According to stereotype, gay people are the ultimate tastemakers and creative trendsetters. Our keen eyes for detail and ability to think outside the box provide us with an aptitude for identifying trends, uncovering talent, and coming up with creative ideas and designs, particularly when it comes to art, culture, and fashion.
While it’s true that in generate we dominate the creative world, we can be just as tacky as everyone else. In fact, our fails tend to be even more spectacular. Usually, we know the difference between good taste and intentionally bad taste, known in sociology as “camp.” For instance, the cult classic Pink Flamingos is so bad it’s good, which the great John Waters totally got. Unfortunately, we’re not always that lucky.
Scroll down for 12 of our worst contributions to American culture and style. Please add your own examples in the comments section below…
Mesh underwear
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Whatever queen is responsible for this shockingly awful trend should have his gay card revoked immediately. ‘Nuff said.
Carson Kressley’s “Perfect” QVC clothing line
The year was 2006. Carson Kressley was at the top of his game as fashionista on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. So he did what every successful D-list celebrity does and launched a QVC fashion line. The line was called “Perfect” and featured “basics with a twist” geared, apparently, towards Midwestern suburban housewives. Items included pleaded khaki capri pants with a side buckle, T-shirts bedazzled with rhinestones, white denim jackets with polkadots, and stretch jeans to name just a few examples of the horror. We love you, Carson, but, please, you’re hurting our eyes!
David Bromstad’s “fine art” collection
Looking for a glossy mixed animal print canvas to hang over your sofa? Search no further! David Bromstad, host of HGTV’s Color Splash, has no shortage of affordable “fine art” for sale, in addition to a line of bathroom accessories sold exclusively at Bed Bath & Beyond, and a limited-edition collection of Coffee-Mate® creamer bottles (yes, we said Coffee-Mate® creamer bottles) that he designed for Target.
Darren Star’s Cashmere Mafia television series
Sex and the City producer Darren Star hoped to recycle the HBO phenomenon on network TV in 2008 when he signed on as executive producer of ABC’s Cashmere Mafia. The show followed four fashion-obsessed career women as they navigated through life in New York City. It was a familiar formula, and one not many viewers seemed interested in. The show, packed with outdated fashions, ugly sets, and bad one-liners, bombed both in the ratings and the reviews, surviving barely seven episodes before ABC pulled the plug.
The music of Colton Ford
The adult film star released his first album Tug of War in 2008, which featured 12 original electronic dance songs. A year later, Ford released his sophomore effort, Under the Covers, a collection of 18 cover songs, including Aailyah’s “Rock the Boat,” Britney Spears’ “Trouble,” and Mariah Carey’s “It’s Like That.” A third assault came in 2013, when Ford released yet another album of original dance tunes called The Way I Am.
Dante’s Cove
The gay-themed supernatural/gothic soap opera aired on the network here! for three seasons between 2005 and 2007 and centered around a young gay couple, Kevin and Toby, whose love was constantly being challenged by dark mystical forces conspiring to tear them apart. After the third season ended, here! announced plans to produce a fourth, but something happened (we’re not sure what exactly) and the new season mercifully never came to light, though the show’s official website still says it’s “coming soon.” Perhaps it’s being held captive in the evil House of Shadows.
Liberace’s mirrored piano
It’s not surprising that someone with an ego the size of Liberace’s would want a grand piano covered entirely with mirrors so he could admire himself, and be admired by others, from every angle at all times. The problem isn’t so much the piano itself, but what it led to, and we’re not just talking about the elevator music that’s about as pleasant as fingernails on a chalkboard. Thanks to the bejeweled one, some people now furnish their entire homes with mirrored decor. Mirrored tables. Mirrored dressers. Mirrored headboards. Mirrored armoires. Department stores now carry entire lines of mirrored furnishings.
Cher‘s gay anthem “Pride”
We love Cher. But her gay anthem “Pride” from the deluxe edition of her most recent album Closer to the Truth was bad even by EDM standards. “We got pride,” the diva belted over a synthetic dance beat, “We own the night! We are the light!” Had it been released in, say, 1996 it might have resonated more deeply with gay audiences. But by 2013, we didn’t need another shrieking club track telling us to be proud.
