CALL TO ACTION UPDATE: So You Think You Can Dance Judge Nigel Lythgoe Issues Apology
May 23, 2009 by glaadBLOG
On May 22, GLAAD released a Call to Action in response to remarks made the night before by judge Nigel Lythgoe on the popular reality competition show So You Think You Can Dance. Today, GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano and Senior Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson spoke with Mr. Lythgoe. He expressed his apology over his misuse of words and released this official statement:
Nigel Lythgoe
“I sincerely regret the fact that I have upset people with the poor word choices and comments I made both during the taping of the ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ audition and on my personal status update. I am not homophobic and it was extremely upsetting for me to be classed as such.
I have been forthright and consistent with my opinion, as a judge, that professional male dancers should move with strength and agility — like Gene Kelly and Rudolph Nureyev. I now realize how this could be misconstrued.
I have been a dancer, and involved in the dance world, for nearly 50 years. Professionally and personally, I believe the sexual orientation of an auditioner or contestant is irrelevant. All that said, the fact that I have unintentionally upset people is distressing to me and it is obvious I have made mistakes that I must learn from. I trust that my humor will be more sensitive and mindful moving forward.”
-Nigel Lythgoe, judge and executive producer, So You Think You Can Dance
“We certainly appreciate the dialogue, and the opportunity for Nigel to help further educate people about how words and images matter,” said Giuliano. “His sincere words are appreciated, and we look forward to words, images and representations of the LGBT community on So You Think You Can Dance that will be fair, accurate and inclusive in the future.”
(Sorry for cross-posting this comment but I think it’s important in this particular case. I’m shocked that more people aren’t commenting here on the GLAAD blog.)
Having discussed this with a few of my GLBTQ and GLBTQ-friendly friends and family, we’re all agreed: the issue here was NOTHING to do with ’sexuality’ and ENTIRELY to do with the long history of male/female roles in Latin and other ballroom dancing.
The judges’ problem with these guys had NOTHING to do with them being same-sex, and EVERYTHING to do with the fact that they switched roles every 3 seconds: instead of one dancer leading and one dancer following (as is normal in ballroom dancing), these guys kept alternating – which totally ruined the traditional ’story’ of the dance.
If it had been a hetero couple doing this role-switching – and then falling on their asses because switching roles leads to difficulties with the dance – the judges’ comments would have been exactly the same.
It’s really a shame: Perez Hilton and GLAAD have the ability to change the world here, but by picking stupid battles they waste their political capital.
[...] The statement is pretty good, culminating with this: “…it is obvious I have made mistakes that I must learn from. I trust that my humor will be more sensitive and mindful moving forward.” You can read the whole thing here. [...]
The switching of lead and follows smoothly is a skill unique to competitive same-sex ballroom dancing, and earns extra points. I’m guessing that’s what the dancers were trying to do here. if the judge had been educated about same-sex dancing he would have seen it for what it was.
It’s the sort of thing that freaks out straight folk and may have led to the homophobic comments (the person may not consciously hate gays, but he did invoke some negative stereotypes, if it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.). I think one thing that is a positive contribution visibilty of same-sex relationships provide to the straight community is role models for true equality and flexibility in roles between partners. We don’t have to have a butch and a femme together all the time, we can, but even then it’s not so clear-cut. We do what make sense for us as individuals. When my wife and I ballroom dance, I (the more feminine looking one) lead and she (pretty butch looking) follows. It makes sense, she’s a lot shorter and I’m more bossy.
[...] Nigel has issued an apology in response to GLAAD’s call to action. It’s a half-ass apology, if you ask me, the kind [...]
[...] or a girl.” GLAAD issued a call to action after the episode aired and Lythgoe subsequently issued an apology. Jacob Jason (l.) and Willem De Vries [...]
[...] Or, as Michael Jensen argues in an article posted on afterelton.com, how “homophobia was packaged and delivered to American audiences under the guise of entertainment” in Fox’s portrayal of these dancers. During their interview segments, which are interspersed with images of the two men performing intricate, and often erotic, partnering moves, Mitch and Misha address the issue of masculinity in their dance performance. According to Mitch, “We do know that they are looking for masculine dancers and I think that’s actually something that is going to be a strong point for us.” And Misha explains, “Two men dancing together is a very masculine thing to start with because it’s two male energies dancing together. Double the masculine energy next to each other.” During their audition performance, the camera repeatedly focuses on Nigel and the judges giggling at the judges’ table. Following their audition, Nigel compared their performance to Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory before insisting that same-sex partnering would alienate the show’s audience. Nigel’s derogatory comments continued on Twitter where he wrote, “I’m not a fan of ‘Brokeback’ Ballroom.” These remarks caught the attention of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) who issued a call to action, demanding an apology for Nigel’s “snide, homophobic remarks” on May 22, 2009. Nigel responded with an apology for “his poor word choices and comments” in an official statement. [...]