# How did Snagglepuss become gay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432 "2009-08-23T22:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/41 "2009-08-26T00:39:30Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The problem with Snagglepuss or the Cowardly Lion is that you’re assuming that people’s perceptions were the same when they were created as how they are today. It’s a common fallacy. > > People in 1939 or 1959 did not look at things the same way we do. > > So to answer the OP: The characters were not designed or intended to be gay when they were created, but 21 century stereotyping makes people think they are now. I agree with this. Even in the 70s/early 80s, which was much more similar to our current stereotypes than the 50s, most people genuinely had no clue Freddie Mercury was gay, though in hindsight I don’t see how he could possibly have been _more_ gay (though he did sing about women, I guess). Same with the Village People songs; it just wasn’t an issue that was assumed by the average American for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/42 "2009-08-26T03:45:06Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I agree with this. Even in the 70s/early 80s, which was much more similar to our current stereotypes than the 50s, most people genuinely had no clue Freddie Mercury was gay, though in hindsight I don’t see how he could possibly have been _more_ gay (though he did sing about women, I guess). Same with the Village People songs; it just wasn’t an issue that was assumed by the average American for some reason. Austin Powers: “Yeah, and I can’t believe Liberace was gay. I mean, women loved him! I didn’t see that one coming.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/43 "2009-08-26T04:50:07Z")
It wasn’t just Snagglepuss. It was also [Huckleberry Hound.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyZs3EJgx8Q) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/44 "2009-08-26T07:16:18Z")
I heard he “caught teh gay” myself. And looking at other cartoon candidates, its looks to be fairly contagious as well. Maybe it thrives in celluloid? Eventually it seems to infect all male stars, perhaps due to all the exposure to film? Thats why I am staying on this side of the mighty miss. And quit pointing that camera at me ! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/45 "2009-08-26T07:23:56Z")
[[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410\_d34ace3483.jpg](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410_d34ace3483.jpg)]These were pretty gay.]([http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410\_d34ace3483.jpg](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410_d34ace3483.jpg)) ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/46 "2009-08-26T15:28:17Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t get a gay vibe from Snagglepuss or The Cowardly Lion, but [these two](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Goofy_Gophers.png/260px-Goofy_Gophers.png&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goofy_Gophers&usg=__0-qBGADcwZTD2ijb0kuHrP0Ne2Y=&h=173&w=260&sz=78&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=olJvPZpRL-V52M:&tbnh=75&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgoofy%2Bgophers%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den) aren’t fooling anybody. Oh, Indubitably! ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/47 "2009-08-26T15:36:32Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > [[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410\_d34ace3483.jpg](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410_d34ace3483.jpg)]These were pretty gay.]([http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410\_d34ace3483.jpg](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3194319410_d34ace3483.jpg)) Oh sure, you dress in drag and dance the Hula _one time_… I always thought they had more of a bromance. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/48 "2009-08-27T22:18:01Z")
I brought up The Cowardly Lion being gay in a recent thread, and it is not my belief that this was a “shout out” to gay men in the audience. I think it was stereotype-based humor at the expense of gay men. The thing that made me _certain_ this was deliberate was the use of the word “queen” in the song “If I Were King of the Forest”. “Sissy” and “dandy” in “If I Only Had the Nerve” are ambiguous, but why should the Cowardly Lion say “If I were King of the Forest, not queen”? He’s not a female lion, so it would be impossible for him to be queen in the sense that Elizabeth II is a queen. If the songwriter just wanted to make it clear that the lion was rejecting lesser noble titles (as in the next line of the song) then there are other male titles that could have been used in place of “queen”. “Earl” would have worked well, or perhaps “Count”, or even just “Lord”. The use of “queen” to mean “effeminate male homosexual” goes back to the late 19th century (first citation in the OED is from 1893), and was well established by the 1930s. While many filmgoers would no doubt have been ignorant of this use of the term, it wasn’t all that obscure either – the OED cites it as being used in this sense by two well-known novelists of the period, Evelyn Waugh and Ngaio Marsh. I find it difficult to believe that neither Victor Fleming nor lyricist Yip Harburg nor actor Bert Lahr realized what was implied by having the Cowardly Lion refer to himself (albeit indirectly) as a “queen”. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/49 "2009-08-28T02:59:35Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > It wasn’t just Snagglepuss. It was also [Huckleberry Hound.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyZs3EJgx8Q) Now you’ve gone too far! ---
**Author:** ![ToOnToWnHaCkEr211](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb9ed0/32.png) [@ToOnToWnHaCkEr211](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToOnToWnHaCkEr211)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/50 "2011-06-23T12:22:06Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Or, as my father once remarked on meeting my high-school drama teacher, “he’s not gay, he’s just theatrical.” i Think THE same way, I DONT THINK THAT SNagglepuss or other toons ARE GAYS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/51 "2011-06-23T12:44:35Z")
I agree. Zombies aren’t Teh Gay, either. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/52 "2011-06-23T13:30:36Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I agree. Zombies aren’t Teh Gay, either. But what about cartoon zombies? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/53 "2011-06-23T14:48:52Z")
> [@ToOnToWnHaCkEr211](#): > > i Think THE same way, I DONT THINK THAT SNagglepuss or other toons ARE GAYS!!! Yahoo Answers is [over here](http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110105215808AAI7xZ0). ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/54 "2011-06-23T15:18:24Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I agree. Zombies aren’t Teh Gay, either. What about [Emperor Zombie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugTOQpfL1Y0)? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/55 "2011-06-23T15:33:24Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > “Kissing” Cousins > > Chip ‘n’ Dale –\> Chippendales (The male strip club)…hello? Not without a time machine. [Chippendales (the male strip club)=1979](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chippendales) Chip & Dale=1951 ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/56 "2011-06-23T17:25:14Z")
The cat is always running around saying things like “Exit stage left.” The cat knows THEATRE directions. I mean THEATRE??? How many straight cats are actually into theatre??? And as _the Family Circus_ notes, [you aren’t necessarily born gay](http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg706/scaled.php?server=706&filename=147yk.jpg&res=medium). And according to [Dolly](http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg72/scaled.php?server=72&filename=familycircus0003.jpg&res=medium), you have to be careful of what cartoons you let your children watch. And it’s not just cartoons [according to Billy](http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg251/scaled.php?server=251&filename=familycircus1944.jpg&res=medium) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432/57 "2011-06-23T19:00:49Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The cat is always running around saying things like “Exit stage left.” The cat knows THEATRE directions. I mean THEATRE??? How many straight cats are actually into theatre??? HEY! I resemble that remark! – Theater Cat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-snagglepuss-become-gay/507432.md?page=2)