Your Afternoon Nice Time: Jim Nabors Gay-Marries Longtime BFF, Civilization Still Standing

In Seattle yesterday, actor and permanent fixture of grandparents' record collections Jim Nabors married Stan Cadwallader, his companion of 38 years, which means that the two have had a successful relationship that has lasted longer than any of Newt Gingrich's marriages, or all of Donald Trump's put together. The couple travelled from their home in Hawaii to marry in Seattle, because Hawaii hasn't quite caught up with Washington in extending marriage equality; at home, their marriage will at least be recognized as a "civil union."

Nabors told Hawaii News Now that before getting married,

"It's pretty obvious that we had no rights as a couple, yet when you've been together 38 years, I think something's got to happen there, you've got to solidify something. And at my age, it's probably the best thing to do."

Nabors also said that he would refrain from participating in the political fight for marriage equality.

"I'm not a debater. And everybody has their own opinion about this and actually I'm not an activist so I've never gotten involved in any of this," he said.

Well, OK, we'll give Mr. Nabors a pass on that, mostly because we've already got George Takei being mega-awesome in that arena. Nabors also gets props for being quietly out during his TV career, at a time when most gay entertainers were closeted. (Another amazing parallel between the two actors: Nabors' sitcom Gomer Pyle, USMC did an episode featuring hippies that was every bit as cringe-inducing as Star Trek's much more notorious hippies-in-space tale.)

Asked if he had any advice for young people who are just realizing they are gay, Nabors replied,

"I really don't have any advice. I don't think I'm qualified because I just could handle it my own way. And you don't ever understand what people look down on you, or say cruel things to you about that sort of thing, but nevertheless, that's just life, and you just have to get above it."

So, no, the man is not very political, which our inner college sophomore kind of wants to grump about, and go on about how as a celebrity he's had some privileges that have allowed him to not deal with some of the oppressive crap that young gay people in, let's say, fucking shitbag states like Tennessee don't have the luxury of just sailing above, but nahh, man, not everybody has to be an activist, and the guy just got married, so we'll just shut up about it for the moment, because we remember all too well that time when we argued about Reagan and made Mom cry during Thanksgiving dinner in 1982. Mom liked Jim Nabors and Liberace a lot, too.

Wonkette wishes Nabors, 82, and Cadwallader, 64, a long and happy life together, and now could we please just get the Andy Griffith Show theme song out of our heads soon, please?

[ Hawaii News Now ]

 Check out Wonkette on Facebook and Twitter and even on Tumblr. And if you have some crazy memories of '60s television, you can follow Doktor Zoom on Twitter, also, too.