PEE-WEE WAS NOT GUILTY
by Michael Kearns
Pee-wee Herman, according to the New York Times’ obit, “was aware of the duality, between what his spirited alter ego promised and what he delivered in person, out of character.” Pee-wee was a complex artist but Pee-wee was not guilty.
Pee-wee didn’t have to come out as gay; his gayness was as apparent as his red bow tie. NPR’s Glen Walden wrote of “one of Reubens’ most overlooked talents–his ability to sneak an artisana blend of fey subversiveness into the mainstream. That special [Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special, 1991] injected a defiantly, yet matter-of-fact, queer sensibility into the CBS primetime airwaves of Reagan’s America.” And Pee-wee was not guilty.
A former mayor of Spokane, Washington(2003 to 2005), James E. West previously served in the state legislature, where the Republicans supported such legislation as a ban on gay workers at schools and day care centers. When it was revealed that he had been seeking sex with men on Gay.com, using the online nickname Cobra82, West was proven guilty. Pee-wee was not guilty.
In 1991, Reubens, the actor who inhabited Pee-wee Herman, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure at an adult movie theater in Florida where same-sex activities were illegal until 2003. He pleaded no contest to the charge but Pee-wee was not guilty.
An Oklahoma state senator and former Trump state campaign chair, Ralph Shortey–a “family values” Republican who voted in favor of legislation allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBT people–got busted in 2017 for soliciting sex from a 17-year-old male prostitute. Shortey was guilty. Pee-wee was not guilty.
After the 1991 arrest, CBS pulled the remaining reruns of Pee-wee’s Playhouse even though Pee-wee was not guilty.
”You can say that I’m different, that I’m freaky, that I’m weird — you can say lots of stuff about me. But you can’t say I’m a pedophile. That’s just not a part of who I am. I am not a child pornographer,” Reubens insisted, because Pee-wee was not guilty.
In 2002, Paul Reubens was charged with possession of child pornography, but maintained that the images were part of a vintage erotica collection. Pee-wee was not guilty.
Pee-wee was described as mincing, silly, beloved, bratty, geeky, precocious, brash, unapologetic, a sissy, giddy, boisterous, exuberant, strange. Pee-wee was not guilty.
Remember the Senator with an anti-gay agenda who was arrested when he tried to blow a cop in an airport bathroom? Yep, Larry Craig, who insisted he wasn’t gay, was guilty as fuck. Pee-wee was not guilty.
“Without the gray suit and red bow tie,” the New York Times reported in Reuben’s obituary, “he was just a guy who appreciated kitschy toys, vintage children’s television shows and making people laugh.” Pee-wee was not guilty.
Throughout his career, fans and friends stood by him because they adored him. And because Pee-wee was not guilty.
[PLEASE READ MY “KEVIN SPACEY IS GUILTY” ON HERE AS WELL]
