I finally saw one of Martina Navratilova’s first gigs as new fitness spokesperson for AARP earlier this week. Since the announcement, this was the first tangible showing of AARP’s post-gay progress in the flesh as I watched gay-vague Robin Roberts leading an interview on fitness and nutrition on Good Morning America.
There on the public airwaves, teaching middle America how to stay fit and healthy in the new year, were two people, two celebrities. They weren’t talking LGBT politics or gabbing about the new season of "L Word,” although that could have been an appropriate additional segment for the pair in the next half hour of GMA.
I, like many viewers that morning, very likely watched the spot without thinking much, if at all, about lesbian “baggage” that might have permeated thoughts while watching this scene even five years ago.
Martina was giving advice as a well respected former professional athlete, someone Robin likely interviewed decades ago in her former life as an ESPN news anchor. It was a nice reminder of how society, broadcasting and corporate institutions like AARP have evolved in a post-gay world.
I did get a slight chuckle at a completely unintentional inside joke that most of middle America likely did not catch at the end of the segment. As the camera scanned a beefcake poster of Martina flexing artistically on an AARP fitness poster, Robin simply stated, “The AARP has never looked better.”
Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge, I thought. Then I went on with my Monday morning routine.
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