor is subjective and a joke that brings joy to one person may burn someone else. Nonetheless, it seems unfair for Mr. Whitty to point his middle finger at Jay Leno accusing him of homophobia when it's clear that every heterosexual stand up comic also thinks of gay people as a great source of material.

I thought Bob Smith's letter warranted a response.  His email begins with "BobScomedy", so I addressed him thusly:

Dear Mr. Scomedy,

It’s Jeff Whitty here, of your article, “Today’s Comedians More Queer Eye Than Homophobic.”

I read the article with real interest, and found it an intervention of sorts, stopping me in my Ghost-of-Christmas-Future tracks and taking a good hard look at myself.  And I did not like that man in the mirror.

Please forgive me for failing to mention to Mr. Leno that gay people have, indeed, received kisses in the past.  I also forgot to acknowledge that there have been, like shooting stars, brief moments of joy in the lives of a lucky few gay people.  I also, alas, forgot to mention that there have been one or two jokes cracked by homosexuals during recorded history.  Please forgive my oversight – well, actually, I DID mention gay humor in my letter, but I didn’t MEAN it.  The oversight isn’t your fault.

Also, I can’t blame you for not using ellipses when quoting my letter to note where you cut my explanatory statements – I was so awful to single out Mr. Leno, common journalistic rules certainly don’t apply when quoting me.  Your recutting of my letter ultimately painted my letter in a more accurate light.

In any case, I am grateful to myself that I provided you a platform to stand against.  The middle road is always the bravest.

Thank you for the wake-up call.

Dolefully yours,

Jeff Whitty

New York City

Did that read satirically enough?  Mr. Smith fails to mention that Jay Leno gave him a gig on "The Tonight Show" in 1994, according to my finest Google sources.

What a prick.

Anyway.  I'm supposed to be funny all the time, apparently.  So screw on a happy face and ...

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