Bigoted Comedian on Carnival Miracle

[grrl2grrl]

@ foureyedbuzzard - well stated.

 

@ yknot13 - I don't find Carnival homophobic in the slightest, and I imagine neither do the stockholders on this thread.

 

@ OP - sorry your experience offended you so deeply & better luck next cruise.

[emjsea]

It's amazing that the Carnivangelists "rah rah rah" have taken the time to come over from their special board to defend this "comedian." Wow. Sad really that they put so much time and effort in defending an entity even when it's clearly wrong. You have to wonder what is missing in people's lives when they have to fill themselves up in blind faith in a cruise line.

 

Jokes are one thing. The "comedian" wasn't telling jokes. He was saying "keep the homos away from me" and "gays are pedophiles." Those aren't jokes, just bigoted statements. Maybe he's a bitter Catholic that is trying to focus attention on another group besides his own church (the real pedophiles). Who knows?

 

Again. He wasn't telling jokes, just making ignorant statements. Bigot. And those defending him are just sad.

[apollobeach]

This occurred on the second night of the cruise. This was a Easter/holiday

cruise with alot of children onboard. For the rest of the cruise we did

receive some dirty looks and comments were made. For a comedian to

state (or suggest) that gays are child molesters is not acceptable. What if

one of us were physically harmed due to someone's bigotry. To say: "I

need to use an anti-Gay disinfectant" would not be allowed to be said regarding individuals in any other groups. It is very clear that there are

individuals on this thread who believe that members of the LBGT community

are second class citizens who should stay in their place. We as a group do

not have full equality and to use terms like anti-Gay only reinforce this.

[emjsea]

@apollobeach

Yeah, I get the feeling that if the comedian said something like "All those Teabaggers are knuckling dragging Klan members without the hoods. Keep them away from me," most of these defenders would be on Faux News crying about those bigoted, hateful liberals. For them, it's never hate speech when it's about someone they find distasteful.

[MrPete]

It's amazing that the Carnivangelists "rah rah rah" have taken the time to come over from their special board to defend this "comedian." Wow. Sad really that they put so much time and effort in defending an entity even when it's clearly wrong. You have to wonder what is missing in people's lives when they have to fill themselves up in blind faith in a cruise line.

 

Jokes are one thing. The "comedian" wasn't telling jokes. He was saying "keep the homos away from me" and "gays are pedophiles." Those aren't jokes, just bigoted statements. Maybe he's a bitter Catholic that is trying to focus attention on another group besides his own church (the real pedophiles). Who knows?

 

Again. He wasn't telling jokes, just making ignorant statements. Bigot. And those defending him are just sad.

 

Maybe it's because he posted over there that this thread existed. :rolleyes:

 

But it's interesting that you find it necessary to attack THAT "group".

 

I've spent my life being an individual, and have never allowed myself to be grouped. Hell, I can be lumped into a ton of them.

 

Talk about "ME" in an unfavorable light, and maybe I'd make a stink. And if a comedian singled me out, like they do quite often, I would assume it was part of that schtick. When I go to Sea World, I also know I might get wet.

 

I can certainly pass both if I choose. Besides, the potential exists that neither will perform to my liking.

[apollobeach]

One other thing...... people do not speak for me, or my Partner so please don't show ignorance by stating what, in your opinion(s), is the feeling of all Carnival stockholders. You would have done well to READ a previous posting - by a Carnival stockholder.

 

And, some of you would do well to have the courtesy to re-read our letter - we questioned Carnival's commitment to diversity - please inform us where we called Carnival bigoted.

 

So many people have so many homophobic comments here to make when we GLBT people address an issue........again, we find that most interesting.

 

Enough has been said here as well - will the bigots please leave the board.......and go hate someone else.

 

We wonder if this comedian had spoken his bigotry about lesbians; blacks;Jews, we would have received the same comments.

[soldham]

I start by mentioning that Apollobeach had the opportunity to speak with the comedian which I am confident provided them with better insight as to the character of this individual and may have better defined the situation than the actual 'on stage' comments.

 

That being said - it has been my experience in life that several things are constant:

 

1.) People who are not in an minority group often say things about that group (often in jest) without realizing just how offensive it may be.

2.) People get defensive and often will not retract comments when confronted. It is an admission of poor judgement which few of us like to do.

