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Ricky Martin is a tabloid gay

April 3rd 2010 05:17
ricky martin

VYOOS EDITORIAL
The main news stories around the world on Monday, March 29, were the terrorist attacks on the Moscow subway, a surprise visit by the US president to Afghanistan, and the announcement by Ricky Martin that he is gay.

Most non-tabloid media rated the first two stories more important, but you wouldn't know it from the astonishment, applause, approbation, anger, angst and airheadedness with which the community greeted the third.


Why all the song and dance? Well, the strident reactions came mostly from America, where conservative, prurient, judgmental, religious conservatism is, like Sarah Palin's glasses, a fashion accessory. America is the world's biggest importer of eggshells, upon which the country's liberal-minded citizens walk.

Admittedly, Martin's announcement was itself less than robustly self-affirming. It came on his web site, as follows: "To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids where born with. Enough is enough. This has to change."

Indirect diminution is not a concept that commonly confronts the fans (or foes) of pop stars, so we will try to clarify. The children to which Martin refers are his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, who were born in August 2008. So what Ricky is saying is that having children made it clear to him that he was gay.

We hope that's clear.

Of course, Ricky could have said something like "I knew I was gay years ago" but, as his marketing advisers would have pointed out, there is little headline mileage in such banalities. Often, truth isn't sexy.


Also, you don't have the fun of teasing the religious right.



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constance mcmillen lesbian tuxedo
Constance McMillen

VYOOS EDITORIAL
We all have decisions to make in life, and the decisions we make define us.

Constance McMillen, of the Mississippi town of Fulton, population about 4,000, decided she wanted to go to her high school prom with her lesbian partner, and she wanted to go dressed in a tuxedo.

The district school board of Itwamba County decided to take issue with the clothing side of McMillen's intentions. A female may not attend a prom, they said, wearing a tuxedo.

The American Civil Liberties Union then informed the Itwamba County school board that its decision was illegal. Not letting McMillen wear a tuxedo violated her rights of free expression. Further, the ACLU said, please note that banning same-sex prom dates is a violation of students' rights.

The Itwamba County school board decided, that being the case, they would cancel the prom "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events''. In a true political soft-shoe shuffle, it mentioned neither Constance McMillen nor the ACLU.

As a consequence, Constance McMillen decided that she had made a mess of things for everyone and couldn't face going back to school. Her father decided to say a few words. It was important, he said, to face her classmates, teachers and officials. "Daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am,'' said Constance.

Back at school, Constance faced some hostility. "Thanks for ruining my senior year," said one student, who has a bright future on the Itwamba County school board.

But Constance was back in the groove which gave her the courage and confidence in the first place to propose going to the prom on her own terms. "The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me to go on," she said.

Good decision.
source, picture: www.dallasvoice.com




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