the first comedian to come out on national tv
robin tyler believed in radical honesty and standing up for queer rights, even at the cost of her career
imagine playing a character so well that police arrest you as the character. daniel day lewis could only dream. but for comedian robin tyler, it actually happened. robin tyler moved from canada to new york city in 1962 to pursue comedy. one of her first gigs was impersonating judy garland- well, impersonating a man impersonating judy garland.
a quick background on robin tyler before i get into the infamous arrest. robin was born in 1942 and realized she was a lesbian in 1958 after reading an article in the newspaper that said, “if you love women, you’re a lesbian.” fair enough. she told her mother who - of course - did not take it well. but something we may not know is the regressive attitudes towards gay people in the late 50s/early 60s was a pendulum swing from the extremely progressive attitudes towards gay people in the 1920s. back then, gays and lesbians had established a presence in new york city, with queer nightlife expanding into all areas of the united states. but the economic downturn of the depression brought the country into an era of conservatism. many blamed the “cultural experimentation” of the 20s as the reason for the economic collapse. it would be decades until queer life would be allowed to openly flourish again.
robin tyler knew comedy was inherently political. she moved to new york city to pursue comedy in 1962. in the 60s, police would regularly raid queer clubs and drag ballrooms under the pretense of an informal “three-article” rule. this rule would target and arrest people who publicly wore 3 or more articles of clothing that didn’t match their assigned gender. of course, the regular targets of this rule were drag queens. robin would perform her famous man-as-judy garland impression alongside a lineup of queens at drag balls. it was this very shtick that got her imprisoned with her fellow performers, despite her insisting to police that she was female. with her one allotted phone call, robin calls the new york post. days later, the new york post ran the headline, “cops grab 44 men and a real girl in slacks.”
after this arrest, you would think that robin would exercise caution in her activism, as being gay alone was grounds for deportation. but she went even harder. robin used the arrest to get booked at club 82, a club famous for its colorful, flamboyant drag shows. it was there she met the love of her life and comedy partner - fashion model pat harrison.
on june 28, 1969, police raided yet another gay bar one of their usual raids. but what happened after was new - the patrons started fighting back. historians debate on who began the stonewall riots - or “threw the first brick”. robin and pat arrived hours later on the scene as news of the resistance spread to members of the queer nyc community. robin wanted to fight back, but pat cautioned her against it, saying that one more arrest could lead to her deportation back to canada. as she watched her peers fight back, robin promised that night that she would never hold back from resisting the system ever again.
in 1970, robin tyler and pat harrison joined forces to create the comedy duo “harrison and tyler.” they were groundbreaking in that they were the firsts to make women and queer people the subject of humor, rather than the object of humor. comedy at the time was full of comedians who regularly made gay people the butt of the joke, and played into the public fears of being seen as gay. but the success of ‘harrison and tyler’ proves just how much value there is in appealing to your community vs. trying to appeal to everyone.
remember this was the 1970s so their path to success wasn’t easy - or safe. in 1973, pat and robin were doing a show when one of the waiters came with a knife to stab them. they had to abruptly stop the show. later in a show in new zealand, a man shot at them for “organizing women and doing women’s liberation material.”
robin and pat eventually got the attention of ABC and were offered their own variety show. now anyone with a marginalized identity who has achieved even a modicum of success can probably relate to being told to “tone it down” for the sake of mass appeal. but harrison and tyler weren’t about to turn their backs on the very audience that brought them this stage. for starters, robin had become a us citizen just so she and pat could tour with soldiers in vietnam and perform anti-war comedy. the two were later dragged off the field during a football game after protesting the lack of scholarship funding for female athletes. robin and pat wanted ‘harrison and tyler’ to be known as the “first lesbian, feminist comedy duo” but ABC didn’t want something sooo… in your face. still, they loved what robin and pat had to offer so they were willing to negotiate.
the mid 1970s saw the rise of some of the most brutal anti-gay activism, spearheaded by singer & spokeswoman for florida oranges, anita bryant. in 1977, anita bryant led a super public campaign to repeal a florida law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. she led a coalition called “save the children” and argued of the alleged threat of “homosexuals recruiting children.” since gay people can’t reproduce, it is necessary for their survival and growth to recruit children.
