# Simpsons character to come out of closet - any guesses? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191 "2004-07-28T00:25:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/121 "2004-07-30T22:53:06Z")
> [@](#): > > “Over, the years, a news reporter learns things that for one reason or another, he simply cannot report. It doesn’t seem to matter now, so the following people are gay:” > > MATT GROENING **Is** Groening gay? Or just having fun with us here? Seems I would’ve heard something about that by now, but I don’t read celebrity mags . . . ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/122 "2004-07-30T23:38:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **Is** Groening gay? Or just having fun with us here? Seems I would’ve heard something about that by now, but I don’t read celebrity mags . . . No, it was an inside joke. IMDb says he was married from 1987-1999 and has two children. **Jeff** , actually I said something similar just a few posts back. It’s true, but it’s an exercise in… something. But now that you mention it, wouldn’t it be great if they had Fred Phelps play a gay minister? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/123 "2004-07-30T23:56:33Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **Is** Groening gay? Or just having fun with us here? Seems I would’ve heard something about that by now, but I don’t read celebrity mags . . . I believe all the names on the list are the Simpsons staff members. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/124 "2004-07-31T00:39:08Z")
Regarding Barney, there was also a bit during the episode when he and Homer (and Moe and Apu) join the Navy Reserve. Homer is setting up his bunk and puts an old-style pinup on his locker, showing Marge in a sexy pose. Barney, in the next bunk, puts a pinup on _his_ locker showing Homer, in the exact same pose. Then he wags hs eyebrows suggestively at Homer. ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/125 "2004-07-31T03:08:59Z")
More people at Barney’s table! Yay! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/126 "2004-07-31T03:17:48Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, it was an inside joke. IMDb says he was married from 1987-1999 and has two children. So? Smithers was married once too. (Remember that Tennessee Williams flashback scene? I think it in the episode where they put on _Streetcar._) ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/127 "2004-07-31T06:44:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Lisa’s had a couple of eight-year-old-girl crushes. It’d be a little hard to take lesbianism in the same way (plus it might feel like an attempt to deal with social issues, which the show rarely does). Let me try again. If the show introduced an eight-year-old lesbian (Lisa is out of the question, I never meant to imply she wasn’t), then she would have the same kind of schoolgirl crushes, just for girls instead of boys. There might be some issues about whether her parents would be disappointed, or the girl was pressured to be normal, but overall it’s not that different from a straight crush. This also assumes the episode would be well written, which isn’t necessarily the case any more. Also, the show has tons of social commentary. Lisa in particular can turn an episode into something like the later _M_A_S_H\* episodes. Sorry about the confusion over _Family Guy_. I don’t watch it, and had been led to believe that the baby’s gayness had been made clear cut. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/128 "2004-07-31T08:10:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So? Smithers was married once too. (Remember that Tennessee Williams flashback scene? I think it in the episode where they put on _Streetcar._) Actally, it was [“Secrets of a Successful Marriage”](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/1F20.html), when Homer briefly taught a Learning-Annex course on relationships. Smithers attended (though I’m not sure why): Smithers: Um, I was married once, but, er, I just didn’t know how to keep it together. [black & white flashback to Southern Belle on a bed] Belle: Come on, Waylon. Make love to me the way you used to! Smithers: [pouring a drink] No! Belle: It’s that horrible Mr. Burns, isn’t it? Smithers: [screaming] You leave Mr. Burns out of this! [smashes liquor bottles with his crutch] Burns: [outside] Smithers! [Smithers walks out joyfully] Smithers! The scene combines two Tennessee Williams plays; “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (the disatisfied women, man with a crutch, smashed bottles) and “A Streetcar Named Desire” (lovesick man in torn shirt shouting a name up to a window). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/129 "2004-07-31T12:15:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So? Smithers was married once too. (Remember that Tennessee Williams flashback scene? I think it in the episode where they put on _Streetcar._) Yeah, but Matt’s an actual person and Smithers’s marriage was a one-off joke. Sure, people get married and come out later in real life, but since we’ve got what looks like evidence that he’s straight and none that he’s not, I’m standing by my ‘no.’ As somebody else mentioned, that list is basically the entire writing and production staff of the show, so I don’t think reading into it is a good idea. > [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > The scene combines two Tennessee Williams plays; “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (the disatisfied women, man with a crutch, smashed bottles) and “A Streetcar Named Desire” (lovesick man in torn shirt shouting a name up to a window). And now that I think of it, the man in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is also gay, isn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/130 "2004-07-31T21:50:22Z")
I’ve been following this thread. When _is_ the episode supposed to be on, when the BIG SECRET will be revealed? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/131 "2004-07-31T22:03:31Z")
