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Comedian Bashes 'SNL' For Not Casting An Openly Gay Man In Over 30 Years

Comedian Bashes 'SNL' For Not Casting An Openly Gay Man In Over 30 Years
Comedian James Adomian
Kelly Sullivan via Getty Images
Comedian James Adomian

Comedian James Adomian thinks it would be nice if “Saturday Night Live” put a gay man on the show ― something they haven’t done in more than 30 years.

“I’ve been out of the closet the whole time since I auditioned 13 years ago.” Adomian told The Daily Beast at SXSW. “You would think that they would have tried to put someone else on that was a gay man. It’s about time.”

Adomian is perhaps best known for his recent portrayals of Bernie Sanders, often playing opposite Anthony Atamanuik’s impression of President Donald Trump. He appears with Atamanuik on the latter’s “The President Show” that airs on Comedy Central.

Terry Sweeney was the first openly gay regular cast member from 1986 to 1987, but since then Kate McKinnon has been just the second openly LGBTQ cast member in the show’s 43 seasons.

Danitra Vance was the first African-American woman added as a regular cast member in 1985, but it’s unclear how public she was about being LGBTQ while on the show. Not until her death from breast cancer in 1994 was her relationship with another woman made public.

Adomian doesn’t believe it’s overt homophobia, but rather executives of the show being afraid of what their audiences might think. “TV executives are the slowest cowards.”

“It certainly didn’t help that I was openly gay,” Adomian said of his “SNL” auditions.

Adomian said that we are currently in the “golden age of gay male comics” when it comes to live shows and festivals. “We are very well-represented at live shows and on the internet. Television? Not so much.”

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.