The husbands together in Russia last fall,
shortly after Election Day in the US.
Exclusive photo © Nadya Vasilyeva.
So as many of you know, there are various days here at Chez Bink when things totally suck balls.
Yesterday was not one of those days.
Yesterday was a day completely wrapped in awesome.
Our president was inaugurated into his second term on Martin Luther King Day, which seemed wonderfully and amazingly appropriate, and which featured some firsts, conveyed in these images, that brought me to renewed hope and to tears:
The first time a president has ever mentioned
LGBT people in an inaugural address.
The first time an openly gay Hispanic man
delivered an inaugural poem,
a masterpiece celebrating unity in diversity.
The first time LGBT people were mentioned
in an inaugural benediction—in which
they were acknowledged, by Rev. Luis Leon,
as being created in God's image.
All of these moments were deliberate choices on the part of our president, to illustrate his commitment to the LGBT community—the first president ever to do so, and very very publicly.
Some will argue, well, those are just words.
Yes. They are.
Powerful words.
The same weapon of choice used by Dr. King.
Words that signal a profound change at the top level of our government. Words that resonated in millions of hearts, who will not forget what they heard and who will hold the president accountable for upholding those words with meaningful action.
Words that are the beginning of changes to come.
Full equality for LGBT people cannot be achieved by having each state decide for itself whether "those people" deserve the same rights that everyone else already has.
Full equality needs to be enacted at the federal level. And this president is the first to voice clear support for LGBT rights on one of his most visible days in office ever.
I can't help but shudder to think how different this day could have been, how different the words chosen would have been, how different—and exclusionary—the vision of America's future.
And how much all that would have deeply and negatively impacted the lives of people very dear to my heart.
Elections matter. From the local to the federal level, every voice matters and every vote counts.
Don't assume that you don't have to bother because others' votes will carry the day.
Because that's exactly what could happen.
Tony award winner and champion of gay civil rights Harvey Fierstein had some powerful words of his own to say about that:
Next time someone tries to tell you
that all politicians are the same,
that it doesn't matter who we vote for,
you point to Obama's speech today
and say,
"Oh, yes, it matters.
It's life and death."
From traybay25 on Instagram.
And here in my own little world, another awesome thing happened yesterday.
A Twitter convo last week about please-let's-not-call-him-Johnny-Weir(d) turned into an apology and a tag-team Celeb Cook-Off recap with fellow Chicago-based blogger Dan Kamys. :D
Dan has been writing about this season of Rachael vs. Guy for the Chew on That blog, part of the Recipe4Living website, which logs more than a million visitors a month. I had noticed his first entry, but was a tiny bit dismayed to see him refer to Johnny as "Johnny Weir(d)" (lame) (sigh).
The second entry, with repeated use of the name, caught another fan's eye, who called Dan out on Twitter about it. And being in a bit of a mood that day, I joined her in questioning him.
(Yes, I know, it's not really a big deal. Except it is. Words matter. See above.)
Much to my surprise—having had these types of convos before—Dan was extremely receptive and decided, after a remarkably pleasant discussion, that although he had actually intended it as a compliment, he didn't care for the term either, in its context of being the lazy go-to term of derision for Johnny for years.
So he re-edited the entries, and followed up by asking if I'd like to combine our Celeb Cook-Off recap efforts this week into one entry for his blog.
And so we did! And it was fun! And we might do it again for this Sunday's episode, deadlines permitting.
Thank you, Dan, for your sensitivity and sense of humor about the whole thing, and for adding immeasurably to my awesome day. You rock.
My child's not weird.
Everyone else is.
—Johnny's dad, "Big John" Weir,
in a rare interview
with the Washington Post
And one last bit of awesome: My lovely friend Nadya Vasilyeva gently reminded me the other day that I still have fabulous exclusive picspam from her, taken when the husbands were in Russia for Rostelecom Cup.
And so today seems like a perfect day to run the first part of those pics, in celebration of our president's commitment to "those people," who, as it turns out, are just... people. Beautiful, kind, funny, normal, and, in this case, gloriously-in-love people.
Please click any photo twice for larger view.
Johnny autgraphing his book,
Welcome to My World, for a fan in the hotel lobby.
Victor! Photobombed by Aunt Diane!
Johnny signing an autograph on an iPad.