The SNPP says it “could be part of the FBAF production line, or next season’s.” They never know dates this far ahead of time. I’m sure they won’t announce ahead of time who it is - then again, they didn’t announce Maude Flanders’s death ahead of time, and everybody knew about it just the same. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/132 "2004-07-31T22:04:59Z")
Thanks, **Marley** , I thought it was some sort of scheduled thing. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/133 "2004-08-01T04:55:54Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Actally, it was [“Secrets of a Successful Marriage”](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/1F20.html), when Homer briefly taught a Learning-Annex course on relationships. Smithers attended (though I’m not sure why): > > Smithers: Um, I was married once, but, er, I just didn’t know how to keep it together. [black & white flashback to Southern Belle on a bed] > Belle: Come on, Waylon. Make love to me the way you used to! > Smithers: [pouring a drink] No! > Belle: It’s that horrible Mr. Burns, isn’t it? > Smithers: [screaming] You leave Mr. Burns out of this! [smashes liquor bottles with his crutch] > Burns: [outside] Smithers! [Smithers walks out joyfully] Smithers! > The scene combines two Tennessee Williams plays; “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (the disatisfied women, man with a crutch, smashed bottles) and “A Streetcar Named Desire” (lovesick man in torn shirt shouting a name up to a window). The above would indicate that Smithers early on was unsure of his sexual orientation, but finally accepted that he was gay and in love with Mr. Burns. Smithers can’t “come out of the closet”, because both the viewers know he is gay, and the other characters in the show have just assumed he is gay. While Patty could be considered to be in the closet, given she has consistently showed no sexual interest in men, I can’t see having her coming out of the closet making for a surprising and amusing episode. I’m guessing Patty will announce her homosexuality, and this will inspire another character to do the same. The humor will be who that character is. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/134 "2004-08-01T05:04:43Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > While Patty could be considered to be in the closet, given she has consistently showed no sexual interest in men, I can’t see having her coming out of the closet making for a surprising and amusing episode. I don’t think everybody analyzes the show quite like we do. And there is a certain degree of surprise in the fact that they’re even doing this in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/135 "2004-08-01T16:42:05Z")
There have been several very disturbing posts made in this thread regarding the possibility of Lisa “coming out”. (Note that the original news stories about gay marriage would actually rule her out.) 1. Discussing who may/may not be the candidates for gay marriage is fun. Lot’s of people making fun posts. We’re up to 3 pages now. 2. It’s 100% okay for Lisa to be hetereosexual. She can have crushes on lots of boys (Nelson, the kid from the other Springfield Elementary, the boy at the dude ranch and many more.) 3. But _God Forbid_ Lisa should have a homosexual crush!!! I beg your pardon? Where does this come from? If you’re a homophobe, this isn’t the thread for you. You’d be raving about gay marriage and bestiality and how the Simpsons are personally contributing to the Destruction of Your Marriage. Whether in adults or children, homosexuality scares the bejeebus out of that sort. If you’re are blind to the fact that children are quite aware of sexual orientation from a young age (my first crush was at age 5) and having children on a TV show deal with that bothers you, then it shouldn’t matter whether Lisa is gay or straight. You’d just like The Whole Issue to be kept out of sight. So Lisa kissing Nelson would be just as bad as Lisa kissing Terry. If you’re not a homophobe, if you think that children having sexual feelings is perfectly normal, then Why Can’t Lisa Be Gay??? ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/136 "2004-08-01T18:28:25Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I’ve been following this thread. When _is_ the episode supposed to be on, when the BIG SECRET will be revealed? I seem to remember reading somewhere that it’s in January. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/137 "2004-08-01T21:29:58Z")
For my part, **ftg** , isn’t not that she _can’t_ be gay, it’s that she _isn’t_. Sure, it’s The Simpsons, but they’re not going to have an out-of-the-closet eight-year-old lesbian. I already said everything I have to say about the subject, and what I said was related to audience reactions, not my personal feelings about homosexuality, and a careful reading of my posts would have made that more than clear. I’m not a homophobe and I’m not interested in being accused. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/138 "2004-08-01T21:40:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > … I’m not a homophobe and I’m not interested in being accused. You see, that’s the point. If someone _were_ a homophobe, then they’d be objecting to the whole thread completely. What is strikingly odd is this “adult homosexuality is okay but child homosexuality isn’t” that several people have brought up. But I will accuse you of misreading my post. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/139 "2004-08-01T21:53:34Z")
Wait, but Patty had that thing for MacGuyver, remember? Of course, that could have been like Rosie O’Donell’s crush on Tom Cruise. How about Lisa’s teacher, Miss Hoover? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191/140 "2004-08-01T21:59:54Z")
You can accuse me of that if you like, but the implication (or the question of “why are you so judgmental?”) is there. As I already said, I was not talking about whether anything was ‘okay,’ only whether a major TV show was likely to deal with it. Which it’s not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-character-to-come-out-of-closet-any-guesses/257191.md?page=8)