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mood |
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music |
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702 "Where My Girls At" (with self-made choreography, yes) |
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Fellas, ladies,
Oh God, I'm doing it again. It's after midnight, I'm starting to write the DJ, I have work tomorrow, I'm going to be tired all day... yada, yada, yada, guilt, I'm back. How are we? The past week in California's been largely good, if not a little routine. You know what though, that's exactly what I wanted... and it's nice to feel like I'm comfortably cruising through this month and a half.
Yeah, except for one thing -- money is an issue. Not that I'm bankrupt or anything, thanks to the seven figures I pull in at University Housing, but God, I have to buy something half-expensive every fucking day here. Who can stand to pay for all their own food in the real world? I choose Burge forever if it's going to continue this way. Okay, that's not true, but sometimes I make bold statements to keep you interested. While we're at it, I'm pro-Holocaust.
You know what's a big plus of working at The Advocate? Keeping compulsively up-to-date on GLBT news since I'm responsible for locating it. Let us recount my favorite story thus far... it's a stirring tale.
Former leaders of "ex-gay" ministry apologize for "bringing harm"
Three former leaders of a ministry that counsels gays to change their sexual orientation have apologized, saying that although they acted sincerely, their message caused isolation, shame, and fear.
The former leaders of the interdenominational Christian organization Exodus International said Wednesday they had become disillusioned with promoting gay "conversion."
''Some who heard our message were compelled to try to change an integral part of themselves, bringing harm to themselves and their families,'' the three said in a statement released outside the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
It always brings a tear to my eye when retards graduate to competence. Granted, I'm still rooting for an "ex-straight ministry" to open that helps repressed heterosexuals adjust to their lives as fake gay men. You know, they try to have a civil union with their boyfriend who they met at the ministry, but they feel desperately guilty every time they see a football game on TV and almost watch it. This is a fucking movie-pitch goldmine, why am I sharing my million-dollar idea with y'all? Back. Off.
Let me just say: "ex-gays," frankly, are hilarious to me. It's that pathetic, awful kind of laughable, like a Jim Crow minstrel show or something. "That ain't a straight man, he jus' got straight makeup awn! Look at him dance! And he put awn a suit too, that gorilla!" You must watch this clip where an obviously gay man insists he's straight and so changed and all this nonsense. Hell, he has the wife and two kids to prove it! A bonus in the video: Sean Kennedy, news editor for The Advocate, weighs in at the end and schools the dumbass with bad hair. So weird to see Sean on national TV, because I see him every day during video conference. Every effing day. That means he looks at me every day. I'm fanning myself over this fame-by-association I'm experiencing right now.
Dig: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iIXF72L-Nd0
Tell me you peed yourself when you saw the guy with the tennis racket. Or better yet, the news correspondent who's just chilling in the background as he curses out Mommy. Excellent.
My question: what do these families of ex-gays think? They're convinced their husbands/wives/mothers/fathers are really straight? Honestly? I doubt it. The kids of these families are going to grow up and feel either sorry for their ex-gay family member or cheated. Another thing that worries me is how within the next few years, I expect the national opinion on "if gays can change their sexuality" (makes me sick to even write) will continue to shift towards un-ignorance. How are these ex-gays going to cope? The most startling thing about repressed people is how they act out, and if national opinion keeps changing, they're going to feel guiltier and guiltier as reality sets in. So my real concern: are these people going to start killing themselves sooner or later? Not that many gay people aren't suicidal already. God knows that's the case. It's weird to think about, because of course all of us "out" gays really want "a revolution" to happen where we're all accepting and feel totally ingratiated into society, etc., but at the same time... many people simply won't be able to handle that. And that sucks.
However, there's one matter that's infuriating to me about "ex-gays," and that's, in fact, when they have wives and kids. Okay, even some ex-gay ministries acknowledge that you can't just start becoming attracted to the opposite sex, even if you stop accepting homosexual feelings. So to those that go ahead, defy rationale, overstep the bounds of their identity crisis, feign attraction, and ruin the lives of some poor spouse totally infuriate me. As the ex-wife of that now openly gay New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey said, "His marriage may have been a hoax, but my marriage was real." At that point, it's not a matter of "feeling sorry" for the man who can't own up to himself. The man becomes a wrecking ball, forcing his unhappiness onto someone genuinely looking for love, and not a hideout. I don't mean to say all people "know" they're gay when they do this... but frankly, many do. If you're going to decide to be an "ex-gay," I simply think you shouldn't tangle with a straight person who could legitimately fall in love with you. I know this isn't rocket science, but the issue is so prevalent. And the damages can be so irrevocable.
I reiterate my happiness with the ex-gay ministers who announced their apologies -- that woman breaking down was actually quite poignant. Thing is, though the press conference drew some attention, events like that won't be what brings around change, I feel. If there is a "gay revolution," I think it'll happen because proud GLBT people, on a micro level, will come out to those who are still ignorant. To parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors, etc. Not an easy task sometimes, yes, but honestly, it takes an ignorant person finally understanding or accepting one gay or lesbian to make a turnaround. I'm getting up on a high horse with all this shit, but well, you get to thinking about these things when traumatized gay men started hitting beds with tennis rackets.
Within the newsroom at The Advocate, I actually don't feel like much of a thinker. Everyone there knows their shit so hard, and everyone's worked a billion places. The arts editor used to be Owen Wilson's agent. The associate editor used to work at Variety. I used to babysit Eric Gruber. For my legitimacy's sake, I hope my review of Sinead O'Connor's album gets me sort-of noticed. I think I'm happy with it, though I wish I'd written it with a sassier edge. We'll see how it goes -- and I'll post the link to the story here when I get it.
That is, if I can pull myself away from either "Where My Girls At" or "No Scrubs," since I just downloaded them both. My late-'90s R&B man-hater love has reached a new high, and I'm glad I embrace it again. I was an ex-"No Scrubs" lover for too long! Liberate me, Paula Zahn!
Alright. Time for bed. Thanks for putting up with all the grandstanding I just did. I'm pretty positive I'll be back to posting about my new American Apparel gear and Wheat Thins analysis next time. Big love to you all, thanks again.
"Because I'm looking like class, and he's looking like trash,
I can't get with a deadbeat ass."
Hanging out the passenger side of... the Metra bus every day... trying-to holler-at YOU.
Xoxo,
Louis
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