Sumith Prasad
Considering the men of the Dutton family in Paramount Network’s Western series ‘Yellowstone,’ Jamie Dutton is an exception. Rather than choosing to be a cowboy to tend the cattle of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, Jamie becomes an attorney upon attending Harvard. While the other Duttons settle down with a family, Jamie hasn’t yet made his own family, despite having a child with Christina.
Even though Jamie is only an adoptive Dutton, John Dutton had nurtured him as his own son. Still, Jamie has always stood apart from the other men in the family. The viewers of the Western drama, for a while, have been wondering whether Jamie’s sexual orientation is different as well, considering that the other Duttons are heterosexuals. Well, here’s what we can share about the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Jamie’s Sexual Orientation
Jamie’s sexual orientation became a matter of ambiguity when his adoptive sister Beth Dutton said that he is a closeted gay. Beth’s words not only provoke Jamie, who responds that he isn’t gay, but also sowed the seeds of doubt in the viewers’ minds regarding the character’s sexual orientation. However, there isn’t any clear indication in the show that leads us to conclude that the attorney general is gay. Furthermore, Beth’s words may have been the result of the intense hate she has towards him as she most likely only intends to provoke her adoptive brother as well.
The reason behind Beth’s words can even be the lifestyle Jamie has chosen for himself. Unlike other Duttons, Jamie hadn’t led his life the “cowboy way.” He hasn’t been good at confronting challenges and obstacles as a “man” in the eyes of the cowboys around him, who most likely have been attaching their lifestyle to manhood and heterosexuality. However, Jamie’s lifestyle doesn’t make him any less of a man or a gay individual. The prejudice that men who do not exhibit their stereotypical manhood are gay must be the reason why one would suspect that the character is gay. But Jamie’s demeanor doesn’t have anything to do with his sexuality and isn’t an indication of a particular sexual orientation.
Along with Jamie’s demeanor, his clothing style can be another factor that adds to the suspicion. ‘Yellowstone’ is filled with heterosexual men who wear “manly” denim shirts and pants, thick jackets, cowboy hats, and other associated apparel. Jamie, on the other hand, wears suits. Like how one’s demeanor doesn’t define one’s sexuality or sexual orientation, Jamie’s clothes don’t indicate that he is gay. Jamie’s reluctance to form a solid and typical family must have also contributed to the doubts concerning his sexual orientation. However, Jamie does try his best to form a family with Christina and their son but rather than his sexual orientation, it is his loyalty towards the Duttons that come in between his wish to have a family and his separation from Christina.
Like his character Jamie, Wes Bentley has never indicated that he is gay despite the rumors that revolve around sexual orientation. Bentley was married to Jennifer Quanz and the couple separated in 2009. In 2010, he married Jacqui Swedberg, with whom he has two kids. Bentley raised his voice for the LGBTQIA+ community when the Governor of his home state Arkansas signed the Religious Freedom Bill. The actor described the bill as “institutional bigotry” in an interview given to Larry King.
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