3.) There is a VERY fine line between comedy and offense. My personal opinion is that comments that toe that line (or overstep it) do not have a place on a main stream cruise line and would be more suited to say the Montreal Comedy Festival or the like. If at all.

 

For some reason the song from Avenue Q keeps entering my mind here.....Everyone's a little bit racist :o

[shipty2]

If a statement is not funny to the people it is about it is not really a joke.

 

In my opinion it is the use of the words "gay disinfectant" that are the problem. Perhaps the comedian needed a thesaurus and could have found the word repellent which changes the flavor of the joke. Disinfectant implies there is something transmissible about gayness or somehow harmful which is offensive .

[Tim-n-Rick]

I don't know if I'd call what the comedian said hate speech so much as ignorant speech. Such jokes at our expense will eventually fall away just as jokes about Jews, African Americans and the Disabled have. I believe you did the right thing by speaking to the comedian and the CD and that it most likely had an impact on them both. The guy was obviously a talentless hack who had to resort to tired, old, stereotypical humor to get a chuckle. Comedy evolves just like everything else and soon enough this guy will either have to come up with some original material or get a job at McDonalds.

[hisurfer]

No question, a comparable slam on blacks, latinos, or any other minority group would get the man fired on the spot.

 

I guess you haven't traveled on an Atlantis Cruise The only one I went on each of the three drag queens and one of the 'comedians' made jokes about blacks, and a few of them tossed in deaf and Asian jokes as well. Most of them also included diatribes against anyone who was too 'sensitive' to laugh.

 

No one was fired. Please don't think blacks or anyone else are privileged, or don't have racist jokes made about them.

[mundaetraversa]

I am with apollobeach on this one. Implying that gay people are diseased pedophiles is simply not acceptable. This is not a case of 'oversensitivity' - it's a case of slander. LGBT people work in many professions - I am a teacher, for example. I do not appreciate people, gay or straight, and their children laughingly being told that we are predators. I do not believe it's okay to claim that these so-called jokes are okay because hey, a gay guy hit on him! Many straight men have hit on me, but that doesn't give me the right to tell children to avoid him or that he is diseased. I am going on my honeymoon cruise with my soon-to-be wife this fall, and after reading this, I am glad it's not with Carnival.

[teacher_md]

I would have done the exact same thing. Good for you, apollobeach, for speaking your mind. I bet Carnival may be a little more careful when hiring their performers... or at least I would hope they would.

[sguywilson]

Just curious...Has anybody been on Miracle since? Is this guy still performing currently? Now I feel like I'm gonna have to act st8 more than ever now so I can move about the ship undisturbed. My sig and I don't flaunt it anyway but with this report I'll be on my guard. I mean it's kind of obvious anyway. Not many st8 guys go on cruises together and if they do I'm sure it crosses peoples minds. This really sucks right b4 I leave on a cruise I've been waiting for forever it feels like. I even have the boat as a screensaver on my computer at work so when I feel stressed I can minimize everything and look at it and say all of this bad allows me to enjoy that. What a buzz kill!

[bmazzo]

Just curious...Has anybody been on Miracle since? Is this guy still performing currently? Now I feel like I'm gonna have to act st8 more than ever now so I can move about the ship undisturbed. My sig and I don't flaunt it anyway but with this report I'll be on my guard. I mean it's kind of obvious anyway. Not many st8 guys go on cruises together and if they do I'm sure it crosses peoples minds. This really sucks right b4 I leave on a cruise I've been waiting for forever it feels like. I even have the boat as a screensaver on my computer at work so when I feel stressed I can minimize everything and look at it and say all of this bad allows me to enjoy that. What a buzz kill!

 

 

I think you should go on your cruise with your partner and enjoy it. My partner and I have been on almost thirty cruises, both straight and with gay groups and you have nothing to worry about. The comedian on the op's cruise was clearly a moron and took the correct measure by writing to Carnival about it. We know a cruise director for RCL / formerly Carnival and have been told that if the cruise lines HQS. recieves enough negative comments about an entertainer they are no longer booked on the line. All cruise lines, including Carnival are not going to jeopardize a lucrative market base as the GLBT community. :cool:

[sguywilson]

Thanks for your quick reply...I feel better now...I know now I'm just probably overreacting.