Netflix sitcom, or the newest gay viral web series. This is the plot of The Gay Deceivers, a movie directed by Bruce Kessler and released in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War—decades before the needle would even begin to move around queer visibility in media.
We had to take a look at this rare comedy to see how the story played out, how queer culture was portrayed back then, and how well—or not!—it has aged.
And whew it was a journey! Here are some of the thoughts we had while watching The Gay Deceivers…Our two lead characters are Danny (Kevin Coughlin) and Elliot (Lawrence P.
Kasey), who we meet during their draft interview. They are pulling their take on a Victor/Victoria: straight men pretending to be gay pretending to be straight.