I Didn't Say It ...

James Corden, host of The Late Late Show with James Corden, on Bill Maher’s suggestion last that fat-shaming “needs to make a comeback”:

“[I] found it so surprising that he, or anybody, thinks that fat shaming needs to make a comeback because fat shaming never went anywhere. We are reminded of it all the time. There’s a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy. We’re not. We get it, we know. We know that being overweight isn’t good for us. I’ve struggled my entire life trying to manage my weight. We’re not all as lucky as Bill Maher. We don’t all have a sense of superiority that burns 35,000 calories a day. Let’s be honest, fat-shaming is just bullying. It’s bullying, and bullying only makes the problem worse.”

Good on Corden for taking on Smug Maher.

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Gareth Thomas, Welsh rugby star, has come out as HIV-positive after “evil” people threatened to go public with his condition without his consent:

“I want to share my secret with you. Why? Because it’s mine to tell you. Not the evils that make my life hell by threatening to tell you before I do. And because I believe in you and I trust you. I’m living with HIV. Now you have that information, that makes me extremely vulnerable, but it does not make me weak. Now even though I have been forced to tell you this, I choose to fight to educate and break the stigma around this subject. I’ve been living with this secret for years. I’ve felt shame and keeping such a big secret has taken its toll. I was in a dark place, feeling suicidal. I thought about driving off a cliff. To me, wanting to die was just a natural thought and felt like the easier way out, but you have to confront things. I was being blackmailed and in my mind,  I thought you only get blackmailed for something really bad, which compounded the feeling of shame. I went for a routine sexual health test at a private clinic in Cardiff. I didn’t feel ill and thought everything was going to be fine. When (the doctor) said those words… I immediately thought I was going to die. I felt like an express train was hitting me at 300mph. Then I was thinking ‘how long have I got left?’ I’m speaking out because I want to help others and make a difference. I hope me speaking out about my diagnosis will help a lot of people.”

In this day and age people are still trying to shame those with HIV.

Seriously, does anything ever change?

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Pete Buttigieg, Presidential candidate, on the most serious professional setback he ever faced:

“You know, as a military officer serving under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and as an elected official in the state of Indiana when Mike Pence was governor, at a certain point, when it came to professional setbacks, I had to wonder whether just acknowledging who I was, was going to be the ultimate career ending professional setback. I came back from the deployment and realized that you only get to live one life and I was not interested in not knowing what it was like to be in love any longer. So, I just came out.”

When you finally realize that, because you’re closeted, you cannot live a fully open life, cannot be open about who you love or how you feel, that’s when people come out.

Even today, younger queerlings, and some older ones, remain closeted out of fear, but the more of us that are ‘out’ there the stronger we all become.

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Rob James-Collier, Thomas Barrow, the valet in Downton Abby, on the film’s depiction of being gay in 1927:

“[Barrow’s storyline is] like a separate film so what a lovely thing, Thomas has got this little vignette off on the side. When all the pomp and circumstance with the royal visit is going on, you cut to Thomas’s story so I’m like ‘Thank you Julian (Fellowes, the writer) for trusting me that I can do this.’ You see Thomas discover a whole new world, and that is closer to who he is and there is a joy there, but then that joy may get taken away but it’s a very emotional, Thomas’s journey. It also hammers home what it was like to be a gay man in those times, it was horrific, and it’s brought back and it just shows how different it was. It must have been so hard for him and that is why the people warm to him and root for Thomas now, and they certainly will in the film if you watch it.”

Thankfully times have changed and, while this kind of vile anti-LGBTQ hatred still exists, it doesn’t happen as often as it did, and we cannot be jailed for being gay … in most places.

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Seth Dunlap, WWL Radio host, who was called a “fag” by his station’s Twitter account last week after he expressed disappointment with drew Brees’ involvement with the anti-LGBTQ group Focus on the Family., on that incident:

“While I have suffered greatly, this attack was not just about me. While I may have been the one directly and publicly shamed with the use of an unacceptable slur disseminated on social media, the target was really the entire LGBTQ+ community. That community, my community, is subjected to that sort of vile language and hate on a daily basis. Look inside the comments, replies, or DM’s to any openly LGBTQ+ person and you’ll easily find similar disgusting, foul attacks. This incident just peeled back the curtain a bit for people to see the ugliness that surrounds us. I truly believe this targeted attack was, in part, the result of deteriorating civil discourse in our country. Powerful men and women have decided to make hate, bigotry, and divisiveness platforms for their advancement in public life. It’s apparent that far too many people have forgotten the ugly lessons of the past, and this growing divide threatens to shatter the very foundations of an equal and welcoming society.”

Nice to know that the company that employs you calls you a ‘fag’ on social media because you, rightly, believe that Drew Brees did an ad for an anti-LGBTQ hate group.

WWL Radio has not commented since it said it was beginning an investigation into the matter.

Huh; go figure.

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I Didn't Say It ...

