Indiana's Favorite Son Is Gay

[AnnieBW]

Jim Nabors, best known as Gomer Pyle, is probably Indiana's favorite son. He sings the state song, "Back Home Again in Indiana" every year at the Indianapolis 500, and has since God was a child. Actually, this will be the first year that Nabors hasn't sung at the 500, due to his declining health. He lives in Hawaii and runs a macadamia nut farm with his partner. Yep, Indiana's favorite son is gay. I wonder, if Jim Nabors goes back home again to Indiana, will people refuse to serve him and his partner? Will he be excluded from the 500?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Elwood P Dowd]

1. He announced last year that the 2014 Indy 500 would be his last one.

BTW, he is actually from Alabama. After graduating college he move to New York and then out west where he was discovered by Andy Griffith.

[pipoman]

2. I think Jim was the fist "favorite son"...Letterman is the more recent one...

Who doesn't love Jim Nabors? I think of him every December when I buy my annual 5# of macadamia nuts...

[Cha]

3. Oh the Hate-Filled Irony.. mahalo, AnnieBW.. We Welcome Everyone in Hawaii!

http://www.jimnabors.com/American_Profile_magazine/American_Profile.html

Aloha!

[msongs]

5. "gay" was ok in pre-contact hawaii, then christians came and ruined everything as usual

https://eliotspeaks.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/qp275_mahu_p16lr.pdf

[raven mad]

23. Hey, Hawaii is Lower Alaska!

LA, ya know - come February, March and snow!

[Cirque du So-What]

4. Hoosiers are proud to claim Cole Porter

and, like Nabors, Porter couldn't wait to GTFO of Indiana.

[Chipper Chat]

6. James Dean was bi or a closeted gay.

Every year there is a James Dean Festival in Indiana. Will the festival now have to discriminate against itself?

[cwydro]

30. How do you know that?

Just curious.

[Electric Monk]

34. Jump ahead to 3:15 on this youtube clip

and then there's these:
http://www.homohistory.com/2012/12/james-deans-gay-lovers.html
http://www.towleroad.com/2014/12/gay-iconography-the-hollywood-legend-of-james-dean.html

[Chipper Chat]

36. Read the autobiography of his best friend Bill Bast.

It is common knowledge around here that 'Jimmy' was bi or gay. (Not that there is anything wrong with that)

[cwydro]

38. Thanks!

I'd heard about Sal Mineo, but not Dean.

[nolabear]

7. How'd he get connected to Indiana? He's from Alabama.

I know this because he and I were born in the same town, Sylacauga. My grandparents lived across the street from his mother at one point. I can play a mean game of Brush With Greatness because I used to play with Jim Nabors' dog. 😊

[sobenji]

10. Adopted Hoosier for 40 years due to the Indy 500

I'll miss him. He was a great voice for the greatest spectacle in racing

[stonecutter357]

12. it's a small world

i live in Sylacauga.

[nolabear]

13. Hey! What's it like these days?

My mother's parents lived there and I was there frequently when I was a kid but have hardly been back as an adult. The last time was probably fifteen years ago. I remember it pretty well, the cotton mill and the red clay. My mother and Jim Nabors went to different High Schools at the same time, she to BB Comer and he to (I think) Sylacauga High. The town was always really proud of him and of course very, very much in denial about him being gay.

Nice to meet you!

[Whiskeytide]

15. I can play that game too...

Jim Nabors rented a room from my grandmother in Tuscaloosa for a semester while he attended the Univ of Ala. - 1950s maybe? He left a ladder back chair when he moved away because he didn't have enough room to take it. My parents kept the chair after my grandmother died, and my dad always referred to it as "Gomer's chair". I think my sister has it now.

* edited to correct a misspelling.

[nolabear]

25. Nice! Yes, it would have been mid to late 50s.

I'm reasonably sure he graduated HS in '53 or '54.