With other skaters, including John Coughlin, far left.
IDK.
Family portrait! Front row: Gracie Gold, Caroline Zhang,
Maia Shibutani, Caydee Denney, lovely blonde woman
whose name no one seems to know, Tiffany Vise.
Back row: Handsome man whose name no one seems to know,
Agnes Zawadski, John Coughlin, Alex Shibutani,
Richard Dornbush, Don Baldwin, Johnny.
Victor laden with gargantuan amounts of flowers.
Back of Johnny's fabulous fur.
Posing for Japanese fans.
The husbands.
♥
Very special thanks to
Nadya Vasilyeva
for the exclusive photos!
More to come!
UPDATE!!
New totals for this week!!
VOTE VOTE VOTE!!
after vote totals from last week
were zeroed out...
Battling back against Hines' 280,000+ Twitter followers
and 1.4 MILLION Facebook fans...!
after said fans got wind of our voting...
Yes, my captain—we're still on it!
It's an uphill battle against those
Steelers fans, but we love a challenge!
So please VOTE VOTE VOTE 10x a day for Johnny
from every available device / browser /
strangers' laptops in Starbucks / whatever it takes...
Yay!! Johnny has more than 116,000 followers
on Twitter now!
This fabulous jacket from Ignition, seen here on Johnny
as he leaves an appearance on the Wendy Williams Show,
is available again as a relisted item!
A number of Johnny's auction items have been relisted,
which means if you missed out the first time around,
you're in luck: It's not too late to own a piece of Weir Gear!
Go check it out and see what treasures you could take home!
Exclusive photos © David Ingogly.
And more gorgeous photos are now available
from Johnny's interview at Cup of Russia.
NEW at the Team Weir-Voronov fan store!!
"A Mighty Dream" calendars for 2013,
Order yours today! All proceeds donated to
administered by the lovely Patti Weir.
New episode THIS SUNDAY!
January 20, 9 pm EST & PST / 8 pm CST,
Patti has posted a new message
on Johnny's Comeback Gift Fund website,
with her thoughts on 2012
and what lies ahead.
Please go read it now!
and what lies ahead.
Please go read it now!
Johnny's a regular columnist now
for the Falls Church News-Press!
His columns are published every Thursday
in the "National Commentary"
section—don't miss a single one!
His columns are published every Thursday
in the "National Commentary"
section—don't miss a single one!
Please alert absolutely everyone you've ever met
to "like" and follow the new
Because he should be on all the things.
With or without ice.
But definitely with Viacheslav.
Please vote for Johnny!!
Please be sure to check in with GetGlue
anytime you're watching the show...
or thinking about watching the show....
or wishing you were watching the show....
anytime you're watching the show...
or thinking about watching the show....
or wishing you were watching the show....
Yes, YOU can be a part of Johnny's comeback!
Please visit Johnny's Comeback Gift Fund today
and chip in as little as $1 via PayPal.
Our small gifts can help make his dream of competing
in his third Olympic Games come true!
And now you can leave a message
of support for Johnny, too!
in his third Olympic Games come true!
And now you can leave a message
of support for Johnny, too!
Please click to vote for Johnny
once a day as "Best Sportsman"!
Because he retweeted Luisa Lotka to tell us
he wants us to! (Note: With his "58.132" rating,
he is currently in 1st place in both
Figure Skating AND across all sports!)
Q and A! Go read it now!
At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!
Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!
Johnny tweeted:
"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!"
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
You know what to do.
Please buy the song from Johnny's website,
or just click the "Buy" button on the player
at the top of the blog!
at the top of the blog!
Hey, Welcome to My World also is available
as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!
copyright 2013 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved
2 comments:
I was also struck by the inclusion of Stonewall in the list of civil rights landmarks. Imagine being the queen who threw the first shoe that night.
Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall - thank you for that, Mr. President. #Inaguration2013 #equality
http://bit.ly/WpP37n
Imagine standing with rioting gays at the Stonewall Inn in 1967 & saying 47yrs from now a black president will laud you at his inauguration
http://bit.ly/WpPEGl
I can't believe the number of people who STILL think sticking a D on the end of JOhnny's last name is amusing. Major FAIL! But at least he turned out to be a reasonable person, who is now collaborating with our own MM!
Great shout out by the president, and lots of great photos of Johnny and Viktor!
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