anita bryant successfully repealed the law, but it sparked a massive opposition from the gay community. queer people around the country dunked on her alliance with the florida citrus commission and organized a nationwide boycott of orange juice. gay bars stopped serving screwdrivers and replaced them with the anita bryant cocktail, made with vodka and apple juice.
naturally, robin tyler was at the forefront of this legendary anita bryant beef. on a tv appearance, robin joked about anita & born-again christians, saying, “i don’t mind if they’re born again, but do they have to come back as themselves?”
ABC cited this as bullying and cancelled harrison & tyler’s television deal.
robin’s success in the 1970s would have you thinking she’d be a household name, but her outspokenness and willing to hold the oppressive system accountable ensured she would never get too big. her removal from ABC was a major setback for queer visibility. but if you asked her today, she’d tell you that it’s not a big deal.
everybody says, “oh she gave up this career…” but what they mean is I could have gotten mainstream acceptance. it’s like saying to richard pryor: “if you didn’t tell the truth, maybe white people would have loved you.”
-robin tyler, 2024.
robin went on to have a successful solo career, performing for queer audiences across the country. she went on to organize three national marches on washington, dc for lgbtq rights, including a “mock wedding” in 1987, where she ceremoniously got hundreds of queer couples to marry.
but perhaps her biggest claim to fame is being the first ever comedian to come out as a lesbian on US national television, in 1978 on a comedy special hosted by phyllis diller. far before ellen. that same year, she released her comedy album always a bridesmaid, never a groom - the first comedy album by an out lesbian.
although harrison and tyler disbanded in the late 1970s, the couple stayed together for another few years. robin produced a series of 25 women’s comedy festivals, and hers were the first trans-inclusive women’s festivals in the country.
a couple decades later in 2004, robin and her wife, diane olson, filed a lawsuit against the state of california for the right to be married. they were married in june 2008, with the council of los angeles voting that their wedding day, june 16 2008, would be known as marriage equality day. but to this day, robin still refers to pat harrison as her soulmate. a wife AND a soulmate… lesbians can really have it all.
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i did standup comedy regularly from 2016-2020 back in austin, texas and clearly remember just how many times i was told to “not be so political.” at the time i listened, molding my set to be “club friendly” and ruffle as few feathers as possible. never did well at any of those sets. but the times i was not asked to change my set i almost always crushed, especially with majority-women audiences, queer shows, and at college campuses. i didn’t know it then, but now i realize that you as an artist are unstoppable when you give a voice to the voiceless. through you, people get a taste of what it’s like when they’re in charge. and that means so much more than the approval of a network. as robin has always said, “it takes your life away, having to live a lie.”
“closets are vertical coffins. all you do is suffocate to death.”
-robin tyler, 2024.
at 82, robin tyler is still committed to fighting for justice. she recognizes the power of using humor as a shield but also a weapon, specifically regarding dave chappelle’s transphobic jokes. she’s publicly called out netflix for platforming him, saying it’s not enough for them to showcase pro-gay humor while also showcasing him. robin has also called out democrats, saying they promised a gay civil rights bill since the 70s and still haven’t delivered one. and with this current administration, she vows to continue her activism and comedy. robin’s approach to holding the system accountable is - as it was in the past - summed up in one of her quotes:
i think of it this way: a woman walks into a dentist office, and he’s about to drill her teeth when she grabs him by the balls and says, ‘we’re not going to hurt each other, are we?’ i believe in that approach. whatever they do to us, they need to know that there will be consequences.
sources: washington blade, mcsweeneys, wikipedia, provincetown mag, outstanding (2022) on netflix
“i don’t mind if they’re born again, but do they have to come back as themselves?” I love this queen.
“if you didn’t tell the truth, maybe white people would have loved you.” TEA
‘we’re not going to hurt each other, are we?’ BROO
Also, "try it youll like it" is sending me
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