Tim Cook, Apple CEO, formally coming out as gay:

"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me. Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple ... When I arrive in my office each morning, I’m greeted by framed photos of Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy. I don’t pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that I’m doing my part, however small, to help others. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick."

Each of us has a brick to lay on that path for those who come behind.

Jody Hice, “pastor” and newly elected Georgia Congressional wingnut, on the Penn State child abuse sex scandal:

“The whole issue is a morally bankrupt nation is where we are. And you can go back decades as we first kicked the Bible out of schools and then prayer out of schools. And we've just basically been going downhill since then and you get what you get -- you know, you kick God out."

So instead of blaming what happened on now-convicted serial child abuser Jerry Sandusky, or our nation's obsession with football, Hice said it’s all because of God and the Bible?

Oy.

Gareth Thomas, Welsh rugby legend, on how and why he came out as gay:

"I didn't come out because I wanted to be the first person to do it. I came out because I came to the crossroads of living or dying, and that's why I decided to come out. Because I wanted to live. I get stopped, even today, constantly on the street by people I have never met in my entire life, and they'll say to me, 'I Just want to thank you for helping my brother, mother, father, sister, auntie, uncle, because you gave them the strength to be who they want to be...I have won every trophy that I can ever dream of winning but when you affect somebody’s life, in a way that this person is going to have a life that they never thought they could have because of me, stupid old me, because of that they could do that, it’s amazing."

It’s Thomas’ brick on that same path.

David Letterman, on the midterm elections and the Obama bashing on both sides of the aisle:

“This is what happens when we have the midterm elections. The Republicans, of course, have turned against Obama, and the Democrats have also turned against Obama. That’s a lonely, lonely gig being president, ladies and gentlemen. … Take a look at this: gas under $3 a gallon – under $3 a gallon. Unemployment under 6%, whoever thought? Stock market breaking records every day. No wonder the guy is so unpopular.”

Thanks Dave.

Sophia Loren, on giving Jayne Mansfield's dress the side-eye:

"In my face you can see the fear. I’m so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow — BOOM! — and spill all over the table. There may be other photos, but this is the picture. This is the one that shows how it was. This is the only picture."

A truly iconic picture, and proof that Mansfield was ahead of her time.

That dress would be daring today.

I Didn't Say It ....

Newt Gingrich, thrice-married, serial adulterer, switching it up on marriage equality:

"It is in every family. It is in every community. The momentum is clearly now in the direction in finding some way to ... accommodate and deal with reality. And the reality is going to be that in a number of American states -- and it will be more after 2014 -- gay relationships will be legal, period."

How nice that Mister-Marry-A-Woman-Cheat-On-Her-She-Gets-Cancer-I-File-For-Dovorce-Marry-The-Mistress- She-Gets-Cancer-I-File-For-Divorce-Marry-The-Mistress has decided that maybe The Gays do deserve to treat marriage like the bottom of their shoes, too.

Henry Rollins, on being an LGBT-ally:

"I appreciate and admire the day-to-day courage of the gay people I have encountered in the music world and elsewhere. I have never been put in the position of having to "stand up" for my heterosexuality. I am on the biggest possible team and it's always the home game for me. The Westboro Baptist Church's god doesn't hate me and I have lived life with an incredible amount of mobility and a low level of fear and tribulation. On the other hand, gay in Wyoming? That's some Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon highlight-reel action. I am not a religious person, but I will say that music is at least a way to live my life, it instructs me to adhere to a certain code of conduct. If I am digging music from all over the world, performed by males and females, gay and straight, then I am screwed on the prejudice front."

Understanding and equality set to music.
Thanks Henry.

Kyle Kacal, Texas GOP congressman, on what's more dangerous than guns:

"I've heard of people being killed playing ping-pong -- ping-pongs are more dangerous than guns. Flat-screen TVs are injuring more kids today than anything."

More dangerous than ping-pong balls and flat-screen TVS are politicians like Kyle Kacal, who is obviously in the pocket of the NRA.

Pope Benny, on how being gay is against God, in his annual Christmas message:

"People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being. They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves. The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man's fundamental choice where he himself is concerned. When freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God"

Isn’t it interesting that, while speaking about God, he can so easily tell a portion of the world that we are unworthy?

He’s not so F%$&ing Christ-like, is he?

Barney Frank, on homophobe and bigot Antonin Scalia:

"I was glad that he made clear what’s been obvious, that he’s just a flat out bigot. I’d previously said he was a homophobe. And Fox and the rightwing said, ‘Oh just because he’s not for same-sex marriage? And I said, ‘No, let me be very clear. That’s not it. This is a man who has said you should go to prison for having sex.’ It was an extraordinarily abusive sentiment and it was dead wrong. And, by the way, for a guy who is supposed to be so smart -- quite stupid. This young man said to him, ‘Why do you compare sodomy to murder?’ And he said, ‘Well because I have a right to say if I think something is immoral.’ Well the question wasn’t about his right. The question was, By what morality is expressing your love for someone in a physical way equivalent to killing that person? It makes it clear that the man is an unreconstructed bigot, and given that you have a bigot on the Supreme Court like that, it is useful to know."

