Probably, yes. He is a hyper-masculine male in the early 1960s; a time in which gay people were un-ironically called “fairies.” When Don caught Sal with his pants down, and a young, half-dressed bellhop in close proximity, he was clearly taken aback — and truthfully, was probably at least a little repulsed. However, what’s so interesting about the Don Draper character, and how he’s going to relate to Sal in the future, isn’t whether or not he’s a homophobe; it’s whether or not that will actually matter.
Having someone at the office find out he’s gay had to be one of Sal’s biggest fears. Otherwise, why marry Kitty and construct an elaborate fake straight lifestyle? What Sal doesn’t know, and probably never would have suspected, is that Don Draper is the best person in the office to whom he could have revealed his secret (inadvertently, or otherwise). As Peggy Olson can attest, Don can keep a secret from other people in the office. But what’s more, Don surely empathizes with Sal on at least some level.
Don Draper has spent his entire life running away from who he truly is. He tried to distance himself from his prostitute mother, from his abusive father and life on the farm, and even “Dick,” his cruel joke of a first name. When young Dick Whitman returned from the war and became Donald Draper, he went from merely trying to escape an unsavory past, to living a lie every minute of every day, much like Sal.
As Bob discussed in his Mad Men post, Don wants to be a family man. He wants to be the guy who makes his wife warm milk, and dotes on her and his children. But all it takes is a plane ride for the facade to crack. For Sal, the facade cracks nearly as quickly, but we definitely get the impression that he doesn’t end up in that situation nearly as much as Don does.
Thanks to Pete’s unsuccessful blackmail ploy, Don has already discovered that having one or two people find out your secret isn’t the end of the world. On an unconscious level, I’m sure he’ll want to show Sal the same thing. Not that Draper is going to be joining PFLAG, or whatever its early 60s counterpart would be, but he won’t go out of his way to embarrass or expose Sal.
There is, however, a good chance that Sal can ruin everything for himself completely on his own. For instance, he could mistake Don’s recognition of his difficult situation as approval, and become more bold around the office. If he thinks Don Draper has his back, will he feel free to finally act on his obvious feelings for Ken Cosgrove? While Don will surely keep Sal’s secret, his help certainly ends at the point where Sal’s homosexuality starts affecting the work.
While I don’t know what will happen with this storyline, Sal’s life has certainly changed. Whether or not that change is for the better remains to be seen. But much as we’ve been exposed to the “real” Don Draper since information about his past has been revealed, I expect the same to happen with Sal.
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Aug 19, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
Didn’t get anything like that from the Season premiere. To be honest your take on things seems absolutely off to me. I can’t judge what will happen on the show, I guess it would offer a lot more drama and interesting TV if Don would be a homophobe, but judging from his reaction in the premiere I wouldn’t even say that the jury is out on that.
I think Don is a pretty good judge of character. I think what he does is, while always in his own best interest, fair in the way he thinks the world should run.
To be more specific: I think if Don were to handle his knowledge in any way, it would be to benefit himself and it would work because the rest of the world, in the 60s in the US, was homophobic. It wouldn’t be driven by Don BEING a homophobe, but rather because he’s a selfish bastard, benefiting from knowledge about things, knowing how to handle people, how to influence them.
So I really think the answer is no, he’s not, but he’s a selfish bastard who’d better not know about your innermost secrets because he’s the scorpion who’ll sting you when you least expect it, no matter what.
I don’t know. I agree with Kona. I think the look on Don’s face was definitely shock followed by disgust. I think there was definitely a bit of disapproval there, but in the end who is Don to judge anyone else?
It worked for London Fog and it worked as sage advice to a man with a secret: “limit your exposure.” I think it was Don’s clear way of telling Sal that he’ll be cool, but that Sal has to be careful. The irony being, of course, that this was the first time Sal let himself succumb to his desires (as far as we know).
It’s really hard to tell. I think you could explain it with what Carrespondent said, that Don was only annoyed that Sal didn’t manage to keep it a secret, especially considering how society worked back then. Drinking and smoking in the office, adultery, raping your fiancé were “business as usual” whereas being gay wasn’t only frowned upon, it was against the law, wasn’t it? I mean back then you didn’t even have to wear a seatbelt, not to mention the fact that there were none. And when did Rosa Parks refuse to sit at the back of the bus?
No seriously, looking at what the world was like back then, a disgusted look to me would be a “normal” response. I listened to an episode of “This American Life” yesterday, the one that aired right after the last presidential election and there was a woman telling her life’s story and how when she was in her teenage years she traveled through the US pregnant – I think it was in the late 1920s and she so openly spoke about how usual it was to treat “n***rs” like garbage… and she really said it, she didn’t say “n-word”.
To be honest to imply real disgust the reaction of Don in the show would have, no should have, more repulsed. To me he almost seemed fine with it.
I don’t know; I think it’s hard to “discuss” this. I think we’d have to ask the writers. Or simply wait for another couple of weeks. I think this will be a larger part of this season’s storyline.
Don intentionally — and creatively — gave Sal a very shrewd piece of advice: “limit your exposure.” Don now has a very loyal ally in Sal and will keep his secret — there’s no upside to spilling it. I’ll bet he and Sal never talk about it (unless and until plot turns lead to Sal’s sexuality becoming an issue for the office).
I feel like an idiot that I didn’t get that. Thanks for pointing it out.