So You Think Can Knock Off the Homophobia, Nigel Lythgoe?

Update: we have an interview with the gay contestant at the bottom of the post!

I've written before about So You Think You Can Dance's Nigel Lythgoe and his cretinous attitude toward what he terms "effeminate dancers." Well, that condescending attitude was on full-blown display during last night's auditions in Denver as the show returned for its fifth season.

The show featured its first same-sex couple — Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel — who were introduced with incredibly condescending dramatics including a clip of "It's Raining Men" and many "dramatic" shots of the two swirling about.

During the couple's audition (Misha is gay and Mitchel is straight), Lythgoe and fellow judges Mary Murphy and Sonya Tayeh kept exchanging bemused looks, and at one point Nigel covers his eyes as if he's too horrified by what he's seeing. Then when the two guys take a tumble, Nigel laughs at them.

Okay, much of the above can be expected during auditions when you get folks who aren't always great. But what came next definitely shouldn't have happened. 

After the two dance, Nigel comments that it's the first time they've had two guys do a Samba and he says he doesn't really know what to say. He notes their styles were good, if he just "sticks with the dancing" and ignores their gender, but that the pair would probably alienate a lot of the SYTYCD audience. Nice way to assume your audience is as intolerant as you are, Mr. Lythgoe!

Nigel also shares that that he "likes to see guys be guys and girls be girls on stage."

He then makes the shocking observation that "he didn't like it, but if we just keep it down to your dancing, rather than your dancing together, you were good." 

Nigel Lythoge

Mary then observes how confused she was by trying to figure out who was leading as they switched back and forth. (I've never seen Mary before, but something tells me she might get confused trying to figure out which shoe goes on which foot.) Both she and Nigel don't seem able to wrap their minds around the fact that there isn't only a male and female role in dancing, but a leader and a  follower.

And both of them, along with Sonya, the third judge, really had a hard time with the concepts of masculine and feminine, especially with certain gestures such as two men reaching for each other. It must be limiting to live in a world where everything is so rigid. I bet Nigel never ever cries because that would be awfully girly.

Nigel finishes up by saying he'd like to see them both dance with a girl, and adds "You never know, you might enjoy that, too." Seriously? He actually made that crack?

In fact, the pair are then shown dancing with women, but are ultimately dismissed and are seen walking out of the building to the lyrics of "It's a man world, but it would mean nothing, nothing without a woman."

Wow, subtle Fox! Way to tell the gay guy that he just isn't equal to a straight guy! You did everything but lisp and mince behind them.

The whole thing was choreographed to sensationalize the fact it was two men and, frankly, to mock them.

It's truly outrageous that in 2009, a television network would deliberately orchestrate such a homophobic segment. Fox and Lythgoe owe them and the audience an apology.

Editor's update: After I posted the above, I got in touch with Misha himself to find out what he thought of how Fox and the judges treated him. Misha had no problem with the judges comments regarding the technical aspects of their performance, but was not happy with how he and Mitchel were treated otherwise. In fact, Misha told AfterElton.com that there was even worse said that Fox didn't show. Here are his comments. 

More of what the judges said: 

It was more offensive than what they showed. Nigel said that he's not sure that the fathers watching this at home would be encouraged to take their sons to allow them to learn to dance. Nigel told me that they [the show] has spent all these seasons trying to build up the idea that a male can dance and make it more acceptable, and we didn't really help the cause.

I told him that I have a father, too, and I went through that. I told him that the country is already going through a lot of changes and could handle some more. Nigel didn't say anything to that. 

The judges kept going on about a man and a woman and I kept correcting them that it was a leader and a follower. 

Nigel asked me after the choreography round, how I liked dancing with a girl and I said, "I've been ballroom dancing since I was twelve, so I've been dancing with girls my whole life." It was very inappropriate and the only reason they advanced us wasn't to see if we could improve or be versatile, but was to make us dance with girls.

On how the producers treated them:

The judges were mean, but the producers and the staff were super supportive. Cat Deely was great. Did a long interview with her that she didn't show. 

One woman told us we had broken a glass ceiling. 

What Misha told the judges: 

I told Sonya I didn't understand how one man reaching for another man is in any way feminine. It was super inappropriate. Dancing is an art form and is about the dancing and not about two men or two women. It's about expressing yourself through movement.

His thoughts about what happened: 

We're fighting for equality in this country and the right to marry and the right to adopt, so why the f--k can't we dance together?

I told them ballroom dancing is very popular in the gay community and is a sport. It's part of the World Outgames and Mitchel and I are going to compete in Copenhagen in July. 

As a British citizen, Nigel totally put this country down by saying we're not ready for this.

Fox owes me an apology for how they treated me as a gay man. I've never been so proud and offended at the same time as I was that night. Mitchel said he's never been so offended either and didn't know how to react to that kind of bigotry. He'd never been oppressed like a minority. He felt very angry.

 Editor's note: I've reached out to Fox for a comment about how they handled the episode. Fox just issued this non-apology apology. Lythgoe just apologized via twitter for his "Brokeback" dancing tweet.