[Brother Buzz]

18. My brush with greatness: I was bitten by Tramp's mother

Off topic for sure, but your post reminded me of my brush with greatness.

[nolabear]

26. So he was a SOB?

Nice one! I have a couple more but I'll refrain.

[Brother Buzz]

29. She was actually a nice dog that just got caught up in the moment

Us kids discovered an eight foot diameter 20 foot long corrugated culvert made a great play toy. We'd get inside and run up the side and roll the thing around the field. The real sport was getting on top, and that involved grabbing the side edge while it was rolling, and that's where Tramp's mother got into the game and bit my calf as I was going up.

[nolabear]

31. All is forgiven, then.

I could never hold a grudge against a dog. 💓🐕💓

[Chipper Chat]

37. What a great keepsake.

I loved 'Fred Mertz' who was once an actual performer on the Vaudeville circuit (with Ethel).

[Brother Buzz]

40. In my opinion, My Three Sons jumped the shark when William Frawley left

That's not my photograph. Tramp was whelped in Southern California where he was acquired by the famous Hollywood animal trainer, Frank Inn (incidentally, originally a hoosier!). The owners of Tramp's mom then moved to Northern California in 1959, where I met her.

[Chipper Chat]

41. I think he left for health reasons.

But you're right. I could never accept William Demerest. Was not the same. The 'magic' was gone.

[Brother Buzz]

42. Dead within the year

I still enjoy spotting him in a ton of movies; always the second fiddle even when he carried the film.

[raven mad]

24. Sylacauga? I love that town! n/t

[nolabear]

27. I'd like to see it again someday.

Frankly the grandparents I'm question were monsters, but I don't hold that against it.

[Motown_Johnny]

8. Well Surprise Surprise Surprise !

Sorry...... couldn't resist.

[Elwood P Dowd]

11. It even made it on Pink Floyd's "The Wall"

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. Sargent we're sharing the same room.

[nolabear]

28. No. Really?

Seriously? Where?

[MADem]

9. What about Cole Porter? He was one of AMERICA's favorite sons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cole_Porter

He was an American national treasure who hailed from Peru, Indiana.

[LynneSin]

14. Well since the race is in Indianapolis the answer would be 'not an issue'

Since the mayor of Indianapolis issue an executive order almost immediately saying that the city would not allow businesses to discriminate against citizens (thus negating the Pence law). So at least the mayor was smart enough to protect the city when Pence decided to screw over the rest of the state.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Wow. That's Interesting

Does Indiana have a home rule law, too? We do in Illinois but it only applies to a few quite large cities. Obviously, in Indiana it would apply to Indianapolis easily.

[ieoeja]

19. I don't know about home rule law, but it is VERY strong tradition in Indiana.

I only know of one prior rejection of that tradition. The State passed pro-gun laws that forbade counties and cities from enacting counter legislation. That is the only time I know when Indiana defied the tradition of letting counties and cities go their separate ways.

Until recently the state let individual counties decide which time zone each one wanted. Indiana takes "local control" to the extreme.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. I thought Larry Bird was their favorite son./NT

[itcfish]

20. Michael Jackson

was born in Indiana, wasn't he? His sexuality? Don't know, but I am sure they would refuse to serve him somewhere in Indiana. LOL

[awoke_in_2003]

22. any place that has children. nt

[DeSwiss]

39. !

[itcfish]

21. Brandon Fraser

Also born in Indiana. Don't know his sexuality either. Don't care.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

32. Jim Nabors is gay rumors went back to the time he was on Gomer Pyle

I remember my mom complaining, " They say Jim Nabors is gay and Rock Hudson is his lover. Why do they say such awful things about people?"

[LeftyMom]

33. Wait, how is anybody other than Larry Bird Indiana's favorite son?

Seriously, Indiana's favorite things are basketball and try hard white guys. And he's not gay, everybody wore tiny shorts back then.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. Larry Bird is GAY?

Who the fuck cares?