We’ve given GLAAD a bunch of shit in the past, so it’s a little hard for us to say this, but we have to show them a little love for taking a stand against Charles Knipp’s outlandishly offensive minstrel drag alter ego, Shirley Q. Liquor. For those of you who don’t know, Shirley Q’s a “performer” who gets her kicks perpetuating stereotypes of inarticulate, irrational black women, particularly Reagan-era notions of the welfare mother.
In GLAAD’s press release (which we found via that curmudgeon, Chris Crain) head honcho Neil Giuliano said:
While our work at GLAAD is about promoting fair, accurate and inclusive media representations of the LGBT community, this issue has risen to a level of visibility and importance that we feel compelled to add our voice to those speaking out against this awful portrayal. Based on what we have heard from community members and read about this character, we are joining those taking a stand against Knipp’s offensive caricature.
We recognize that this performer has a right to free speech and expression, but we also have the right to condemn his performance and speak out against this harmful depiction. This performance perpetuates ugly racial stereotypes that are offensive, hurtful and simply unacceptable…
Good for you, GLAAD. Although, we must admit, we’re a little disappointed you didn’t do it sooner.
Of their press release, lesbian journo Jasmyne Cannick – an actual black woman who has been leading the fight against Knipp – wrote:
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.
Hopefully this statement is the beginning of a change in the way that national gay organizations address gay personalities that defame minority communities, thus putting an end to the hypocrisy.
Of course, one can’t help but wonder why GLAAD took so long to speak out against Knipp – does it have anything to do with Black History Month, we wonder? Probably.
Now, as for our agreeing with GLAAD – don’t worry, we’re sure we’ll recover…
Adam Sank
Amen. For years, queens from the South have been telling me how hilarious Shirley Q. Liquor is. You know what? She’s not.
akaison
I am glad this issue is being addressed. The truth is racism does exist in the gay community. It needs to be dealt with as much as the homophobia that we saw coming out of Mr Washington. Both situations are not something to be used to justify further hatred, but are things that civil people who care for each other should agree are wrong.
jack jett
i have never seen shirley q liquor so i shouln’t comment on his performance.
neither has glaad but they choose to now dip their fingers in the world of race relations.
my question is who has done more harm in exploiting black women? eddie murphy? tyler perry? martin lawrence?
jack jett
Leland
Hooray for GLAAD, but I blame you for my having hurled my Eggs Florentine all over my keyboard after having to read about Knipp, Crain, and Cannick at the same time. Three more diverse dildos, but dildos nonetheless, could not be found in one story.
Mike
Since when have you guys taken the moral high-ground on stuff like this? Also I find it interesting that you should take a position along side GLAAD on the same day you post offensive, sophomoric “gay jokes” in your post titled “Hardy, har har…”
jack jett
mike
it does make one wonder if someone at queerty just got an invite to a pissy glaad dinner with scarlett johanson
and qwyneth paltrow……..
glaad does NOT support people making a positive difference in local communities, why would they take up bashing a drag queen (who i assume does not make that much money) who is not on the national stage? especially one they have never seen.
perhaps if her name was shirley q ABSOLUTE, glaad would look the other way.
jack jett
Jonathon
Sorry guys, but GLAAD is wrong on this issue and so are you.
I am a gay Southerner. And yes, Shirley is hilarious.
Maybe you yankees just don’t relate to it. I grew up with and around beautiful black women who talked just like Shirley does. Hell, anyone who has spent time in the gay community in small Southern towns has heard white gay men talking like that! It’s all part of the banter of gayspeak here.
GLAAD is off its rocker. There are MUCH bigger problems for them to attend to. Knipp’s character should be a non-issue for GLAAD. If you don’t like Shirley, then don’t go to the shows and don’t buy the CDs.
I wonder how long it will take before I am attacked and called a racist…. 3, 2, 1…..
Take A Stand
I have to say I find GLAAD to be more and more inconsistent since the board appointed Neil Guiliano, an avowed Republican, to lead the organization. Certainly, their effectiveness and relevance have been greatly diminished.
Where were they a few days ago regarding the Snickers commercials? It clearly was a media issue and yet GLAAD remained silent. It was HRC who demanded Snickers remove the ad.
A further point to their growing ineffectiveness, in regard to the Isaiah Washington incidents, GLAAD wasn’t even able to tackle the issue by themselves as they would have in the past; they required the help, once again, of HRC.
