There are many great advantages to this match that may explain just why marriage is so important to gays:
*Nabors is 82, has had hepatitis and open heart surgery among other problems, and is significantly older than his partner (about 18 years), and this means- at least where gay marriage is recognized- his partner has the right to visit him in the hospital in spite of what Nabors’ family might try to say about it
*Nabors is extremely wealthy- his syndication deal with Gomer Pyle was famous and earned him far more from the series after its initial run than he earned while it was on the air, plus he has extensive real estate holdings in Hawaii, Arizona, and Alabama- this gives lots of protection to his partner
*It connects him into the public record as Nabors’ preferred next of kin
But of course the number one great thing about the union is how many people who have been listening to his Gospel 8-tracks, cassettes, records, and CDs for the past 50 years just shit in their pants and choked on their pork rinds.
All happiness to the newlyweds and may they have many children!
Other than Ron Howard I think he’s the last of the big’uns from The Andy Griffith Show.
With every person so identified with a role you can’t help but think there’s a bleedover into their alter ego. Can you imagine how exhausted Sarah would be connecting every phone in Mayberry to every other phone in Mayberry as the news spread of Gomer’s nuptials?
Aunt Bee: But I don’t understand… how can they even do anything? Barney: He’s gonna lick it, Aunt Bee! He’s gonna lick it in the…
Ernest T. tries to stop the proceedings to hijack the groom, Clara makes a big batch of pickles but thinks better of it, and Helen assures Andy “there were lots of homosexualist couples when I lived in Kansas City, and I was embroiled in carnal embraces with the lady gymnastic coach from the local junior college half the nights I lived there. It’s a new world Andy!”
I think it is great they are getting hitched. Sucks his health is not the greatest though. If society hadn’t been so suckass about it, they could have gotten married ages ago.
[though I am happy for them, who marries whom really is absolutely none of my business unless I am either one of the people getting married, immediate family or am a bridesmaid…]
I was reading Sampiro’s post to The Fella. And he said, “Jim Nabors is gay?”
Me: Seriously, do you live under a rock?
He’s in his early sixties, but doesn’t look it. I’m in my mid forties and look it
He has zero problems with LGBT, but couldn’t get that Jim Nabors is gay.
OK you have just cleared something up for me that is nearly 40 years old in itself. I grew up with a girl named Luanne whose nickname was “Poovie.” I remember when one specific boy started calling her that, and after a few years it was her Permanent Nickname. But I had no idea that’s where he got it.
I grew up about 35 miles straight-shot south of Sylacauga, AL, where Nabors was from and where his mother lived, and it was fairly common knowledge that he was unmarried because he was sweet on Carol Burnett but she was, unfortunately, already married. (They really are close friends IRL, but to my knowledge she’s never served as a beard.)
I wonder if this means an end to his singing at NASCAR functions or being interviewed at U of AL games. (He’s a big Bama fan and used to come to a surprising number of games considering he lived in Hawaii and the west coast.)
Some facebook friends have a slight :rolleyes: attitude toward his comments about not being an activist and having no intention of becoming one. I understand to a degree- it even irks me that he has no problem taking full advantage of the progress made by activists- but I also understand “a different generation” and all that. And I know what it was like being a gay kid in the Bama boondocks in the '80s, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like in the WW2 era. I’m in my 40s and there’s outcry over gay marriage becoming legalized; when he was in his 40s there was outcry over it being removed from the list of mental illnesses.
And, there’s the fact that this kind of low-key marriage and interview IS activism. His surprise surprise surprise announcement will shock a lot of people who just thought he was a little sissy, and the fact he did give a short interview in which he outright says that he isn’t the least bit ashamed or apologetic for who he is and has known he was gay since he was a little boy must score some points, along with the fact that his life has been one of the most scandal free of anybody who ever starred in a hit TV show (no drugs, no sex scandals, no money scandals, no DUIs, etc.) and he is a devout Christian and football fan no less adds points to that. I doubt it will change any minds, but it’s got to be a bit of a bone in their throat. And even the Chik-Fil-Aters would have a hard time arguing that an octogenarian who’s had a liver transplant, open heart surgery, and other major medical probably is just legitimizing his lust- this is obviously about wanting to legally become a family with the man he loves.
I wonder out of curiosity: do people under- maybe… 35- even know who Gomer Pyle was? And if so have they just seen the character on The Andy Griffith Show or is the show still around in syndication? I don’t remember the last time I saw an episode. (It was never a favorite- even by '60s family-show standards it was cheesy and unrealistic with some of the cheapest sets and most hack writing ever, but it was a success and ran everyday in syndication when I was a kid.)