Richard Simmons, the Original Queer Eye
Richard Simmons, the ebullient paterfamilias of aerobics instruction who died on Saturday at 76, never publicly addressed his sexuality.
But during his long run as a leading figure in American cultural life, the way he defined himself for others was perhaps less important than how he presented himself.
More than 20 years before the fashion stylist Carson Kressley dispensed tips to finance bros on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and Tim Gunn rescued aspiring designers from nervous breakdowns on “Project Runway” with the instruction to “make it work,” Mr.
Simmons guided the average and the out-of-shape toward a loving embrace of the bodies they already had. In the process, he navigated the end of disco culture and the advent of the AIDS epidemic by making himself as nonthreatening as possible. “Confidence is contagious,” Mr.
