FOF #1774 – Men Who Fly the Friendly Skies

Marc Felion Apr 11, 2013 · 1985 views

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Of all the jobs gay men love to do, being a flight attendant is probably one of the hardest. Everyone thinks they’re just passing out snacks but the reality is that flight attendants are exposed to crazy passengers, terrorist threats, cosmic radiation and many infectious diseases.

Today we’re joined by historian Phil Tiemeyer whose new book Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants chronicles the fabulous history of men who fly the friendly skies.

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1. Than says:

   April 11, 2013 at 7:04 pm

   You didn’t really talk about how these are careers on the go, flight attendants, stewards, salesmen, truckers and so on. These careers attracted gay men because it meant they didn’t have time to ‘settle down’, get married, and raise a family. They didn’t have time to raise families and didn’t have to succumb to those social pressures. Their career was a ‘beard’ of another kind.

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   • Marc Felion says:

     April 11, 2013 at 7:26 pm

     Good point. We didn’t talk much about this but I’m sure it’s in the book.

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2. Larry La Fountain says:

   April 12, 2013 at 10:37 pm

   Fantastic show! It was fascinating to hear about the long history of men’s employment as airline stewards and the struggles they’ve faced, particularly in relation to homophobia and the AIDS crisis. It was also really fun to hear Fausto talking about Zero Patience (1993), the Canadian gay film with singing buttholes! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Patience

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