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Gay rights back in the news

By David W. Shelton | July 26, 2006 |

So yes, it’s been a great day. Why on earth would I say such a thing? The Supreme Court in a largely liberal state has ruled against gay marriage. That’s supposed to be a bad thing. Isn’t it? Compound that with recent big losses in New York and right here in Tennessee and you have a huge blow to gay activism everywhere.

Well, maybe not. Consider this: with every loss to a state’s Supreme Court, the Reich-wing has one of their toys snatched away. As it turns out, those “activist judges” aren’t such activists after all. Now, as much as some of us would like to disagree with them, we can’t ignore the reality that the great “activist judge” mantra is backfiring in a big way.

I see this as a huge opportunity for all of us in the GLBT community to continue to work toward equality one person at a time. The more we come out to our friends, families, and co-workers, the more people realize that we are just people who love a little differently.

But that’s the catch, my friends. We HAVE to speak up. There are far too many people around us who are “okay with homosexuals as long as they keep to themselves.” In other words, they’re happy if they don’t have to deal with their bigotry. That’s just not good enough. We simply can’t let legal setbacks and quiet bigotry quench the flames of equality. Far too many people have been belittled, kicked out of their homes, fired, beaten, or murdered for us to remain quiet.

Fortunately, one man has decided to speak out. On the same day that Washington State’s Supreme Court handed down their ruling, there was a bright point of really good news. One of the worst-kept secrets in West Hollywood was finally made public in an exclusive interview with People magazine: Lance Bass is gay. Okay, maybe that’s not big news, but any time a popular celebrity comes out as gay before they hit the big three-oh, that’s huge. Even more important is the fact that Bass’ announcement is less than four years after his boyband group split.

Compare that to fellow closet-buster Star Trek’s George Takei. He dropped his bombshell onto the treknoverse, it was nearly a decade since his last on-screen appearance as Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek: Voyager episode, “Flashback.”

As I said, this was a pretty poorly-kept secret since he has been seen with his current boyfriend, Reichen Lemkuhl. Apparently, Bass was also seen in West Hollywood, which is the gay Mecca of Southern California. Even despite his numerous sightings in gay bars, clubs, and neighborhoods, he’s been pretty quiet about his sexuality. But instead of denying it and attempting to play “straight” by dating girls, he chose to come out. Bravo.

Bass has also said he’s producing a TV pilot of an odd-couple type show that features a gay character. Back in 2000, he made headlines by attempting to hitch a ride into orbit courtesy of the Russians. Alas, Russia backed off from the deal.

So let’s not let this bit of news from Washington state get us down. Things really aren’t as dim as we might think… but we do have to be willing to follow the example of people like Lance Bass. Okay, maybe not the trip to space. Yikes.

Read the story at People Magazine

About David W. Shelton

Posts by David W. Shelton are copyright (c)2006, 2007, 2008 by the author. All rights reserved. David W. Shelton is a writer, speaker and activist in Clarksville, and serves on the Clarksville Human Relations Commission. His passions include film and complete equality for all people, and he has worked in various capacities to work toward this goal. He is currently an illustrator, graphic designer, trainer, and is the owner of Imagine Media Solutions. He is an Adobe® Certified Instructor in Photoshop®.

Web Site: http://www.skippingtothepiccolo.com/

Email: dwshelton@charter.net

Sections: Issues, Politics, Spirituality
Topics: Gay Rights, George Takei, Lance Bass, n'Sync, Star Trek, Supreme Court

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