Dancing with Same-Sex Partners

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

11 Apr 2008 09:57 AM

Prior to Steve Guttenberg getting the boot from this season's "Dancing with the Stars" he took to the dance floor with his partner Anna Trebunskaya's husband, pro dancer Jonathan Roberts for a tango the show's host affectionately referred to as the "MAN-go."

In the days since, Guttenberg and Roberts' "man-go" clip has received more than a million hits on ABC.com and YouTube and has sparked a number of lively debates in cyberspace (and beyond) regarding the idea of having the popular dancing competition include same-sex partners.

In fact, when a gay/lesbian/transgender group recently proposed bending the gender rules on the mega-popular hit to ABC's network president, he said, "I think there's no reason not to." And when the idea was posed to "Dancing with the Stars" executive producer Conrad Green he reportedly replied: "It would make quite a statement in a way. I'm sort of open to it, but curious about the implications of it."

My first reaction to the comments made by the ABC exec and the show's executive producer is: Duh. What did you expect them to say? No, we are completely opposed to the idea even though we (well, at least Green) were the ones who came up with the idea of Guttenberg and Roberts performing their "man-go" on that week's results show.

For those of you who missed week three of the show, on that Monday Guttenberg was shown in video clip rehearsing the tango with Roberts because his real partner, Trebunskaya was sick. Roberts who is married to Trebunskaya and had gotten kicked off with celebrity partner Monica Seles the week before came to his ill wife's aid and stepped in with Guttenberg during rehearsals only. It was the producer's idea to have the two men perform the same dance the next night as a way to "get some laughs."

I doubt the producers could have predicted that their decision would result in a proposal from a gay rights group to revamp the show.

What do you think about the proposal to have same-sex partners compete on "Dancing with the Stars?"

My question: Who would lead?

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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mcmama (51978) 11 Apr 2008 10:13 AM

It's dumb. In real life, same sex dancing is usually done by women in many settings, not just gay ones. This is because men dont want to dance. But women do. If you are in an area where Irish culture is celebrated year round, go to a caeli dance or a pub where they have music and couples dance. You will see women (most of them old) pairing off.

Michele Cheplic (37339) 12 Apr 2008 05:35 AM

And what of the lifts? Who gets that job?

Valorie Delp (49340) 12 Apr 2008 09:59 AM

Oh Michele that's easy. . .the lighter one is the lifted while the heavier one is the liftee! ;-)

Michele Cheplic (37339) 13 Apr 2008 02:47 PM

Thanks Valorie---I don't know why I didn't think of that. ;-)