Was fred rogers gay

Rogers himself was often labeled “a sissy,” or gay, in a derogatory sense. But as his longtime associate Eliot Daley put it: “Fred is one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life. Francois Clemmons — author of the new memoir Officer Clemmons — tells PEOPLE that when he met Fred Rogers at church in , "a divine spark was released". Though the show did have Francois Clemmons, who played the long running Officer Clemmons character and who came out as gay, now a revelation has come out about Fred Rogers himself.

Unsurprisingly, Mister Rogers never referred to himself as explicitly "bisexual," but terminology aside, Twitter seems to have dug up an interview in which he declared he fell right in the middle of the sexuality spectrum, finding both men and women of equal attraction. His androgyny and lack of machismo meant that those who knew him were often asked if Rogers was gay.

The actual evidence for Rogers’ bisexuality, however, comes from a reference King makes to a conversation Rogers had with his friend William Hirsch, an openly gay psychologist. The film played a clip of talk show host Tom Snyder asking Rogers if he was straight. Nope, not as far as I know. The evidence comes in the form of an excerpt from a biography of Rogers that began to make its way around the internet. William Hirsch.

Because I have found women attractive, and I have found men attractive. Rogers was bisexual and my life has meaning again, today is so blessed. Meanwhile, Rogers was married to one woman, Joanne, for almost all his adult life. Rogers died in , after winding up 31 seasons of his show in Fred and Joanne Rogers were parents of two sons.

Long explained that acting on gay or bisexual tendencies would have been a complicated matter for Rogers given the times he lived in. Rogers might have been revered for advocating for progressive views on child development, race relations and other cultural issues. But in other ways his high-profile career in public television made it difficult for him to publicly stray too far from generally accepted, post-World War II ideas about family, gender and sexuality, Long and others said.

That perhaps explains why Rogers strongly discouraged his gay co-star Clemmons from coming out in the late s. Rogers encouraged Clemmons to marry a woman, which Clemmons did, only to divorce her six years later.

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But Rogers later revised his advice to Clemmons, as countless men and women came out following the Stonewall uprising, Long wrote in his Huffington Post essay. Rogers also urged Clemmons, who became a lifelong friend, to enter into a long-term and stable gay relationship. Bottom line, according to Long, is that Rogers advocated for a queer- and straight-friendly message of unconditional acceptance of other people throughout his TV career.

Fred Rogers, The host of the children's television show 'Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Fred Rogers is the host of the children's show 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Photo By Getty Images. PAUL J. George W. Show Caption. Report an error Policies and Standards Contact Us. More in Entertainment.