History Main / QueerPeopleAreFunny

There is a tendency for works, particularly older works and works aimed at young men, to treat same sex relationships as being ''inherently'' funny. Obviously, gay people and gay relationships can be funny for lots of reasons connected to their actions. This trope only applies when the fact that it is gay is the whole punchline. Litmus test -- if it were heterosexual, would it be funny? If not, it's this trope.

Loaded with UnfortunateImplications in many cases, with the idea of homosexuality being {{Squick}}y and freakish -- but there's no shortage of queer and queer-friendly creators who do it [[{{Camp}} while being in on the joke]]. In many cases in history, making it into a punchline was the only way to sneak LGBT subtext past the MoralGuardians. For some creators, experimenting with homoerotic humour is a necessary way of coming to terms with their own sexuality.

* In ''Anime/AngelBeats'' there is a running joke about Hinata saying something questionable and Otonashi asking him if he's gay. And Naoi's... rather extreme admiration of Otonashi after his episode also gets played for laughs a lot.

* In ''LightNovel/MayoChiki'', when Kinjiro refuses to be touched by a girl, [[spoiler:because he has gynophobia with embarrassing physical symptoms]], his male friend loudly questions him if he is gay, much to Kinjiro's embarrassment.

* Encyclopedia Dramatica ''[[RefugeInAudacity loves]]'' this.

* Encyclopedia Dramatica ''[[RefugeInAudacity loves]]'' this. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement And that's all we're going to say about that]].

-->-- '''Creator/HarveyFierstein''' on declining to reprise his role on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

* Lampshaded by ''Sammy J and Randy'' in their song [[https://soundcloud.com/user-855591591/sammy-j-randy-swiss-lovers-in-a-past-life "Swiss Lovers in a Past Life"]]. The song is about both Sammy J and Randy having memories of falling in love in a rural Swedish town and realising that they were, uh, Swiss lovers in a past life. Then one mentions climbing a window and making love, and the other says that wasn't his window - and he realises that's why he thought he recognised a man in the crowd earlier. But then they start wondering whether they're exploiting homophobia for cheap laughs:
-->'''Randy:''' Is this homophobic?
-->'''Sammy:''' 'Cause it's making fun of gay men?
-->'''Randy:''' D'you think so?
-->'''Sammy:''' I have no idea.
-->'''Randy:''' There's a certain implication homosexual fornication is more worthy of laughs.
-->'''Sammy:''' They were laughing!
-->'''Randy:''' That's no excuse, it's 2015!

-->Guess who's back. Back again. Keniff's back. Tell some men.

[[folder:Standup Comedy]]

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', most of the humor involving Donut is based around this. [[AmbiguouslyGay Though it's not entirely clear what his sexuality actually is.]]

* Brits old enough to remember ''The Dick Emery Show'' will recall that one of Dick's many faces was a CampGay and that he never really got any punchlines; it was just meant to be funny because he was a "poof".

* The 1980s {{Britcom}} ''Series/AlloAllo'' has far too many jokes about Lieutenant Gruber's homosexuality even to be justified by the inherent irony of a gay [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Wehrmacht]] soldier.

* ''WebVideo/AreTheyGay'': Discussed in his "How Comidies are Changing LGBTQ+ Representation'' video. Alex brings up how in the 1920s a lot of queercoded characters, particularly males, were used mostly for PluckyComicRelief, something he notes still happens to this day, but not to the same degree. He goes on to say that he feels like it's quite offensive due to it simply turning the act of being gay into a joke.

->''"Basically, Homer just had a lot of fun hanging out with gay men, and drinking in bars, and dancing at discos, and all that, and there was nothing -- there was no commentary there. Every restaurant had a silly gay name. The gym had a silly gay name. They were all double entendres, obviously. And I said, 'Anybody could do this. You’re the fucking ''Simpsons''. Do something we have never seen before'."''

There is a tendency for works, particularly older works and works aimed at young men, to treat same sex relationships as being ''inherently'' funny. Obviously, gay people and gay relationships can be funny for lots of reasons; for example, if the characters are incredibly mismatched, or if the behavior of one character is amusingly off-putting. This trope only applies when the fact that it is gay is the whole punchline. Litmus test -- if it were heterosexual, would it be funny? If not, it's this trope.

Loaded with UnfortunateImplications in many cases, with the idea of homosexuality being inherently {{Squick}}y and freakish -- but there's no shortage of queer and queer-friendly creators who do it [[{{Camp}} while being in on the joke]]. In many cases in history, making it into a punchline was the only way to sneak LGBT subtext past the MoralGuardians. For some creators, experimenting with homoerotic humour is a necessary way of coming to terms with their own sexuality.

