Darren Young is WWE’s publicly gay performer, but, as we reported a few weeks back, his on-screen character is apparently not gay, according to Stephanie McMahon. This is just a tad confusing, because WWE hasn’t never really established that the openly gay Darren Young we see in interviews and posting on social media is a different character than the guy we see on TV. They seem pretty similar to me. Also, Darren has dropped plenty of innuendo on WWE TV that would indicate he thinks his character is gay.
Ultimately, though, we didn’t know what Darren thought about the situation, because the Daily Beast story this all came from got quotes from Stephanie McMahon and a GLAAD spokesperson, but didn’t bother to talk to Darren himself. Well, after a month of silence, Darren Young addressed the touchy subject on Instagram…
https://instagram.com/p/6iM-bFhac9
“I’m happy with Darren Young and where he stands in the company at present. Even though my character isn’t gay, I’m still able to express myself in other ways like when I put my arms up into an equal sign. That’s my signature pose and it symbolizes what Darren Young is all about. I’m here, and I do what I do to show everyone that we are all equal. Gay, straight, male, female, whatever your race, if you work hard and stay focused, you can make it to the big leagues! As a proud gay man in the WWE, I’ve always thought my success was entirely due to my skills as an entertainer and wrestler. It had nothing to do with my personal life. This said, I wouldn’t mind if my character turned gay if it’s for the sake of having an intriguing yet tasteful storyline, but I wouldn’t do that switch if the reason is ‘just to have a gay character.’ ”
Sounds like Darren Young would prefer his character be gay, but, when you’re a WWE midcarder, just being regularly used on TV in a dignified way is something to be grateful for. It’s easy to understand why Darren wouldn’t want to rock the boat now that he’s in a good place as one half of the Tag Team Champions. That said, I’d be all for an intriguing, yet tasteful storyline where Darren’s character is identified as gay, if only because WWE pulling off intriguing and tasteful at the same time would be pretty groundbreaking in its own right.
(Via SB Nation)