Lady Gaga‘s ARTPOP
While we’re on the subject of bad music, to call Lady Gaga’s 2013 album ARTPOP a “misstep” would be an understatement. The album, along with its promotional campaign, was an utter disaster, plagued by poor single choices, infighting with her management, and disappointing sales figures, not to mention bizarre media appearances where Gaga claimed she was addicted to marijuana and made jabs at Madonna‘s age. But the root of ARTPOP‘s problem was probably the songs themselves, many of which sounded like throwaway tracks from her previous effort Born This Way. Oh, and don’t even get us started on that whole collaboration with R. Kelly and the rapey music video. We still cringe every time we think about it.
The interior designs of Bobby Trendy
Self-proclaimed “top interior designer of Los Angeles” Bobby Trendy first gained notoriety after appearing on The Anna Nicole Show in the mid-2000s. Trendy designed a tufted Pepto-Bismol pink bed for Smith with matching feathered pillows and satin bedding. He later went on to call himself “the most famous designer in the world” before appearing on the short-lived Gimme My Reality Show!, in which D-listers compete for their own reality show. (He didn’t win, unfortunately.)
Madonna’s film The Next Best Thing
This 2000 calamity starring Madonna and Rupert Everett revolves around Abbie (played by Madge) and her gay best friend Robert (played by Everett) who decide to make a baby together. Things don’t work out and a nasty custody battle ensues. Critics called the film “astonishingly bad,” a “tone-deaf disaster,” and a “depressing, lugubrious film experience.” Roger Ebert described it as “a garage sale of gay issues, harnessed to a plot as exhausted as a junkman’s horse.” Perhaps the only good thing to come from the entire debacle was its soundtrack, which featured two new songs from Madge, “Time Stood Still,” and a cover of Don McLean’s “American Pie,” which became an international hit.
Rainbow flag & swag
We know Gilbert Baker had the best intentions when he designed the Gay Pride flag in 1978. And to be clear: We totally understand and appreciate what the flag represents. But we still hate it. The colors are, in a word, garish. They are too bright. Not to mention, there are too many of them. (Believe it or not, the original design had even more colors, but two of them had to be removed for production purposes.) On top of that, the whole rainbow thing has gotten way out of control. There are now entire online stores dedicated exclusively to selling personalized rainbow gear — T-shirts, jewelry, keychains, belt buckles, water bottles, bumper stickers. It’s become a real problem.
myrdraal2001
I’d actually remove Dante’s Cove from this list and add RuPaul and anything deal with Drag Race.
Giancarlo85
Some of those shouldn’t be here. You see I disagree with most of this article, but you don’t see me running off in anger lol.
I actually thought Artpop was a decent album. Certainly not her best, but it was decent. The album had good to mediocre songs.
And I always did respect David Bromstad.
As far as rainbow pride, I’m cool with it everywhere. Hey I got a rainbow cup too.
vive
I like the rainbow flag.
It is certainly better than using that equal sign, which is the HRC’s proprietary corporate brand, so heavily promoted with your donations that you thought were going to worthwhile causes, when we already had the perfectly good rainbow flag that is in the public domain.
Giancarlo85
@Roan: Maybe they think that bedding really is that evil lol. Satin of course. I mean satan.
Yeah, as far as the equal sign and the rainbow… I’d take the rainbow anyday. I’m starting to have major issues with the way HRC is handling itself. I get that same sex marriage is important, but they are failing to press that hard on issues like gay men’s health, youth homelessness, and employment protections. I stopped donating to the HRC years ago after I found out not only were they overly corporate… but they were also a one trick pony.
Ladbrook
I’d add Rosie O’Donnell to the list. As much as I once loved her original daytime talk show, she lost me completely with her 9/11 trutherism followed by her generally disagreeable personality. Thank God for Ellen.
And yeah, I love the rainbow flag… I think we need more of it, not less. It pisses off all the right people.
DM_Chicago
I’m not personally a fan of many of the things on this list. However, I’m not sure I would consider them an “assault on taste and culture,” anymore than some of the articles posted on Queerty. I know the point of a post is to trigger a response, but isn’t part of our shared culture, “to each his own”? That said, maybe try garnering readership without throwing stones from glass houses.
coffeeaugur
I’d say just live and let live and don’t be so self-loathing and judgmental … at least we’re not responsible for the big bell pants, puffy sleeve shits, the Kardashian’s and the Sharknado movies. And just accept the diversity and the beauty the world has to offer. No one is forcing to wear, watch, listen or do.