And perhaps their most baffling and incompetent inaction was the choice to remain silent over the Mark Foley scandal. At a time when newscasters and political pundits, such as Pat Buchanan, were connecting pedophilia to homosexuality, describing Foley as a “flamer,†and saying Pelosi and Kerry marched in gay pride parades alongside NAMBLA, GLAAD issued a statement saying that the were choosing to remain silent so as to not fuel the fire. Fuel the fire? That’s their job. In fact, as a not-for-profit media watchdog organization, donors are contributing money to GLAAD with the expectation GLAAD will speak out against defamatory statements- NOT remain silent. It makes you wonder whether Neil is a friend of Mark Foley and that their relationship has clouded his judgment. Or perhaps Neil was more concerned about losing the House and Senate then to making sound choices in the best interest of the GLBT community. Or perhaps the new base of Gay Republican donors are expecting him to back off any Republican based issues. Any way- his inaction was grossly negligent.
jack jett
take a stand.
don’t know who you are but that is a fucking brilliant post and very right on.
do you have your on blog? something has got to be done to get the gay community to oversee this money making watchdog group that continues to prove itself worthless.
the more i think about it, the more repulsed i am that they have the nerve to attack a southern drag queen and will probably cause this guy to be without work.
drag queens are controversial. they are a parody. that is what they do. remember stonewall. would glaad have been offended that some drag queen was not portraying judy garland in a proper way.
on the issue of racism. why was glaad forced to give an award to “noahs arc” last year? why did “noahs arc” turn down the award when they found out it would not be televised? out of 3 gay networks, why did they only choose one show to honor….the network that broadcast their awards….
and what is up with queerty supporting this shit?
jack jett
kenneth
Note to Jasmyne Cannick:
Now that GLAAD has condemnned someone YOU’VE turned into a gay household name, does this mean you will stop SIDING WITH Isaiah Washington for calling a gay man a faggot?
Andy Brown
Perhaps they are taking on Shirley Q because of Issiah Washington and the criticism that if a white person had said what Washington said no one would have cared—in other words, the censor of Washington by the gay community had racial undertones. The best defense is a good offense.
Andy Brown
Why doesn’t GLAAD come down on the black community and their protrayal of gays. Did GLAAD say in any thing to the producers of Beauty Shop with that awful black queen clowning around and falling down in the street?
bubba
I just love when white boys whine about somebody interfering with their god given, constitutional right to hurl offensive language and ideas at the masses. If Knipp is out of work, too damn bad. Have you even read the bullshit he uses to defend his act? Drivel about celebrating the life of his childhood maid, a black woman with 19 children. All this while painted up in some cartoon version of blackness like a vaudeville actor 100 years ago, which I’m to believe Tyler Perry has justified. But he only reniforces what you want to believe about minorities any fucking way. If GLAAD should have better things to do, how about ignoring what Isaiah Washington said on a closed set with no documentation or footage to prove it? Knipp plays to the common denominator supremacists in full view at public gay clubs all over the U.S., pitting minorities against each other in the process. GLAAD issued one statement about it, and half of you get pissy. “Yankess don’t get it.” Yeah, I don’t get civil war era labels, either. Feel free to keep using them at the plantation.
Take A Stand
Thanks Jack Jett. I don’t have a blog at the moment. I agree with you- who is watching the watchdog? I
Matt
I have to agree with Jonathon. I have no problem with her. She is making fun of a sterotype. All drag shows have some sort of offensivness to them. How is Knipp, doing blackface, any different than Dave Chappelle doing white face on the Chappelle show. It isn’t? Should we next condemn Jeff Foxworthy for making fun of Rednecks or other gay comics making fun of homosexual sterotypes? We, as a society, are becoming way too obsessed with being politically correct.
Willo
Just another queen from the south saying yes, Shirley is hilarious. This is a caricature– and of people we knew. And love.
This is less offenisve than Eddie Murphy’s or Flip Wilson’s drag-oOr descriptions of women they’ve known. Is it racist only because it is a white comedian making the same jokes? Imagine a black drag queen pulling the same stunt.
Knipp isn’t mocking black women, he’s created a specific character, a good-hearted but poor and “ignunt” woman with 19 children of different paternity, who is so very clearly over the top and fictional. Unless that’s you, you shouldn’t be offended. The character of Smithers could be seen as offensive to all gays, but he’s not all gays, so he’s funny.
