When a Cheyenne restaurant owner posted a PG-rated gay joke on his roadside sign, Wyoming’s leading LGBTQ advocacy organisation decided to run with it and demand more.
The “Drive Thru” letter-board sign at Espi’s Restaurant on 904 W. Pershing Blvd. in Cheyenne reads, “What Does The Gay Cowboy Say To His Horse.”
Then there is a pause before the punchline, “HAAAY.”
In response, the LGBTQ advocacy group Wyoming Equality decided to capitalise on the joke and call for more.
“What’s the funniest PG-rated gay joke you’ve ever heard?” the group asked on its Facebook page Thursday, atop a photo sent by Cowboy State Daily asking for feedback on the sign. “We’re talking about cheesy, campy jokes that will make you roll your eyes but still laugh. Drop them in the comments section; we’re ready!”
Wyoming Equality Executive Director Sara Burlingame stated that the organization’s response is limited to “laughing at funny jokes, not laughing at cruel or unkind jokes.”
The “HAAAY” joke doesn’t punch down and appears pretty wholesome, she said, “it’s just silly and campy.”
She explained that not all stereotypes that fuel jokes come true.
“But silly and campy aren’t crimes, and we’re pretty proud of all the joyful resistance we’ve spun out of a little silliness, a lot of camp,” Burlingame claimed.
Burlingame’s favourite gay dad joke is, “Why did the non-binary prospector buy land in California?”
The punchline is “Because there’s gold in them/their hills.”
Often Edgy
Todd Espinoza, Espi’s owner, said Cowboy State Daily’s inquiry was the first time he’d been asked about the joke.
Most people simply laugh or compliment it, he explained.
“I haven’t heard any negative responses,” Espinoza said.
The restaurant owner has previously made headlines for posting edgy jokes on the sign, such as “Chicken gets fired…”. It’s a broken chicken. Chicken strips cost $7.50.
People rarely criticise jokes, he said. But when he ran one that said “Taco Emergency?” Dial Nine-Juan-Juan” received at least two criticisms: one on Facebook and one over the phone.
Espinoza noted that the man who called the joke racist on Facebook did not appear to be Hispanic.
Nonetheless, both Espinoza and the man who first told him the joke are of Hispanic descent, he claims.
Espinoza said he wasn’t sure if the woman who criticised the restaurant owner over the phone was Hispanic.
Espinoza tells jokes “to lighten up the day,” claiming that he has nothing against gay people. The jokes are consistently “nothing political; nothing against anybody.”
Perhaps he’d face more criticism for the jokes in other states, he said, but most Wyoming residents are “past” political correctness constraints on humour.
Back At The Ranch
Dan Zwonitzer, a former Republican legislator from Cheyenne who is openly gay, married, and has a family, laughed when he heard the joke.
He was excavating a trench on his yak farm at the time.
“We really enjoy that joke,” Zwonitzer said.
It has an additional layer for him because his family works with horses and comes into contact with a lot of hay, he explained.
“Since we’re surrounded by hay all the time, we make that joke somewhat regularly,” Zwonitzer told me.
Following an email inquiry, the National Centre for LGBTQ Rights had not responded by the time of publication.
