Kayso it's June which actually is a thing that happened yesterday but I was busy still having the end of the old month which sort of jerked and slopped over in an unexpected and somewhat unpleasant way into my new month which sounded less wrong in my head than it did just now when I read it over but hey I'm here, I'm not queer, but I'm damn proud to stand beside all those who are--queer, transgendered, lesbian, gay, and every flavor in between which reminds me I want ice cream. And that's all Teresa Avoglia's fault for posting about Dairy Queen on Johnny's fan page yesterday.
Anyway: Here we are! It's LGBT Pride Month! And I was going to write something cogent and deeply insightful about why it's important to have this month, the history that led to it, and the controversy that still surrounds it, both inside and outside the gay community, but then I read this excellent blog post that covers all that so concisely and so well (and also mentions Johnny!) that anything I could add would sorta just ruin it, like the extra salt that spinster Great-Aunt Poppy always insisted on pouring into the already over-salted gravy at Thanksgiving, much to the irritation of her long-time roommate Flo, who for some reason had severed contact with her own family and so she always attended holiday get-togethers with Poppy at which they spent the entire time bickering with each other like an ... old ... married ... couple ...
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.
And how sad that, for all intents and purposes that could be summed up by the word "love," that's pretty much exactly what they were but could never actually be--not openly, freely, or proudly.
And it's that kind of shit that's got to stop.
So IDK if there's an actualfax national theme for this year's national LGBT month (yeah Google is my friend but he's asleep right now and I hate to bother him), so Imma pick one and it's my favorite (after ice cream dammit Teresa): Love.
For me, LGBT Pride Month is about loving those who are different from me; loving them enough to do whatever concrete, real-world things I can do to help make their lives better; loving them by standing up and saying as loudly as possible, "Hey. HEY. These are my friends, my neighbors, my family. They're not looking for special treatment. They just want to be treated like everybody else."
And it's about the fact that Love. Is. Love. It doesn't matter what the packaging is; it matters what's in the heart. Two people meet; they fall in love; they want to spend their lives together; and they should be able to do just that. The same legal steps, status, and benefits should be afforded to every couple who wishes to make that commitment.
Yeah. It's that simple.
But most of all, it's about helping people to love themselves, to be proud of who they are, to be fearless in expressing that identity, and to make sure that our world is a safe place for them to do that.
It's time to stop bullying; to embrace acceptance; to love one another.
I recently came across an interesting question: "If I love myself too much, does it lessen my ability to love others, or simply make me stronger?"
I've been pondering that a lot.
I think the problem is most of us don't love ourselves enough--enough to not hurt ourselves with poor choices; enough to follow our dreams; enough to know with unshakable conviction that we are lovable, and that the love we have for ourselves is the key to creating loving relationships with others.
If I love me, I don't have to feel threatened by those who are different from me. I don't have to criticize them, to marginalize them, or to bully them to make myself feel less insecure about me.
So IDK what it means to love oneself too much. Because real love is infinite, and unselfish, and you can't have too much of it, for yourself or another. The God of my heart loves all of us in that way, and asks us to love each other that way too.
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Sadly, that's exactly what a lot of us do. We have so little love for ourselves. And it shows.
For me to love my neighbor as myself, first I have to love myself.
The more love I have for myself--the more secure I am in the knowledge that I was born this way, I was made to be exactly who I am, and that I am a delight who is loved beyond measure by the Love who created me--the more I am able to love others.
And I would love it if maybe someday we could take pride in the fact that we don't need LGBT Pride Month anymore. True equality is achieved; all couples are free to love, to marry, to raise children, and to sit at the bedside of their dying partner and hold hands; and maybe my grandkids or great-grandkids are asking me how we finally got here.
Love, I say. We did it with love.
Inspired by fearless boxes of rainbows.
And fortified with ice cream.
Bonus pic! Johnny has new hair,
courtesy of fabulous Beauty Bear Eric Alt!