This is not 1830’s blackface.
bubba
How do you make fun of a stereotype? By playing it straight with absolutely no nuance or irony? How does that prove the absurdity of the stereotype? And the stereotype isn’t at fault in the first place. It’s the ignorant, delusional people who believe it. When are THEY going to be the butt of the joke? I guess I failed to see the progressive, artistic genius in Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of an Asian man in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Lamb Cannon
important information here regarding whether unfunny, “southern” white trash (among others) should use blackface (whether they can spell “stereotype” properly or not):
http://www.ebogjonson.com/archives/specials/should_i_use_blackface.htm
bubba
“Knipp isn’t mocking black women, he’s created a specific character, a good-hearted but poor and “ignunt” woman with 19 children of different paternity, who is so very clearly over the top and fictional. Unless that’s you, you shouldn’t be offended.”
What a lovely lesson in the discard of empathy. I’ll remember it the next time I walk by a guy slugging a woman on the street and think of how NOT offended I am.
Jonathon
Bubba, I don’t live on a plantation. They don’t really exist anymore, except as tourist traps. This may be the South, but most of us aren’t still fighting the war, nor are we sitting around in hoop skirts and drinking mint juleps. Those days are LOOOOOOOOONG gone, thank god.
Knipp isn’t playing to “supremacists”; he’s playing to his audience of mostly Southern gays who “get” his character and his performance.
I love satire in almost every form and enjoy Dave Chappelle’s “whiteface” acts even though I am white and he’s making fun of people like me. I love Shirley Q. because she is over-the-top funny and because she reminds me of many women I have known in my life, both black and white.
Maybe it’s just a regional humour thing. Gayspeak in the South isn’t much different from the way that Shirley talks. We love our strong black sisters, and Knipp’s performance is of a very strong black woman who is surviving despite the odds and the challenges life puts in her way. Even though she is “ignunt” about a lot of things, her observations on life are quite humorous and go far in showing just how much we all have in common, despite our differences in social class and skin color.
Do you really think that Shirley’s fans would love her so if all Knipp did with the character was to make fun of black people and demean them? Shirley is a celebration of a type of black woman that many/most of us in the South have known (and loved) during our lives. If you don’t know a “Shirley” then maybe that’s why you don’t get Knipp’s act.
joey
Through your humorous language this site often “perpetuates ugly stereotypes that are offensive, hurtful and simply unacceptable.” Only because we realize the humor in the language is it not hurtful. So is your humorous depiction of gays as flippant bearers of disease at the height of moral depravity really THAT much different than Knipp’s humorous depiction of black women?
jack jett
bubba…what do you mean by the fact that no camera’s captured mr. washington’s use of the word faggot?
are you suggesting that it didn’t happen? or that somehow it was less offensive as it was not on tape.
how do you feel about dave chappelle wearing a “whiteface”?
jack jett
have you ever lived in the south?
Matt
Whoops sorry I didn’t spell Stereotype correctly. I guess I was being “ignunt”.
Jonathon
One more thing, while it is on my mind.
I have 2 or 3 of Shirley’s CDs and used to be able to recite most of the routines from them verbatim from memory.
In all of the routines I have heard, I have NEVER heard Knipp/Shirley use the word “nigger” or even a variant of that word. Neither do I recall any truly abusive or denigrating language about/towards blacks. She does talk about crazy white people and all – does that make Shirley racist towards whites?
Frankly, episodes of “In Living Color” (which is currently in syndication on BET and one of my favorite shows) are MUCH more offensive towards both blacks and whites than anything in Shirley’s performances. Remember those “Great Moments in Black History” sketches that David Allen Grier and Tommy Davidson used to do? What about Damon Wayans’ “Handi-Man” character?
Lamb Cannon
They sucked as well.
ATL Ryan
The thought that someone is able to make a living off of BLACKFACE in 2007 makes me sick! And, those who are defending Ms. Liquor’s racist act by citing that Dave Chappelle does whiteface, please stop. This childish argument is a logical fallacy and it cannot be used to justify Ms. Liquor’s actions.
Bubaloo
Jonathan,
I share your sentiments about GLAAD, but I understand why people are upset with Shirley Q.
It is the job and right of performers to be provocative. You’re right – David Chapelle is brilliant because of it. I imagine there are quite a few brilliant and funny moments in Shirley Q’s over-the-top portrayal. I don’t think you are a racist. But I wish you could understand what it is like as a black person to see something like this being done. I hear so many white gay people say they can’t understand how black people can be prejudiced against gays. I agree. But it’s even harder for me to see how white gay people don’t realize when they are being hurtful to non-white people.
Shirley Q. is offensive to many black people the same way that a ridiculous portrayal of a “nelly sissy” by a straight person is offensive to many gay people. If a black drag queen did Shirley Q. – you know what – black people probably wouldn’t be as offended. Sorry to say it. Maybe it shouldn’t work this way, but it does.
