Was John Wayne Gay?
Could it Be True?
John Wayne has been portrayed as a tough as nails, war fighting, cowboy that couldn't be toppled from his horse. Women feigned over his southern twang and broad shoulders while they rested in damsel-in-distress-saving arms both on and off the set.
There have been arguments that because his first name was Marion that it hinted towards his more feminine ways that weren't and couldn't be seen on screen. However, the popular consensus is that his mother simply liked the name and failed to consider the consequences of giving a male child a female's name.
Arguing against any gay connections, right-wing republicans remind us that John Wayne was a conservative republican. In 1943 Marion Morrison (John Wayne's real name) was a part of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and was also a die-hard anti-communist. John Wayne was one of the most famous Republicans in Hollywood and he supported fellow actor Ronald Reagan. However conservative republics don't like to take note of the fact that he also supported several liberal causes like the Patty Hearst situation; but could he have been just liberal enough to truly swing the other way?
During an interview with Playboy in 1971 John Wayne was quoted responding to a question about "pervert" films by saying, "Wouldn't you say that...Midnight Cowboy, a story about two fags, qualifies?"
Red River was nicknamed "the gay cowboy movie" a long time ago and rumor has it that there are gay undertones to all of John Wayne's films. It is no secret that he worked with a number of openly homosexual actors. The Duke worked with world famous actor Rock Hudson and the two eventually became best friends. Who's to say how extensive and deep that relationship ran?
John Wayne also worked with Montgomery Clift who lived a gay/bisexual lifestyle in his personal life. Clift played a role in Red River and The Search for which he received a nomination for an Academy Award.
For a conservative republican John Wayne seemed to have no problem with the subliminal homosexual messages in his movies and working with known gay actors. It could be that he was comfortable with his sexuality even though in his day and age that was not a commonly used phrased. Or it could be, he felt comfortable with them because he was also gay. To date we still don't have any hard facts to persuade us one way or another on John Wayne's sexual preference. It will continue to remain a rumor which will most likely continue to divide the John Wayne fans right up the center with gay advocates championing The Duke's queerness until the cows come home while actively conservative fans deny every bit of it.
Published by Kelly Spies
I'm just a chick with a lot to say about different things. I've been writing for most of my life and aspire to someday be a published novelist as well as content writer. View profile
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66 Comments
Post a CommentI have been a fan of Marion Morrison"John Wayne" nearly all my life.........and what I wanna know is..does it really matter what his sexual preference was or does no one in this world deserve to have their sex life kept private?
It matters not to me what he did in private, or who he did it with........
He was a great man and if he was here today I bet no one would have the balls to ask him this question personally.....but since he dead and there really is no one who can answer this question but him, anyone asking is an idiot in my opinion!
umm.. if he was gay, doesn't that take a partner? I am sure the money such a story could have would have brought someone out by now!!
Totally silly article: he may have been gay - his real name was Marion. That's scientific! He worked with gays - DUH, he worked in HOLLYWOOD. He was friends with Rock Hudson - Hudson was a deep closet case, who even though he was known to be gay by many knowing members of the general public, was NOT known to be gay by many of his own closest friends. Pat Boone and Doris Day both claimed they didn't know. John Wayne was a neanderthal who thought the characters in Midnight Cowboy were gay - he didn't know RH was. And similarly, he probably never understood that there were gay subtexts to some of his cowboy films - very few people discerned any of this at the time. (According to Gore Vidal, Charlton Heston was clueless that he was playing a bi-sexual character in Ben-Hur, Stephen Boyd was totally hip to it.) JW may have been gay but there is nothing in this article to support the idea.
Marion is a male name, name as well as a female name M A R I O N being the male form of the name and M A R I A N being the form for female. There are many names that are both male and female. Michael is both, for example Michael Lerned actress who starred as the mama on the Waltons. Gale, Laverne, Lavonne, Shirley, Kay, Billy, Jo, Jan and the list goes on. So John Waynes mother did not give him a girls name.
Wait, I thought the rumor was that he was gay, not that he was feminine. Does it not occur to anyone that his incredibly masculine attitude may have been a very big part of WHY he was gay? I could certainly imagine that this fellow had a lot more appreciation for male strength than anything feminine and that it influenced the development of his sexuality(and yes, sexuality is largely developed. genetics provide a certain predisposition but most of us have quite a bit of wiggle room).
Insinuation and innuendo. As with most liberal assertions this rumor is based on circumstantial coincidence and wish fulfillment. So Wayne worked with gays. He was a professional. This "article" is (at least the author thinks) cleverly worded to insinuate Wayne was gay without actually saying it. The rumor has never had any basis in fact. Wayne had many enemies in leftist Hollywood. What better way to discredit the man's man that he was? And to the "guest" that claimed Wayne died of aids? You're an idiot.
hey kelly i am doing a project on him and i would like to know if this rumor was started recently or if you know that it started while he was alive?
thanks...
YES, JOHN WAYNE WAS GAY ! Look back at his movies and watch how he reacts to men -V- women. He died of aid related causes but they refused to publish it because of his rep as ALL MAN.
John Wayne gay? Are you serious? That has to be the single most retarded article I've ever seen. I can't say that I more than glanced over it , but I did get the idea that the so-called author was trying to make rather a large jump from working with well known homosexuals to being a closeted one. You realize , of course , you'll burn for eternity in a white-hot section of Hell reserved for those who try to make such ludicrous leaps at the expense of an American hero.
Who Cares! The Man is dead! Having all those kids surely tells us he must have been gay. Duh.