Tracy Pope
13. A large section of the “articles” on Queerty. Specifically the ones featuring whatever that gawd awful underwear company that features porn performers is. That stuff is utter cr@p.
gnlmiami
I’ll admit to buying some mesh underwear. Late night drunk shopping.
The Cher anthem was just bad. It contained nothing new or interesting. Someone cobbled together some of her old club hits and remastered them.
tdx3fan
I loved Dantes Cove. I also love the rainbow stuff. I also love mesh underwear, and I am pretty sure we did not invent it and women wore it way before men.
tdx3fan
@Giancarlo85: The corner stone of accepting gay men is accepting their relationships as real…. marriage. Which has made huge leaps and bounds in the polls. Every issue you just mentioned ties back into legal recognition of relationships.
vive
It is anybody who seriously complains about that mesh underwear picture who has to have his gay card revoked. 🙂
But then, I never cared about the wrapping, just the filling. Though @coffeeaugur I do think bell-bottoms are awesome.
vive
@tdx3fan: “The corner stone of accepting gay men is accepting their relationships as real…. marriage.”
The problem with this is that, as often as not, our chosen families don’t fit the marriage paradigm. The marriage equality movement is really a conservative values movement that is leaving a lot of us feeling marginalized.
Giancarlo85
@tdx3fan: Not at all. Your viewpoint is a major problem in the gay community, sorry to say that. Same sex marriage doesn’t help a kid who is out on the streets. We need to start by changing minds of people who have gay children. Kids still get kicked out, and gay couples getting married isn’t really changing that.
Every issue I mentioned DOES NOT tie back into legal recognition of relationships. I already talked about LGBT kids getting kicked out on the streets. What does that have to do with marriage? Here is the second proof… in many states where same sex marriage is becoming legal, you can get fired for being gay and in fact many other anti-gay legislation is quietly being pushed.
I don’t agree with vive on marriage equality being a conservative values movement. Even leftists and atheists get married. But, the point is the gay community is losing focus of the bigger picture. And the push for marriage equality doesn’t help many of us who are struggling. Again, I AM ALL FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY, but we really ought to focus on more important issues that are being left behind.
Kev
Don’t know as though the mesh underwear has anything to do with being gay, but I agree with the statement about the rainbow flag. I have never liked it and doubt that I ever will.
AlliterationAddict
I’m in an awkward position regarding the rainbow flag. I like the idea behind it, but I just don’t consider the design to be aesthetically pleasing. Whereas the minimalist design of the HRC equal sign is beautiful, but it comes packaged with a whole lot of political nonsense that shouldn’t be shoved on the LGBT community as a whole. As a general rule I don’t like EDM or other kinds of robot music, so I can’t really comment on that. Though even I had to begrudgingly admit that Lady Gaga’s early stuff was very catchy, while all the songs on ARTPOP sounded terrible to me. Never really got Cher or Madonna either. And . . . um . . . well, I think I lingered far too long on the first image on this list to be able to truthfully claim that I have an issue with mesh underwear.
spiffy
I rather liked Cashmere Mafia… And the other one that was on TV at the same time, Lipstick Jungle.
SportGuy
They forgot to ad that awful show “Looking” to the list, hopefully they will update the list shortly.
zaneymcbanes
Love the b_tchiness of this article 😉
I do have to throw in my two cents that Artpop is a solid album, and I think much better than Born This Way.
Rob91316
WOW!!! Y’all are never, EVER going to show any love for Gaga’s Artpop album, are you? Yes, it was poorly marketed. Yes, that rapey video with R. Kelly was a misstep. Yes, it got overshadowed in the pretensions and gimmickry that Gaga astonishly felt like she had to dress it all up in to get attention — when the album itself could’ve stood on the strength of the bangin’ tunes alone. A year and a half after it was released, the Artpop tracks are STILL in heavy rotation on my iPod. It’s easily her best album to date. Oh well, I suspect Artpop will be vindicated over time, just as Madonna’s “Erotica” album, which was drowned out upon it’s initial release in 1992 by the “Sex” book scandal and the backlash that Madonna faced at the time for being TOO brazen with her sexuality, is now revered by virtually all studied music critics with any credibility as one of the greatest, most inventive, most challenging albums of her entire career.
