What are Don Draper's Views on Homosexuality

Does the man who knows all about hiding his identity have sympathy for those in the closet?

Coming off my S3 E1 recap of “Out of Town,” I noticed a unique sadness appear in Don.

A sadness reflected in seeing a man who has also pretended to be someone else.

When Don discovers that his coworker Salvatore Romano is a homosexual, shock overwhelms both of them. We as the viewer know that Sal is gay from the first episode where every other line is an unsubtle confirmation of his sexuality.

For two seasons, Don and his coworkers had no idea that this man who seems a little too excited to watch Joan Crawford movies is homosexual.

Homosexuality wasn’t something any of the characters were looking for. If they did see signs, they were pushed away to not make things uncomfortable. We see this when Joan’s roommate comes out to her in Season 1 and Joan won’t acknowledge what she says.

The feeling is that a lesbian just needs a good man to fix her and a gay man is a pervert. We see exceptions to this such as Catholic Peggy accepting gay friends but this is how the majority of Sterling Cooper views being homosexual.

But is this how Don feels?

I’m going to limit this observation to homosexuality as if you asked a character like Roger how they felt about the LGBTQIA+ community, he’d just say “Why don’t you ask how I feel about the rest of the alphabet while you’re at it.” Don Draper probably airs no views on transsexuality because he gives it no thought. If something does not directly affect him, it isn’t worth thinking about. Don will not openly voice prejudice but he isn’t going to throw the first brick at Stonewall.

There is, however; one mean line he spits at Sal who is being fired after rejecting Lee Garner Jr’s advances.

My understanding of the line isn’t that Don hates homosexuals. I think he views it as “Why wouldn’t Sal want to sleep with Lee? He’s a man and Sal is gay.”