Gay Mafia
Encyclopedia
The Gay Mafia or Velvet Mafia is a term that is pejorative when used to describe the amalgamation of gay rights groups in politics and the media. The "Gay Mafia" and "Velvet Mafia" are typically associated with the upper echelons of the fashion and entertainment industries, and the terms are also used humorously by gay
people themselves. The term was widely used in the 1980s and 1990s, and could often be seen in the pages of the New York Post
. The term was also used by the British
newspaper, The Sun
, in 1998 in response to what it claimed was an over-representation of gay people in the Labour
British Cabinet. "Lavender Mafia" has been used to describe perceived homosexual elements within the Catholic church. In Britain, LGBT people associate Gay mafia with the Pink pound, and the business interests associated with the commercialisation of the gay sub-culture in major urban areas.
critic Kenneth Tynan
proposed an article to Playboy
editor A.C. Spectorsky in late 1967 on the "Homosexual Mafia" in the arts. Spectorsky declined, although he admitted that "culture hounds were paying homage to faggotismo as they have never done before". Playboy would run a panel on homosexual issues in April 1971.
The term "Velvet Mafia" was first used in an article in the "Top of the Pop" column in the entertainment section of the Sunday New York Daily News
in the 1970s by journalist Steven Gaines to describe the executives at the Robert Stigwood Organization, a British film and record company. The phrase was later used by the same writer in a roman à clef
about Studio 54
called The Club in reference to the influential gay crowd that became the club's habitués. This "mafia" included Calvin Klein, Truman Capote
, Halston
and Andy Warhol
. The term was tongue-in-cheek, describing a powerful social clique, not some truly devious alliance ruling either an industry or politics.
Gradually, velvet came to be replaced with gay. The term may have gained wider social prominence after it was used in a 1995 Spy
article and a 2002 Vanity Fair
article.
-winning British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
, main character Edina seconds her best friend Patsy's accusation of a "gay mafia" conspiracy to explain their professional failures.
An episode of television sitcom Will & Grace
revolved around Jack McFarland
's fear of the Gay Mafia, with singer Elton John
as its boss.
References to the Gay Mafia appeared at least three times in the animated series The Simpsons
. In the Emmy award-winning episode "Three Gays of the Condo
", Homer Simpson
refers to his two gay roommates as the "Velvet Mafia" to his wife Marge
when they make him margarita
s and his subsequent drunkenness causes him to be late for the reconciliation dinner planned by his wife. In the episode "Jaws Wired Shut
", there is a float during the gay pride
parade titled "The Velvet Mafia", presenting them as a gay parody of a stereotypical Italian mafia. In another episode entitled "Bonfire of the Manatees
" Homer mistakes the Springfield Mafia, led by Fat Tony
, for the Gay Mafia, thinking they wanted to make a gay porn movie in his house.
Lavender Mafia has also been used to refer to a faction within the leadership and clergy of the Catholic Church that allegedly protects and advocates for the acceptance of homosexuality within the Church and its culture.
Proponents of the Lavender Mafia theory such as Cozzens describe "a heterosexual exodus from the priesthood", and claim this is partially because of unrestrained gay subcultures in some seminaries, which puts potential heterosexual seminarians off from joining the priesthood. Randy Engel documents the history of homosexuality in the Catholic Church and the Vatican. Michael S. Rose argues that discrimination operates against people who are heterosexual, including screening out genuine candidates with traditionalist
views of homosexuality in favour of those with progressive
views.
Phillip Jenkins, in The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice
, looks at the focus on the gay or lavender mafia in the context of anti-Catholic prejudice in the USA; acknowledging that clerical homosexuality is a real issue, he nevertheless argues "its exploitation in anti-Church polemic
is often so outrageous as to constitute blatant anti-Catholic polemic".
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
people themselves. The term was widely used in the 1980s and 1990s, and could often be seen in the pages of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. The term was also used by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
newspaper, The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, in 1998 in response to what it claimed was an over-representation of gay people in the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
British Cabinet. "Lavender Mafia" has been used to describe perceived homosexual elements within the Catholic church. In Britain, LGBT people associate Gay mafia with the Pink pound, and the business interests associated with the commercialisation of the gay sub-culture in major urban areas.
Origin of the term
An early use of the term was when the EnglishEnglish people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
critic Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
proposed an article to Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
editor A.C. Spectorsky in late 1967 on the "Homosexual Mafia" in the arts. Spectorsky declined, although he admitted that "culture hounds were paying homage to faggotismo as they have never done before". Playboy would run a panel on homosexual issues in April 1971.
