(Photo via “The American Revolution”)
Documentarian Ken Burns is a homophobe by the very definition of the word. We’ve discussed in this column the homophobic treatment in his latest PBS documentary “The American Revolution.” But let’s be clear, we’re not the first group he has erased or misrepresented.
Burns was heavily criticized after his documentary “The Civil War” for seeming, at times, to empathize more with the Confederacy and downplaying slavery. Perhaps because of that backlash, he went out of his way in “The American Revolution” to highlight Indigenous people, enslaved people, women and even Muslims. Yet one group was completely missing. You guessed it — the LGBTQ+ community.
Burns and his team absolutely knew about Baron von Steuben, and they knew many historians consider him gay by today’s standards. Burns publicly acknowledged this himself when I personally asked him. But none of that made it into the documentary, despite the suggestion being made to his team. Instead, they clung to a single discredited accusation — one Benjamin Franklin himself dismissed when recommending von Steuben to George Washington.
After a month of back-and-forth, Burns’ team finally sent me this line:
“We have NOT changed the film and are NOT changing the film…”
And then they quoted from the words they used in documentary:
“But his army career in Europe had been cut short by an accusation that he had taken ‘familiarities with young boys.’”
So an accusation Franklin disregarded is now broadcast to an estimated seven million viewers, while the truth of von Steuben’s life and legacy is erased. Whether consciously or not, Burns and company let fear of acknowledging homosexuality guide their storytelling. And a phobia by any other name is still a phobia.
Internalized homophobia is when individuals — including LGBTQ+ people — subconsciously absorb society’s negative stereotypes. I don’t know if anyone on Burns’ team is LGBTQ+, but I do know this: Burns and team allowed their film to weaponize an old slur and erase a gay hero from American history.
And this isn’t an isolated case with Burns.
“The Roosevelts” — no mention of Eleanor’s possible same-sex relationship.
“The Vietnam War” — interviews with countless veterans, yet not a single LGBTQ vet.
“Jazz” — no acknowledgment of major queer influences.
Burns’ pattern is clear, and the harm is real.
History deserves honesty. And Ken Burns and his co-directors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt are long overdue for a fact-check and a wake-up call on their homophobia. One last thought: If this fact is biased, how many other facts in his documentaries don’t meet historical standards?
Mark Segal is an American journalist. He is the founder and publisher of Philadelphia Gay News and has won numerous journalism awards for his column “Mark My Words,” including best column by The National Newspaper Association, Suburban Newspaper Association and The Society of Professional Journalists.
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