I am seriously gonna miss Barney Frank, and hope the rumors that he’ll take John Kerry’s Senate seat when Kerry becomes Secretary of State, are true.

We need Barney in government.

Bradlee Dean, hate group leader, saying Barack Obama is responsible for the Newtown murders:

"The Sandy Hook shooting occurred just days after Sen. Rand Paul sent out an alert that the U.N. was set to pass the final version of the Small Arms Treaty, supported by Obama the day after election. Part of the treaty bans the trade, sale and ownership of all semi-automatic weapons like the one Adam Lanza used to kill 20 children and 6 adults. When the 'fire' is started, these government gun banners are right there to strip away your rights in an attempt to gain control under the guise of 'putting out the fire.' Adolf Hitler was responsible for attacking his own Reichstag to start a world war. Hitler was also responsible for sending his brownshirts to incite the people so he could play the role of solving their problems. No one believed Hitler was guilty of these crimes until after the fact. Then it was too late."

So, because Obama wants to halt the sale and ownership of ASSAULT weapons, he’s Hitler?

Bradlee Dean, a man who never met logic.

Tagg Romney, on his father and the presidency:

“He wanted to be president less than anyone I’ve met in my life. He had no desire to . . . run. If he could have found someone else to take his place . . . he would have been ecstatic to step aside. He is a very private person who loves his family deeply and wants to be with them, but he has deep faith in God and he loves his country, but he doesn’t love the attention."

Oh, Tagg, sit down.

If your father didn’t want to be president he wouldn’t have run.

If your father didn’t think he should have been president he would have drafted a concession speech just in case.

If your father didn’t want to be president, we wouldn’t have heard a single story about how devastated he was that he lost.

He lost. Tagg. Don’t rewrite history. The majority of voters in this country did not want your father to be president. Ever.

Gareth Thomas, out rugby and fitness star, on coming out to his dad: 

"My family were amazing - once it was taken in, my dad, who is a very tough man, sat me down at home with the family; he opened a bottle of champagne and said 'this is a toast to the rest of your life son.' It was overwhelming, and my family as a whole have been superb."

I remember my dad, when I came out, saying, “I love you very much.”

I wish all coming out stories could have happy endings like mine and Gareth’s.

Ron Paul, surely angering his Teabaggin' followers, on NRA head Wayne LaPierre's call for armed guards in every public school:

"Do we really want to live in a world of police checkpoints, surveillance cameras, metal detectors, X-ray scanners, and warrantless physical searches? We see this culture in our airports: witness the shabby spectacle of once proud, happy Americans shuffling through long lines while uniformed TSA agents bark orders. This is the world of government provided “security,” a world far too many Americans now seem to accept or even endorse. School shootings, no matter how horrific, do not justify creating an Orwellian surveillance state in America."

Funny, the Teabaggers want less government, but when you talk guns, they demand more government action to protect their, ahem, rights to bear arms.

This Is Understanding....This Is Love

"I still love Gareth and I will never stop loving him. What happened to us is just so terribly sad. He really was the perfect husband in every other way.
"I'm incredibly proud of him for coming out and if anyone thinks any less of him because of it, then they are stupid. I know it was a massive relief when he told me, his family and close friends three years ago, and it will be even more of a relief now that everyone knows.
"He is now free to be who he is and I, and everyone else who knows and loves him, am happy for him because he is a very special person. I don't feel angry, embarrassed or humiliated, nor do I regret marrying Gareth for a second. I know with all my heart that he adored me as much as I adored him on our wedding day, and I had the most fantastic years of my life with him.
"It would be easy to wallow in self-pity and dwell on the negatives, but I am a positive person and I'm grateful that he loved me so much he had to tell me the truth because he felt I deserved better.
"He released me and in doing so he released himself. Gareth could have waited for years to tell me, wasted my life, and where would that have left me? I was only 30 when he told me, still young enough to meet someone else and have children."

Jemma Thomas, ex-wife of Wales rugby legend Gareth Thomas.

Towleroad

Welcome......

.....to Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas who has announced that he is gay.

"I've been through all sorts of emotions with this, tears, anger and absolute despair. I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to let people know, and, to be honest, I feel anxious about people's reactions and the effect it might have on my family. It's been really tough for me, hiding who I really am, and I don't want it to be like that for the next young person who wants to play rugby, or some frightened young kid. I don't know if my life is going to be easier because I'm out, but if it helps someone else, if it makes one young lad pick up the phone to ChildLine, then it will have been worth it. My parents, my family and my friends all love me and accept me for who I am, and even if the public are upset by this, I know the love of those people who mean the most to me will never change. I'm not going on a crusade, but I'm proud of who I am. I feel I have achieved everything I could ever possibly have hoped to achieve out of rugby, and I did it being gay. I want to send a positive message to other gay people that they can do it, too."

Good for you, Gareth, good for you.