Giancarlo85
Rob, I kinda like Artpop. Kinda. Some of the songs were good, some weren’t. But I’m not going to destroy it. True, I really only was a huge fan until her Born This Way album. Artpop was for me was mixed. 2.5 out of 5 stars. It sold a decent amount too.. like 2.5 million… showing she still had some star power. Born this way was 3.5 out of 5 for me… so slightly better.
Artpop wasn’t amazing, but I really don’t get the hate for it on here. I do have several songs from Artpop on my MP3, not all of them though.
tdx3fan
@Giancarlo85: You cannot stop kids being thrown out. The best you can do is support shelters. You cannot stop discrimination. Just ask any black male almost 41 years after The Civil Rights Act. The best you can do is hope to not work for or rent from assholes. You can allow gay people to feel like real humans, and that starts with legal recognition of their relationships. Not to mention the plethora of rights that come with marriage including (not limited to) hospital visitation, funeral rights, power to make decisions for each other, iron clad inheritance, social security, shared health insurance and tax rights. You empower gay people with legal recognition and they are much more likely to focus on other things.
tdx3fan
@SportGuy: First, they would have to stop being the primary advertisor.
Shannon1981
Guilty as charged. I am totally into Pride gear, and own more rainbow shit than I care to admit here.
DutchGay
The track “That’s me” by Colton Ford is one on my fave dance tracks and Gaga’s ARTPOP was a dared experiment. And certainly not a bad one.
Giancarlo85
@tdx3fan: You’re such a dumb thing. As if your statements on the Iraq were dumb, this just takes the case. While I cannot stop all kids from being thrown out of their homes that can be mitigated. Sorry, if the word mitigated is too complex for you. Look it up in the dictionary. You’re a total fool if you think same sex marriage is the end all solution for all the problems of the gay community, when it isn’t even what we should be focusing on right now.
What difference does same sex marriage make in various states which have no employment protections and in many cases have other anti-gay legislation that exists? Take a look at what happened in Kansas, which saw same sex marriage legalized.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-kansas-governor-gay-protection-20150210-story.html
Same sex marriage doesn’t help a lot of us, and many who are single and get fired for being gay… what does it do? They aren’t in a same sex marriage. So while you named a few rights and so forth that are important for married couples, and I’m all for same sex marriage… this doesn’t really address the other key problems in the gay community. Your failure to address the topic goes back to your ignorance of the bigger picture.
vive
@tdx3fan, the main thing that has changed with the Marriage movement is that now even the gay Establishment thinks discriminating against single people is just dandy.
Hey Mikey
Wow. From an amusing little article to political dissention in the ranks. It’s one person’s opinion – which he’s entitled to – on what is basically an entertainment site. The one thing that really needs to go is not only that everyone has to agree with every “gay opinion” that’s posted or they’re somehow not “doing gay right,” but the hypersensitivity that they’re personally being attacked if they disagree. I’ve always joked about failing “Gay 101” because I’ve so often said “Huh?” (and more recently, “Seriously?”) to a lot of things said in the “gay media.” It’s like watching democrats reacting to Fox news or republicans reacting to… well, anything else. Where is the gay Jon Stewart when you need him?
One thing I do have to question though is the contention that somehow the gay marriage issue is separate from and does not affect other gay issues. Maybe it’s because I’m older, but a large part of staying in the closet was because being gay was not only unacceptable, it was not worthy of respect or equality, nor were the thousands of loving relationships that needed to be hidden at the time.
Was the idea that if I came out I would be denied some of the very basic core options of life (whether I chose to take them or not) part of what kept me in the closet longer? Unfortunately, yes. Would I have looked at having a gay relationship vastly differently which most likely would have altered my entire skewed vision of what I could become and have as a proud out gay person? For me (and I can only speak for me), yes. (And FYI, I am single.)
Does that mean there isn’t a long way to go in other critical issues affecting the LGBT community? Sadly, of course not. And sadly, as Giancarlo stated, some attitudes will never change. And I agree completely with him that the other issues cannot be ignored and pushed aside, nor should any success in the gay marriage issue prompt anyone to say, “Okay, we’re done.”
