Was mr roger gay

Clemmons — better known as Officer Clemmons, the opera singing cop on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood for 25 years — had escaped a tortuous childhood by the time he met Rogers in Rogers himself was often labeled “a sissy,” or gay, in a derogatory sense. But as his longtime associate Eliot Daley put it: “Fred is one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life.

Rogers intentionally hired gay people to work on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Two members of the Neighborhood, John Reardon and Francois Clemmons, were both openly gay and among some of Rogers’ closest friends. There were many speculations stating that Rogers was gay. While none of them were true, it was well-known that the host had many gay friends.

François Clemmons, who appeared on the show with Rogers as Officer Clemmons, was a closeted gay during the airing of the series. Unsurprisingly, Mister Rogers never referred to himself as explicitly "bisexual," but terminology aside, Twitter seems to have dug up an interview in which he declared he fell right in the middle of the sexuality spectrum, finding both men and women of equal attraction.

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officer clemmons mr rogers

Thanks for supporting the site! Like many people my age, Mister Rogers had a large influence on me in terms of how to act as a man. When I was little, Mister Rogers was the man of the house. My dad worked a lot and I sometimes only saw him for a few hours on weekends. Directly after the passage above, King continues:. In conversation with one of his friends, the openly gay Dr. Because I have found women attractive, and I have found men attractive.

We do know he was married to his wife Joanne for more than 50 years until his death in Clemmons did but then divorced his wife to live as an openly gay man, piercing his ear as a sign of his sexuality. He was not allowed to wear earrings while filming though — for years Clemmons masked his own sexuality, under the advice of Rogers, in an effort to be successful. Could it be that the actor was less forthcoming about his sexuality because he understood what Hollywood then required for success?

As King repeatedly writes in the book, Rogers always put the needs of the small children who watched his program above all other concerns. Perhaps he felt that a potential scandal about his sexuality, even a small one, was not worth jeopardizing his relationship with his television neighbors. For Clemmons though, there was little doubt that Rogers accepted him for who he was :. Update: Clemmons spoke at length in this Vanity Fair interview about his relationship with Rogers, his sexuality, and appearing on the show.

One excerpt:. I did feel like I was risking [something], because people knew who I was. Advertise here with Carbon Ads.