I suppose, but the way it was delivered:

"I just wanted to get married"

"Is that a crime?"

"yes"

would suggest that it literally is a crime or something bad enough not just to be frowned upon etc.. However I think this may be important, but it could be a number of things. Perhaps he was part of area 51 and couldn't marry someone etc. I dunno. I do think it will be explained later though.

I know one thing, the yanks won't like it one little bit (the founding fathers line). Sod them though... it's 2011, I don't blink an eyelid at gay people or gay references on TV as, to me, it is just the same as having hetero references. All things equal... whatever floats yer boat, live and let live.

Although I have to say, I loved the fact it got all the closet bigot Whovians in a tiz... just like the RTD era. They are funny.

I took it to mean that the person he wanted to marry was also an FBI agent which I think is a against their rules.could be wrong

Yeah, I thought about that too. I wonder how the line has gone down over there

It won't suggest it's an actual crime unless you're so sensitive as to see it that that way.

I agree it may be expounded upon later, beyond that though I'd suggest that anyone who is going on about a gay reference here is nuts.

J Edgar Hoover was in charge of the FBI at the time and was viciously racist as well as well as hugely antagonistic to the issue of homosexuality due to the rumours about his own sexuality, so it could be either.

I think it was probably just a line to illustrate the intolerance of US authorities at the time and the paranoia of living under his 'regime'. It could be taken either way; the point remains the same.

I didn't notice any

No, the point CANNOT remain the same.

There was no gay marriage then - they didn't even dream of it. It'd more or less identical to us wondering if we could marry aliens when we met/meet them.

I'm sorry to say it, and I'm so glad things have changed, but that's how it was.

Maybe true but regardless the FBI (and America) at that time was characterised by a paranoia and suspicion of non conformism. Both racism and homophobia (the possibilities being discussed in thread) were deeply institutionalised and pernicious.

Whichever side of the discussion you choose to agree with the outcome in terms of the story's narrative is the same. We're talking about various viewers' opinions of what the writers were insinuating, not the same thing as the story's or the viewers perceptions' historical accuracy.

I'm kind of hoping both are wrong and he fell in love with a Grey from Area 51.

It was quite a civilised discussion too, which is fairly rare on the internet, no caps lock 'shouting' or anything. Which is always nice.

If you were in love with an alien, you would certainly dream of it. It may be euphemistic. We already know that Canton is a liberal.

"says here six weeks after he left the bureau he got an invite for a private meeting with the president..."

So kicked out fbi in 1969.

Stop! Won't someone think of the children!

15 teasers Day of The Moon

The Doctor gets told to put up some shelves
We only went to the Moon because of the Silence
The Doctor is fond of River’s dark side
Two of the main characters get shot
Nixon does not agree with who Canton wants to marry
Should there be a part left over from the rocket?
Could the Silence have destroyed themselves?
Where does Amy go?
Just who is Amy declaring feelings for?
A cloaked TARDIS, again?
The Silence are angry…
The Doctor is a big flirt!
Amy is not pregnant?
Only one question really gets answered
Another regeneration scene

http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/day-of-the-...#ixzz1KX8K7Rkm

So no matter what the reason, it will be explained further

Dunno about the marriage (although I instantly assumed he was gay) but I found his unconsciousness weird. Who did it? The Astronaut was in the other room, and Canton was only a second ahead of the Doctor and Amy.

I'd like to know who Nixon favoured over Canton for his first choice....

I'm not so sure of that (no problem telling strangers? I doubt it) and somewhere like the FBI wouldn't accept it as for one thing the blackmail possibilities soared even if J Edgar wasn't the tyrant he was on that subject and many others. The US military only accepted it openly very recently.


I don't think some people realise how different it was 40 years ago regarding race, gender and general outlook. Many things no-one bats an eyelid at now were very either generally unknown, not socially acceptable or very new and suspect to the mainstream population.

Genuine spoiler for episode Day of the Moon (Not the 1st episode), not huge but relevant.

Wouldn't really count that as spoiler, but I will reply accordingly

The line about the founding fathers was definitely a 'gay reference'.

The line about marrying being illegal could have meant several things, the most likely of which I believe to be that he was in a relationship with somebody and that either he or she was already married.

Divorce was illegal in most American states in the 60s, as was/is bigamy..... in most.

Re: inter-racial marriages being 'legalized' in 1967 I was under a different impression - I thought it was the case that their supreme court declared it unconstitution to legislate against inter-racial marriages in 1967. Again, this would have differed from state to state.

Well if you want to know whether it was a issue of race, sexuality, Secrecy, religion etc. read the above spoiler

It is a bigger spoiler than who shot the doctor!!




(Just joking it is barely a spoiler lol)

The "marriage illegal" is at least an oblique gay reference.

I suspect Steven Moffat is hoping to get a bit of a Harry Potter vibe by teasing the homophobic religious nutters to declare Doctor Who satanic and forbid their kids to watch it. Shrewd marketing, because it's mostly areligious or godless geeks who watch the show in the United States now, and breaking into the mainstream would be a coup.

Loving versus Virginia 388 U.S. 1 (1967) outlawed all anti-miscegenation statues across the country, so by the time of the Apollo launch it was unlawful for a state to deny people a marriage licence on the grounds of race, and had been for some time.

This has resonance with the marriage equality fight in America now. In his judgment striking down California Proposition 8 in Perry v. Schwarzenegger this year, Judge Vaughn Walker quoted extensively from the Supreme Court's ruling in that case.

Whether or not Delaware is gay, the reference to his wish to marry being illegal is surely intended to resonate with American audiences.

Haha, after all this argument it was confirmed in Day of the Moon.