But any window opened, especially one as huge as this one, gives the potential and the hope that others can be as well and also gives young people at the very least a glimmer of the knowledge that they are worthy of equality and respect, married or not – something that had been sadly lacking for many years. And I personally never sell potential and hope short.
Giancarlo85
@Hey Mikey: My only argument is this: Same sex marriage isn’t the solution to heal the wounds of resentment and hatred in society. Sure it can be helpful in a sense, but there are other issues that need to be tackled that are indeed separate from it.
I only suggest ideas that can MITIGATE (reduce) hatred and LGBT youth homelessness. There isn’t a cure all. Some attitudes won’t change even with same sex marriage.
I’m just a bit annoyed with the way things are going as it does feel like other issues are being put on the back burner and in some cases totally ignored, so same sex marriage will take the forefront.
And I get really annoyed when members of the gay community suggest that same sex marriage will solve everything. Look, I want full same sex marriage in all 50 states (and I hope that is the case come this summer), but I really hope we don’t stop there.
Giancarlo85
*Correction: Same sex marriage isn’t the ONLY solution and shouldn’t be the only solution.
Hey Mikey
Giancarlo – Correction not necessary. Agreed 100%. You’re right -you cannot cast off the other deep problems that exist and people (especially kids) who need help right now because of something that will ultimately make things better in the future. They are not disposable or erasable and the right to marry is not a trade-off that allows anyone to make them so.
BTW, yes, I know what mitigate means, either in caps or lower case. And although I certainly understand your vexation (frustration and/or annoyance), do you really think responding with enmity (hostility and/or animosity) and telling people they’re injudicious (stupid) is the best way to get your point across? Making people defensive, especially people who really are ultimately on your side even if they may not have reached the same level of socially consciousness as you, has not always proven to be the most effective tool. Just sayin’.
Giancarlo85
@Hey Mikey: Sorry. Sometimes I can be pretty defensive on here myself. It has a lot to do with my growing up. I didn’t mean to condescending. And sometimes people on here really get on my nerve. I shouldn’t let it get to me I know.
Hey Mikey
No apology necessary. Your passion is great. Just don’t misdirect it.
P.S. And don’t hate me, but I kind of loved Dante’s Cove… in a Hostess cupcake, deliciously ersatz surprisingly satisfying sinful tantalizingly tasty treat of really bad junk food kind of way. Sort of the same way I think a lot of people look at a lot of the stuff on Queerty. And that is NOT meant in any way as an insult! 🙂
Elloreigh
With respect to the rainbow: There is nothing whatsoever wrong with people plastering the rainbow on every piece of merchandise imaginable under the sun. We can debate whether it’s meeting a demand or creating one, but that’s a whole separate topic. People buy it, so I assume some of them like it, and that they do so as a means of self-expression. Most probably do so in moderation; a trinket here, some jewelry there, something to wear for a special occasion, etc.
Now, buying anything and everything that features the rainbow, such that it comes to entirely dominate one’s wardrobe and decorating scheme, might lead some to wonder about that individual’s sense of taste.
Thing is, it’s up to the individual to say how much rainbow stuff is too much for them – because it’s THEIR sense of taste, not for you or I to decide for them.
And if you dislike the rainbow, that’s fine too – don’t buy stuff with rainbows then. Kinda like same-sex marriage – if you aren’t into same-sex relationships or the idea of marriage – or both – then just don’t have one. “Problem” solved.
Acting so superior and presumptuous as to declare the rainbow an “unfortunate assault on taste and culture”…um, who died and made you Lord God Queen Empress of all that is tasteful and cultured anyway?
I love that the current age is far less rigid when it comes to how people are supposed to live and express themselves. I have no desire to return to a time when I thought I had to conform to other people’s ideas about taste and culture – because that kind of thing is all about someone else trying to claim a power over another’s life that they do not, and should not have.
iynque
…speaking of awful, out of touch, “tone deaf” things gay people create, welcome to Queerty! Honestly, what the fuck are you doing. This whole thing is shit, but then “the colors are to bright.” It’s a fucking rainbow flag. Get over yourself. Yeah, the colors are too bright, the music is too loud, and you kids get off my lawn! You can join the race to the bottom of the internet if you want, but Buzzfeed is going to beat you there every time. I’m unsubscribing because I don’t give a shit about your opinion on how rainbows are too bright.