June 12, 2011

:: HAPPY GAY PRIDE! ::

Greetings, everyone!

 HAPPY  GAY  PRIDE  MONT!!! 

In the same 24-hour period this week, two gay-related stories exploded and went viral on the internet. The first was comedian(?) Tracy Jordan from "30 Rock," and his vile, ignorant, and disgusting tirade against gay people at his show in Tennessee. He "joked" about how he would "stab his son" to man him up, if he "acted gay." He soon issued the standard 'I hope this saves my ass' apology.

Tina Fey's official statement was brilliant:

‎"I hope for his sake that Tracy Morgan's apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian coworkers at '30 Rock' - without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with,
or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket. The other producers and I pride ourselves on '30 Rock' being a diverse, safe, and fair workplace." - Tina Fey

Sadly, if Jordan's (or any comedian's) tirade included this level of violent racism or anti-semitism, he would probably be instantly fired. Which might still happen, we'll see. Or maybe, Tina Fey will find a genius way to write this in to the show, and make Jordan suffer for his deeds, on camera.

My brief opinion of this is:

What Tracy Morgan said on stage was spoken from his heart.
What Tracy Morgan said in his apology was spoken from his publicist.
Words like that have direct, negative consequences against gay people, period.

Actress Nia Vardarlos spoke some amazing truth to power about this
HERE, on The Huffington Post. We need more voices like this, NOW!

So that was the BAD news. The GOOD news, was the other story:


This video of a 9-year old Robert Jeffrey, who posted it on his Vimeo account on June 6th - which now has 712,000+ views! Robert's video embodies everything this blog is about, and everything gay pride SHOULD be about:

Self-pride, self-love, and self-acceptance...
And a fearless determination to simply be himself.


I've contacted Robert, and will feature his "Born This Way" story sometime next week. In the meantime, enjoy Robert's infectious energy, and remember back to the little gay boy or girl inside of YOU!

And I wish you all a very HAPPY GAY PRIDE MONTH!
xo - Paul V., Blogmaster

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Yeah Tracy should have thought long and hard before doing that routine.

Unknown said...

I love this video!

%%Go RJ! Go RJ! it's your Vogue Day! Go RJ!%%

Daniel Wachenheim said...

What Tracy Morgan said on stage was spoken from his heart.
What Tracy Morgan said in his apology was spoken from his publicist.

Man, you hit the nail right on the head.

And like everyone else, I love that video.

Bea said...

Fey's response was spot-on! 30 Rock may be "Morgan-less" some time soon, I should think. L-O-V-E your blog, btw!
xxx
Bea

katty said...

Are you aware that many of your followers are straight? I read the stories because I am trying to understand you people. I am a teacher. I have had gay students and I have seen how they suffer. I have tried to be supportive and approachable to them but I also seek to educate their fellow students so they are not bullied any more. There's a lot of people like me fighting the battle for equality and respect for gays and other groups who are segregated.

Katie said...

Thanks for a great post! My jaw dropped when I read Tracy's words-- he has no idea the influence his voice has on our society. So, so disappointing. However, I am very grateful to Tina Fey for her excellent response! I absolutely love the video btw-- thanks for posting :)

ASTA National Office said...

This video makes me so happy to watch. I love this kid, and I love the fact that he is so comfortable and easy with the fun he is having. I love this blog, btw. I check it every few days. I am straight, but there are a lot of non-sexual-orientation life lessons about simply being comfortable in your own skin. Not being able to do this is something I suffer from a lot, and reading these people's stories make me realize that all the stuff I am right now, I always was, and all of it is good and okay and worthy. Thanks for starting it, it helps more people than you think.

mamapapillon said...

Robert's video has just totally made my day. I can't stop smiling. Thank you for posting! And thank you for this amazing blog!

@katty: Though I'm sure your intention came from a good place, the phrase "you people" is off-putting. You may want to avoid referring to any group like that. But happy to hear that you're trying to understand in order to be supportive! Your role as a teacher is essential.

jchudnoff said...

LOvE your posting of Robert. He is obviously an awesome kid, very hard working and dedicated to what he loves, and good at it. I would love to know who his parents are and how they feel about his talent and the attention he is now getting.

RayMan said...

Yup !