""Why is the Old Testament down on gays? Because the Phyllistines were always making war on the Israelites."" Here is the explanation of this joke, for the under-30 crowd. In 20th century gay jokes about drag-queens, ""Phyllis"" was a typical drag-queen name. The use of names like ""Phyllis"" in these jokes mirrored the fact that drag-queens typically picked out female names for themselves, to go with their female outfits. And ""Phyllis"" was a favorite choice.