The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #130035   Message #2925581
Posted By: PHJim
11-Jun-10 - 02:15 PM
Thread Name: BS: Why gay, and not Gay ?
Subject: RE: BS: Why gay, and not Gay ?
Emma said:

Interestingly, according to Wiki

"Bringing Up Baby (1938) was the first film to use the word gay in apparent reference to homosexuality. In a scene where Cary Grant's clothes have been sent to the cleaners, he must wear a lady's feathery robe. When another character inquires about his clothes, he responds "Because I just went gay...all of a sudden!"
However, since this was a mainstream film at a time when the use of the word to refer to homosexuality would still be unfamiliar to most film-goers, the line can also be interpreted to mean "I just decided to do something frivolous."
There is much debate about what Grant meant with the ad-lib (the line was not in the script).


Cary Grant did not use the word gay to mean that he was suddenly attracted to men. Cross dressing is not a fetish that is confined to gay men. As many, if not more, straight men enjoy cross dressing as gay men. Bringing up baby used the word gay, but not to refer to homosexuality.