Why Showtime’s historical drama ‘Fellow Travelers’ is a fiery love affair for the ages
Fellow Travelers, is an epic love story set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing country, when hard-won progress for queer Americans came in fits and starts.Based on a novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, the decades-spanning series opens in Washington, D.C.
in the 1950s, when Senator Joseph McCarthy stoked fears of the Soviet Union and brought about an era of political repression, targeting homosexuals and anyone suspected to be sympathetic to communist ideals.It’s here that we’re introduced to Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller (The Normal Heart‘s Matt Bomer), a charismatic war hero and respected government official, and Tim Laughlin (Bridgerton‘s Jonathan Bailey), a meek and idealistic recent college grad.
Though neither would dare speak publicly about their sexuality, there’s an implicit connection—and instant attraction—when they first meet.And so begins a sweeping, years-long romance that finds these two crossing paths time and again, running in tandem with the gay liberation movement, through the Vietnam War and protests of the ‘60s, to the free-love hedonism of the ‘70s, up through the troubling early days of the AIDS epidemic in the ‘80s.On this National Coming Out Day, we reflect on where we’ve been so that we can celebrate the loud and proud people we are today.
With that, let’s take a look at how history unfolds in Fellow Travelers through the lens of Hawk and Tim’s timeless relationship.View Full PostHawk, ever the charmer, makes plenty of appearances at government functions and parties—it’s just that he usually waits to meet guys afterwards, in secret… cruising in the bathrooms.
