Knocking Liberace for not being true to himself is a failure to consider the consequences of it at the time. (Image: TV World)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSo consider this fact if you ever find yourself wondering why Liberace, Siegfried and Roy, or Sammy Davis Jr. lacked the courage to come out in such a gay-friendly town.<\/p>\n
Nope, that last name you read was not a mistake.\u00a0<\/em>In his 2013 memoir, “My Way,” Paul Anka wrote that\u00a0Davis frequently “got into bisexuality” with him during their heart-to-hearts.<\/p>\n“He would confide these things to me, how cool it was to be involved with two women, with guys,” Anka wrote.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe only time the Rat Pack icon came close to addressing this publicly was during an interview he granted the men’s porn magazine Genesis<\/em> for its\u00a0 February 1977 issue.<\/p>\n\u201cThe greatest turn-on I\u2019ve ever experienced was watching a gay film,” Davis told porn star Marilyn Chambers. “I couldn\u2019t deal with it. Maybe it\u2019s my own latent feeling about homosexuality that I can\u2019t deal with. I have this image as a stud, and you can\u2019t be a stud and a homosexual at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\nSammy Davis Jr. performs at the Sands during an undated photo from the 1960s. (Image: Sands Hotel\/UNLV Special Collections)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWe bring this up not to out a Las Vegas legend who clearly identified as heterosexual, but to demonstrate the deep fear many people back in the day felt simply about the way they were born, and how much closer that fear hit to where most Americans live than they realize.<\/p>\n
In 2002, Las Vegas passed a different kind of gay ordinance — one that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, or public accommodations. It was one of the first cities in the country to do so.<\/strong><\/p>\nYet while Las Vegas has come a long way since the days when it mistreated LGBTQ+ people, it shouldn’t be permitted to whitewash the shamefully long period during which it did.<\/p>\n
Look for \u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d every Monday on\u00a0<\/strong>Casino.org.\u00a0<\/b><\/em>Click here<\/a> to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email corey@casino.org.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today in Las Vegas, you can see \u201cRu Paul\u2019s Drag Race LIVE,\u201d party at the Gipsy, sleep it off at an adults-only gay hotel called the Bent Inn, and then hit the drag brunch at Treasure Island. If you happen to be in town on October 11, you can take in 2024\u2019s annual Las Vegas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":327436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886,88494,60,82353,1,84511],"tags":[91933,85966,85426,23,82012,91239,91238,85967,82883,91184,91237,84288],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
VEGAS MYTHS BUSTED: Vegas Has Been Gay Friendly Since the '60s - Casino.org<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n