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.

photo

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?

photo

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.

photo

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.

photo

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.

photo