My fav comment about this new look comes from Robin Kirby,
who wrote: "Dorothy Hamill's wedge and the mullet had a baby.
On your head. Fab." Eric describes it as "sublime jellyfish."
And please remember to vote vote vote
for Eric to win "Favorite Salon"
in New Jersey Life Health + Beauty Magazine's A-List awards!
You can vote for both salons at the same time:
Eric Alt Saddle River, and Eric Alt Wood Ridge.
You also can vote over and over in this one
without even having to clear your cache--
just press F5 to refresh the page! #winning
Johnny's everywhere in June!!
He has six appearances scheduled in conjunction with
Macy's "Pride + Joy" events to celebrate LGBT Pride Month:
He'll be in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles,
Chicago, New York, and St. Petersburg, FL.
Check out his Events page for more info,
and don't miss your chance to meet him!!
Please help Johnny meet his goal
of raising $10,000 for breast cancer research
by visiting his donor page!
Saturday, June 18, in Columbus, OH!
(Same weekend as the Annually Awesome
Columbus Gay Pride Parade--win-win!)
UPDATE: Johnny will be performing
FOUR times at Skate for Hope!
He'll be in the Headliners' Opening and Closing numbers,
and also will skate two solos!
UPDATE: Johnny will be performing
FOUR times at Skate for Hope!
He'll be in the Headliners' Opening and Closing numbers,
and also will skate two solos!
At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!
Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!
"Buy my single,'Dirty Love' via iTunes.
Tell all your friends to as well. The more copies sold
takes me one step closer to making a video! №1!"
THE WORLD NEEDS THIS VIDEO
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
You know what to do.
or just click the "Buy" button on the player
at the top of the blog!
Hey, Welcome to My World also is available
as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!
7 comments:
Excellent. Thank you.
Love is Love. You are right, it really is just that simple♥
Beth
Goodness, your words really touched me today. I always enjoy your blog, but sometimes, and today was one, you make me teary. Beautifully said.
It was scary enough to wake up one day as a tween and discover I was heterosexual. It felt like my brain, body, and soul had been being hijacked by Evolution (shocked me enough to become a born-again agnostic, versus a tentative believer). It must be so so much harder to be LGBT.
I'm very proud of the progress made by young people who have the courage to come out. And also very proud of their friends who support them. Yes, they are coming out of the closet in junior high and high school even in deep Red small town Oklahoma where I live, and getting support from their friends, if not always from their older relatives. There's a Gay-Straight Alliance at our local high school (the school would not let them meet on premises, but the library did).
As Minnesota Representative Steve Simon asks, "How many gay people must God create before we accept that he wants them around?" And creates them with a flourish...with magnificent, life-enriching, jaw-dropping talents. For example, ancient Greek philosophers and Leonardo Da Vinci.
I've read that an estimated 30%-40% of competitive male skaters, and quite a few of its judges, are gay. If even this sport cannot love itself, how can its officials expect strangers to?
P.S. Glee, American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars are glitter-filled top-ranked TV programs attracting a highly desirable demographic: http://insidetvratings.com/2011/05/26/nielsen-tv-rating/tuesday-final-ratings-american-idol-dancing-with-the-stars-adjusted-up/ Time to get with the program and boost the ratings.
In the words of my favorite philosopher & self-help guru, "If you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?" Too often we punish people for the things that scare, embarrass or shame us about ourselves. It's time for all of us to come out of our closets and celebrate our differences. Here's to the day when the whole world spends Pride month honoring the pioneers of the LGBT movement and being proud of leaving the dark ages behind. Can I get an Amen?!
first to all, to Jenn: can i get an A-men in here?! i think RuPaul really says it all right there.
Binky, this was a lovely, lovely post!
happily basking in my box of rainbows right now.
purrr . . . purrrrrr . . .
"Too often we punish people for the things that scare, embarrass or shame us about ourselves. It's time for all of us to come out of our closets and celebrate our differences."
Amen, Jenn.
And I love that quote by RuPaul.
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