Subtropes include GayBravado. Begets the humorous parts in AmbiguouslyGay, MistakenForGay, HoYay. Contrast with HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday, which could be considered both an Inversion and Subversion.

** That said, for some gay viewers the joke with Smithers is less "Haha, he's gay!" and more [[AlternativeJokeInterpretation "Haha, he's genuinely in love with someone like Mr. Burns!"]]

** That said, for some gay viewers the joke with Smithers is less "Haha, he's gay!" and more [[AlternateJokeInterpretation "Haha, he's genuinely in love with someone like Mr. Burns!"]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' did this once in an episode, where [[FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit James Nixon McGarfield]] revealed his plan to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe make a girl his queen]] via a mind control helmet called the Boyfriend Helmet. She expresses surprise, [[MistakenForGay thinking he wants a boyfriend]], which he angrily refutes.
** Also, [[spoiler:Henrietta von Marzipan. She was put under a curse that turned her into a boy (ItMakesSenseInContext), but ends up turning back to her real gender in her last episode. [[OnlySaneMan Numbuh 5]] is supportive, but the rest of the team expresses disgust when they realize her identity.]]
[[/folder]]

->''"Basically, Homer just had a lot of fun hanging out with gay men, and drinking in bars, and dancing at discos, and all that, and there was nothing -- there was no commentary there. Every restaurant had a silly gay name. The gym had a silly gay name. They were all double entendres, obviously. And I said, 'Anybody could do this. You’re the fucking ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]''. Do something we have never seen before'."''
-->-- '''Creator/HarveyFierstein''' on declining to reprise his role on ''The Simpsons''

* A not infrequent joke in Music/{{Eminem}}'s music, at least early on. In particular, he has a gay character, Ken Kaniff, who originated as a PrankCall character but (starting from ''Music/TheEminemShow'') just sings DepravedHomosexual-themed [[SongParody song parodies]] of Eminem's [[BlackSheepHit comedy singles]].

* A not infrequent joke in Music/{{Eminem}}'s music, at least early on. In particular, he has a gay character, Ken Kaniff, who originated as a PrankCall character but (starting from ''Music/TheEminemShow'') just sings DepravedHomosexual-themed [[SongParody song parodies]] of Eminem's singles.

-->-- '''Harvey Fierstein''' on declining to reprise his role on ''The Simpsons''

* Creator/JimSterling is pansexual in real life, so plays this up from time to time as part of [[MeanCharacterNiceActor theyr disgusting, narcissistic comic persona]]. A good example of this is in their video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWpKNfExRi4 Top Ten Game Characters I'd Wank Off in a Public Toilet]], a FanDisservice-riddled parody of awful "Top Ten Hottest Videogame Babes" videos, which relies on Steph's not-so-great looks and their exploitation of the sordid stereotypes of gay male sexuality to make the video as nauseating and pathetic as the "hot babe" things look to anyone with any sense of perspective.

* Creator/JimSterling is bisexual in real life, so plays this up from time to time as part of [[MeanCharacterNiceActor his disgusting, narcissistic comic persona]]. A good example of this is in his video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWpKNfExRi4 Top Ten Game Characters I'd Wank Off in a Public Toilet]], a FanDisservice-riddled parody of awful "Top Ten Hottest Videogame Babes" videos, which relies on Jim's not-so-great looks and his exploitation of the sordid stereotypes of gay male sexuality to make the video as nauseating and pathetic as the "hot babe" things look to anyone with any sense of perspective.

There is a tendency for works, particularly older works and works aimed at young men, to treat same sex relationships as being ''inherently'' funny. Obviously, gay people and gay relationships can be funny for lots of reasons; for example, if the characters are incredibly mismatched, or if the behavior of one character is amusingly off-putting. This trope only applies when the fact that it is gay is the whole punchline. Litmus test -- if it were heterosexual, would it be funny? If not, it's this trope. Loaded with UnfortunateImplications in many cases, with the idea of homosexuality being inherently {{Squick}}y and freakish -- but there's no shortage of queer and queer-friendly creators who do it [[{{Camp}} while being in on the joke]]. In many cases in history, making it into a punchline was the only way to sneak LGBT subtext past the MoralGuardians.

** Aside from these cases, the series also features two {{transgender}} GirlOfTheWeek characters: an ex of Charlie’s who becomes a new boyfriend of Evelyn’s in season 1, and a trans woman Alan dates briefly in season 11. Both of them are the subject of some jokes that fit this trope in a fairly non-offensive way, but their treatment is very positive in general.