It is difficult to see someone who has priveledge ridiculing someone who doesn’t have that privilege. A man who calls a woman a “bitch” and hits her is abusive and sexist. When a woman does the same to a woman or calls a man a big, dumb, think-with-his-dick, idiot, it may be abusive and it may be sexist, but it doesn’t seem as horrible.
Straight people making fun of gay people feels horrible. We think — don’t they realize our history and the horrible things we’ve been through as a people? But when gay people make fun of gay people or even straight people, it doesn’t feel as offensive. What are straight people going to do? They’ve already got heterosexual priveledge. What’s the most horrible thing we can do to a straight person. We know — somehow — they’ll get over it. The world is made for them.
When white people make fun of black people, it feels horrible. A person with racial priviledge is picking on someone who doesn’t share that priveledge. When a black person does the same to a black person or even a white person (in Chapelle’s case), the blow does not feel as strong. It is more socially acceptable for people without a certain priviledge to parody a group of people who have that priviledge. Hopefully, at some point in time, this won’t be the case. But it is now. If feels a little like…well…bullying.
I wonder if Shirley Q. has done or considered doing her show at venues populated largely by black gays? And for those white gay people who say that Shirley invokes fond memories of the strong black women they know – have you ever taken one of your strong black women friends to see Shirley? Do you say — in the sometimes gay vernacular that was appropriated from strong black women in the first place — hey girlfriend, I just saw this show and just about bust a gut. You should check this bitch out? If you’re not willing to take your black friends with you or explain to your black friends why she is so hilarious, maybe there’s something wrong there…
Skuz
Well folks, I have been to a Shirley Q show and there were plenty of blacks that seemed to enjoy the show. They paid their 10 bucks to get in just like everyone else. Some remained after the show to have their pictures made with Shirley Q.
If you look on Shirley’s myspace page, you will see she has a lot of black friends.
I would question who does more harm by promoting stereotypes – a drag queen that performs in blackface a dozen shows a year in small venues, or the rap stars that perform before millions and promote the “gangsta” lifestyle?
High profile blacks do far more damage than Shirley could possibly do.
Frankly, I see black women that speak (and sometimes act) like Shirley almost every day. Ever see the witnesses to news events in mostly black neighborhoods being interviewed on local news in the South? Shirley Q all over the place!
We have black ladies in our office that are single mothers with several children who refer to “my babies daddy.”
joey
I’ve known ladies similar to Shirley all of my life. If you live in the south, they are all over. And by the way…I think all of my black friends and boyfriends have loved her. Is she offensive? Quite possibly. Is it hilarious? Of course, if you know the context. Does anyone hear her and take her seriously? NO! It isn’t just over the top; its completely and utterly ridiculous. All this arguing over it makes me need to get my head shocked.
jay
On one hand I see the (limited) merits of the “playing the stereotype is mocking the stereotype” argument, but at the same time I’d be lying if i said there weren’t some part of me that feels uncomfortable with this act. Making ironic racist jokes does not take the racism out of the joke; and does it empower the minority, or the racist? Where do you draw that line? It’s a question that Dave Chappelle struggled with, and a large part of why he left his show.
I don’t happen to think Knipp is a racist–and I have laughed at his acts before–but even non-racists can unwittingly cause offense to minorities. (Witness Joe Biden and George Bush recently using the term “articulate” to describe Barack Obama. Most whites don’t –and some CAN’T–understand how this could cause offense. But it does–and not understanding the nature of the offense is no excuse to ignore it.)
While racism may not be as looming an issue in the mainstream gay community (a term I’m using loosely here) as homophobia is in the black mainstream community, and if ever we marvel at how a minority like Isaiah Washington can be so flippant and cruel-hearted to other minorities like us, perhaps we should remember how Shirley Q. Liquor may look to Isaiah Washington.
He should just drop the Shirley Q. Liquor act; even if it’s not meant to be offensive, it does cause unnecessary offense. Betty Butterfield is an infinitely better act, anyways.
Joseph Houseal
I am devoted reader whatever part of the world I am traveling in. Thanks for the commttment and coverage.
You are a hypocrite about Shirley Q Liquor, who is one of the funniest PARODIES going today. She is as offensive as Lisa Lampenelli, Sarah Silverman or other comedians who are fully in control of the intentionally overdrawn characters they portray. Knipp has other characters, notably Betty Butterfield, a white, pill-popping alcoholic trying to find religion. Let’s hear you rant about that.
Shall we rail against the racist depiction of white stereotypes or enjoy a great comedian?
