Man oh man, yesterday was a Chockfull-of-Good-News day here
at ISBL, with Charice coming out as gay, Kristin Beck coming out as transgendered,
and Dylan and Brad being voted their high school’s cutest couple.
With that in mind, let’s have another tidbit of good news,
and another coming out …
Sebastián Ligarde, a 59-year-old Mexican telenovela star,
has come out as gay.
“I'm gay and I say this with pride. No gay person should have to walk down the street with stigma stamped on his forehead. Sexual preference is genetic... and if God and my family knows it, then let the world know it.”
As I’ve said before, it doesn’t make a difference when you
come out, or even how, it just makes a difference that you do it. Even at 59,
and being a successful actor, Ligarde lived in a state of fear and denial, and
now, with those two words—“I’m gay”—all that fear and denial is gone.
Ligarde had previously announced that he was bisexual—which may
have been his first baby step out of the closet—saying, “I was bisexual when I
was young. It doubled my chances at getting a date on Saturday night. I’ve been
in a stable relationship for more than 20 years.”
Twenty years in a same-sex relationship and because of the
stigma, especially in predominantly Catholic, Latin American countries, he
couldn’t share that news.
Now he can.
“I believe I’m at an age when I can help new values... and to have the courage to accept myself publicly, as Ricky Martin did. He has been an inspiration for me when it comes to talking about this subject … It’s a day of relief and a lot of courage. It takes courage to be honest. It’s much easier to lie."
Easier to do, maybe, but harder on a person to carry that
lie. Like Charice said yesterday, being open and out certainly makes you
lighter.
So, welcome out Sebastián, and please accept as our gift a copy
of our Spanish language version of The Gay Agenda, La Agenda Gay and the obligatory Coming Out Toaster Oven,
AKA the Sale Horno Tostador.
Bienvenido a, Sebastián, bienvenido a.
You are going to have to start looking up toaster oven in a dozen new languages soon.
ReplyDeleteIn Canadian -'that little Aga, eh?'
Hello, Daddy! :-)
ReplyDeletelook at those eyes! (melts into a puddle of goo) and he's MY AGE!
ReplyDelete