The term "Velvet Mafia" was first used in an article in the "Top of the Pop" column in the entertainment section of the Sunday New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
in the 1970s by journalist Steven Gaines to describe the executives at the Robert Stigwood Organization, a British film and record company. The phrase was later used by the same writer in a roman à clef
Roman à clef
Roman à clef or roman à clé , French for "novel with a key", is a phrase used to describe a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction...
about Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
called The Club in reference to the influential gay crowd that became the club's habitués. This "mafia" included Calvin Klein, Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
, Halston
Halston
Roy Halston Frowick, also known as Halston was a clothing designer of the 1970s. His long dresses or copies of his style were popular fashion wear in mid-1970s discotheques.-Early life and career:...
and Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. The term was tongue-in-cheek, describing a powerful social clique, not some truly devious alliance ruling either an industry or politics.
Gradually, velvet came to be replaced with gay. The term may have gained wider social prominence after it was used in a 1995 Spy
Spy (magazine)
Spy was a satirical monthly magazine founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter, who served as its first editors, and Thomas L. Phillips, Jr., its first publisher. After one folding and a rebirth, it ceased publication in 1998...
article and a 2002 Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
article.
Gay Mafia in popular culture
In one episode of the Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
, main character Edina seconds her best friend Patsy's accusation of a "gay mafia" conspiracy to explain their professional failures.
An episode of television sitcom Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
revolved around Jack McFarland
Jack McFarland
John Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.-Character personality:...
's fear of the Gay Mafia, with singer Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
as its boss.
References to the Gay Mafia appeared at least three times in the animated series The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. In the Emmy award-winning episode "Three Gays of the Condo
Three Gays of the Condo
"Three Gays of the Condo" is the seventeenth episode in the fourteenth season of The Simpsons and aired April 13, 2003.-Plot:Marge brings an "Oprah's Puzzle Club" jigsaw puzzle to the Simpson Family Wednesdays, for everyone to work on except for Grampa and Maggie, as the box clearly reads for ages...
", Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
refers to his two gay roommates as the "Velvet Mafia" to his wife Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
when they make him margarita
Margarita
The margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila mixed with orange-flavoured liqueur and lime or lemon juice, often served with salt on the glass rim. It is the most common tequila-based cocktail in the United States...
s and his subsequent drunkenness causes him to be late for the reconciliation dinner planned by his wife. In the episode "Jaws Wired Shut
Jaws Wired Shut
"Jaws Wired Shut" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons thirteenth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 27, 2002. In the episode, Homer gets his jaw injured by running into the fist of Drederick Tatum's statue. As a result, Homer's jaw is wired shut, making...
", there is a float during the gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
parade titled "The Velvet Mafia", presenting them as a gay parody of a stereotypical Italian mafia. In another episode entitled "Bonfire of the Manatees
Bonfire of the Manatees
"Bonfire of the Manatees" is the first episode of The Simpsons seventeenth season. It originally aired on September 11, 2005, making it the first Simpsons season premiere to air in September — since the eleventh season opened with "Beyond Blunderdome" on September 26, 1999...
" Homer mistakes the Springfield Mafia, led by Fat Tony
Fat Tony
Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico is a recurring character in the animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Joe Mantegna and first appeared in the third season episode "Bart the Murderer"...
, for the Gay Mafia, thinking they wanted to make a gay porn movie in his house.
Lavender Mafia
The Lavender Mafia has been used as well as the gay mafia to refer to an informal network of homosexual executives in the entertainment industry.Lavender Mafia has also been used to refer to a faction within the leadership and clergy of the Catholic Church that allegedly protects and advocates for the acceptance of homosexuality within the Church and its culture.
Proponents of the Lavender Mafia theory such as Cozzens describe "a heterosexual exodus from the priesthood", and claim this is partially because of unrestrained gay subcultures in some seminaries, which puts potential heterosexual seminarians off from joining the priesthood. Randy Engel documents the history of homosexuality in the Catholic Church and the Vatican. Michael S. Rose argues that discrimination operates against people who are heterosexual, including screening out genuine candidates with traditionalist
Traditionalism
Traditionalism may refer to:*The systematic emphasis on the value of Tradition*Traditionalism *Traditional values, those beliefs, moral codes, and mores that are passed down from generation to generation....
views of homosexuality in favour of those with progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
views.
Phillip Jenkins, in The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice
The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice
The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice is a book written by Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, dealing with contemporary anti-Catholic bigotry, particularly in the United States.Jenkins, a former Catholic who...
, looks at the focus on the gay or lavender mafia in the context of anti-Catholic prejudice in the USA; acknowledging that clerical homosexuality is a real issue, he nevertheless argues "its exploitation in anti-Church polemic
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...
is often so outrageous as to constitute blatant anti-Catholic polemic".