This is very unfair to Knipp. People of all colors attend his performances because he is funny. There are always black people at his shows, because almost anyone who lives in the south, knows somebody, black or white, who acts a lot like Shirley. Please don’t portray yourself, like GLAAD does, as a voice for the “gay community”; you are not. Some gays, and blacks, and lesbians, and Muslims, and Catholics, and Irish people, can understand what is a joke and what is ignorant intentional offense. Obviously you cannot. Knipp is neither ignorant about what he is doing, nor offensive to the audience of his COMEDY routine.
As Barbra Steisand so aptly told a heckler ( which is all you are in this matter ) ” Shut the fuck up if you can’t take a joke” because, like Betty Butterfield, Shirley Q is a joke, a parody, and outrageous comedian, and Knipp is not a racist or anti-gay.
What next, retro-rage against Minnie Pearl?
Where is your protest of Spike Lee who has made and entire movie based on black-face, which in my opinion, while posturing as some statement against it, fully uses it for its historically intended use? He fails miserably to do anything other than reinforce what he aspires to be debunking.
Jasmyne is so misguided about Shirley Q Liquor. Knipp is a comic genius, and her stooping the the base level of fools attacking her makes her look worse than them. Get off your ill-guided interpretation of comedy. Many people are being directed to Jasmyne’s website because of this Knipp issue you have raised, and the result is that SHE comes across as mean-spirited and bigoted an unable to control her own dignity.
The recent discourse on YOUR and HER website is an insult the GLBT community. You should be ashamed for making us all look so hate-filled and base.
Thanks J
Bubaloo
I’m only asking if you can understand why some people take offense to Shirley Q. the way that so many gay people took offense to a couple of the alternate endings to the recent Snickers ads. Didn’t it piss you off to hear some people say – c’mon, it’s a parody? It’s a joke. It doesn’t hurt anybody.
I would probably go to a Shirley Q. show and crack up. And I’m not going so far as to say boycott the show. I won’t even call him a racist. But I hope Knipp and his fans can realize why it can be offensive. Still. Even in 2007.
Isaiah Washington has probably been around a lot of gay people in his Hollywood career. Still, he does something so stupid as to repeatedly use the F-word. Whatever he does, he needs to understand why so many gay people and gay supporters are pissed off. It was a blatant display of homophobia. And it takes gay people and gay supporters to show him. The same thing is happening with Knipp. People are saying — this is hurtful to me. And so many gay white folks are saying — get over it. It’s not offensive. Why not take a step back, truly listen, show some empathy, and stop discarding people who are telling you — I find this hurtful.
One last thing…there is rampant homophobia in the black community. There is also rampant racism in the gay community. To listen to people from both communities discard these comments as overblown is disheartening. Racism is not always overt or far-reaching – such as the sexism and homophobia in rap videos or the homophobia in country music. But it is dangerous on any level.
Please know that most of my friends and my boyfriend are white, so this isn’t a post to damn all white people. I entreat you to talk to your black or other non-white gay friends and ask them about the subtle or overt racism they’ve experienced in our community. Few of my friends ever do this, but most of them feel it’s ridiculous to think that racism is so prevalent in the gay community. When I raise this issue, most say — I just don’t see it. Not being aware of any -ism is a form of that -ism.
JH
It is about recognizing a joke for what it is.
I am gay, and I am white.
I can take a gay parody; I can take a white parody.
Some of you out there are black and can’t take a black parody
and gay and can’t take a gay parody.
Mis-identifying someone’s comedy act as having insidious evil remnants of
malicious hurtful bigotry is a STATE OF MIND of the critic, not the entertainer.
See a comedy routine by a decent person as just that, and the world changes with your mind.
Let’s drop the victim mentality, realize we are all, well-intended, freely voicing our opinions they way we want to – and Shirley Q should be free to do it too.
j. brotherlove
The funniest thing about Shirley Q Liquor is how people who are not black and not gay try to deem what is offensive to those of us who are.
I’ m black and gay and freely admit while some of Knipp’s act is funny to me, IT’S STILL OFFENSIVE! This mentality that whatever is “funny” isn’t bigotryand is fair game is sad and ridiculous.
ATL Ryan
OMG some of you people are out of your mind! You say that black people can’t take a black parody, but Ms. Liquor isn’t simply a black parody. It’s a white man putting on blackface to parody blacks! These two are not equivalent. The people at Snickers are right humor is subjective; however, racism is not!
mark
HRC is silent on this issue. They were late adding trans people to their mission. They over-proritize marriage. THey endorse pro-war candidates over progay candidates (lieberman over lamont) Wake up everyone – HRC SUCKS!