Random Musings

I don't get the anger over the way, the how, the why, and especially, the when, of people Coming Out.

Lotsa folks on the blogs, and on the Bookface, and The Tweeter-sphere, are kinda coming down on both Anderson Cooper and Frank Ocean for Coming Out.

Now, don't get me wrong, a lotta folks are loving the fact that these two men finally told the tale, as it were, but the sort of anger, and the I told you so, is kind of disheartening.

Coming out is a personal process. It isn't easier because you're rich and white and a TV personality, because then you aren't just coming out to friends and family, and perhaps co-workers, you are coming out to the world.

And that can be daunting.

Family and friends may say, Oh, we knew that. They may say We love you. They may say something not so nice, but to have the whole world weigh in on your private life? That's not really fair, is it?

And, let me further explain, I think everyone should come out. Now. The sooner the better., But it's a personal choice at a personal time in a personal way.

Frank Ocean didn't come out because he had some music to sell, he came out because he wanted to be himself in every way possible.

That’s not something to denigrate, or make light of, it's something to celebrate.

Just sayin'.

I love a good feud.

Lohn v Hilton? Loved it.

Hilton v Richie? Good stuff.

Old Spice v Taco Bell? Who knew? but here it is:

This one makes my skin crawl.

After the airing of PBS's Frontline documentary, AIDS in Black America, the website, Gawker, is offering big money for the identify the person who transmitted HIV to Magic Johnson. And writer AJ Daulerio has theories and stories and gossip about the who, and the what and the where, and, why the fuck is it his business?

Seriously, is it anyone's business how Johnson contracted HIV? Because if it is, then it's everyone's business how anyone contracts HIV.

If you want your junk out there, then you put it out there. But to delve into someone's personal life just to share some salacious bit of gossip is not news or information or in the public interest.

It's stupid. And the folks at Gawker should be ashamed of themselves.

Okay, so, yeah, Jane Pitt.

Wrote a letter in support of Mitt Romney. Said she's against marriage equality. Not so nice, I say.

Other folks have a different mindset. They've actually gone on Twitter to make death threats against Mrs. Pitt. Death threats because she expressed her opinion. 

Is this America? Or are we in some far off land where people aren't allowed their own thoughts? I mean, I think Jane Pitt is way off the mark in both her politics and her religious viewpoints and her feelings about marriage, but I will always defend her right to say them.

Just like I'd like to think she'd defend my right to say she's off her rocker.

And, sidenote: why is anyone blaming Brad Pitt for what his mama said? He's long been an LGBT ally and for anyone to suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

For example: I have an uncle who is a....and this is hard to say....a Republican. And he's a die-hard Mittsy fan. We've had arguments via email and on Facebook about Obama and Mittsy and, while it seems he gets most of his opinions from the Hannity-Limbaugh sect, I didn't see too much wrong with his sharing his views. Until the day he said, on Facebook, that Obama was born in Africa.

Oh, but he did.

Now, should he receive death threats? No. He should receive our deepest sympathies for his delusions. And, furthermore, am I to be lumped in with his madness because we're related? No. Families don't have to share the same political views and ideals.

So, lay offa Brad, and lay off his mama. She's wrong, but she has a right to be wrong.

Good news outta Maine: a new poll shows that a majority of voters in Maine support marriage equality by a margin of 57% to 35%.

Speaks well for a righteous vote in November when Mainers will be asked to allow The Gays the right to marry.

The tide is changing, at the polls, in the voting booths, in the Congress, in the White House, and just about everywhere.

Go Maine!

Oh dear.

Walter Hill has announced he will write and direct a remake of 1962's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? which starred the amazing Bette Davis and the batshit crazy Joan Crawford as Baby Jane Hudson and her crippled sister Blanche. Hill will adapt his screenplay from Lukas Heller’s original screenplay, which was based on Henry Farrell’s novel.

Now the talk is who will play the sisters? I mean Crawford and Davis were fabulous, and Lyn and Vanessa Redgrave were less so in their TV remake several years back.

So, who do you think should play the girls?

I have my own suggestion, given the biggest stories of today: Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes.

That would be worth seeing.

The Audacity Of Missus Jane Pitt, Man!

Jane Pitt

So, by now I’m sure most of you have read about Jane Pitt—mother of LGBT ally, and hottie, Brad Pitt—who sent a letter of support for Mittsy Romney to the Springfield News-Leader, which said, among other things:

Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is casting a vote for Romney’s opponent, Barack Hussein Obama — a man who sat in Jeremiah Wright’s church for years, did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage.

Wow. Brad must be thrilled. And I, myself, had a whole diatribe about Missus Jane Pitt and her special brand of hate, masked as Christianity. I mean, why throw in the president’s middle name unless you want to make that connection between Barack and Saddam, you know, how they’re cut from the same cloth because they have the same name. And why all the fuss over a National Day of Prayer? I didn’t know we needed a ‘national’ day; I thought folks could just pray whenever they wanted and didn’t need a special holiday to do so.

But, I digress.

Someone else has a much nicer response to Missus Jane and her special brand of crazy:

Dear Mrs. Pitt,

Today, I saw a shocking message in my inbox. I was alerted of a HuffPost Gay Voices piece that discussed your recent letter to Missouri's Springfield News-Leader where you proudly profess your support for presidential candidate Mitt Romney while also clearly demonstrating your anti-woman, homophobic and racist beliefs.

I call this message shocking because of my own wrong assumptions regarding the woman and mother I thought you to be. As a mother of a nine-year-old and a six-year-old, I am constantly learning from other parents who offer acts of parental inspiration. One such act came indirectly from you while I was watching an episode of Oprah. I remember your son Brad, discussing a bedtime ritual from his childhood. Before he would go to sleep at night, you'd talk to him about how it didn't matter how popular he was or how good he looked -- what really mattered was what good he did for others and being a good person. He went on to say that you explained that, "The world is not fair, but this means you have more responsibility -- how you handle it, what you do with it and leading the way to help others, as well."

I was so moved by that statement that I re-watched that part of the interview and I have used that same guidance with my own children. Often, when people talk to me about how beautiful my kids are, I always go back to your statement that "looks don't matter, it's how you treat others."

Sadly, your message to the News-Leader was harmful to LGBT people in Missouri and across the country and, to be quite frank, you should know that there is no telling how many souls you harmed with your public religion-based bigotry. How, in a day and age when hate crimes and youth suicides are reported on a nearly daily basis, can you take such a harmful stance?

As a mother, I am disappointed that you chose to publicly pit mother against child. As a person of faith I find your decision to engage in such a cruel and calculated manner, heartbreaking. As fellow Southerner, I can tell you that your son has been a continual source of inspiration, encouragement and pride. Watching him take personal and professional risk by clearly standing up for the minority and those facing discrimination has been empowering. His family, your grandchildren, will grow up in a more loving and just world because of the conviction and courage that your son and his partner, Angelina, have shown to others.

Being a mother and a believer in a God that is capable of an overwhelmingly powerful love for all is what gave me no choice but to respond. I can only hope that, somewhere deep in your soul tonight, you will choose to take your own advice -- that you will think about the good that your son is doing for the world and choose, once again, to consider how you can make the world a better, more fair and loving place.

Mrs. Pitt, shame on you -- I stand with Brad!

Mother to Mother,

Robin McGehee

Word.

via HuffPost Gay Voices