Another Martin Luther King Jr. Day has come and passed, and with it came a sense that there exists a need to have a similar day for gay rights in America.
While there is still work to be done, race relations have made dramatic strides in this country in the years since Dr. King's death.
The recent attacks on two women in Buffalo, both reputed hate crimes due to the victims' sexual orientation, prove that there is still a large chasm to cross in tolerance of the homosexual lifestyle in contemporary America.
The phrase I just used, "homosexual lifestyle," is a misnomer, but I've left it to illustrate a point.
I know that there are many of you who take a biblical stance against homosexuality. My argument is that nobody chooses their sexuality. To choose a homosexual "lifestyle" is as preposterous as saying that the majority of us choose a heterosexual "lifestyle."
I'll confess right here and now that, ladies, you had me at hello. You oftentimes drive me right up a tree, where I contemplate jumping, but your feminine wiles always win me over.
I'm smitten with your beauty and your charm. I'm maddened by your yo-yo-like emotions and stream-of-consciousness minds. But like a poker player with no more bluffs to play, I'm all in.
I've been that way as long as my hormones have been in control. From the first time I strolled the halls of my junior high and realized the girls I'd grown up with were developing curves on roads that my eyes demanded to drive, I've been powerless over my "lifestyle."
To imagine that it is any different for homosexuals is pure folly.
Had someone been thumping a Bible and telling the adolescent me that God long ago had decreed that I needed to destroy the lustful thoughts of women running through my head and resign myself to the preordained notion that my future belonged in the arms of another man, I would have gone one of two things: ballistic or crazy.
But I never would have gone gay. Sexual orientation is about as much of a choice as involuntary breathing.
I've had the great pleasure of knowing some gay people in my life. To twist an old Will Rogers' chestnut, I've never met one I didn't like.
I've also known a few I suspected were closeted, living a lie to fit in with society.
What a sad and lonely way to have to meander through life. Is it really much different from what Anne Frank experienced?
Of course, the one exception being that gays are hiding in plain sight. Persecution for no crime other than being born as yourself is wrong, be it on charges of race, religion or sexual orientation.
Isn't it time to enter a new age of tolerance on this issue?
I propose a national day of acceptance on the issue of sexual orientation.
Doesn't it fall under the umbrella of what Dr. King was talking about when he said that we should judge people by the "content of their character"?
I think it's a cause worthy of national celebration.
Don't look now, but the acting award show season is upon us yet again. As of this writing, the People's Choice, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award shows have all come and gone, with the Oscars still on tap.
A couple of thoughts occurred to me as I watched the proceedings of this year's events from Red Carpet to post-party revelry.
The first is that the stars just don't get it. In a year when the economy has tanked and millions of people have lost their jobs, seen their home values drop and watched their 401(k)s disappear like Houdini's rabbit, one would think they would tone down the clothes-and-bling orgy on the Red Carpet.
Just once I'd like to see a starlet answer the question, "What are you wearing?" with "The dress is from the K-Mart Jaclyn Smith collection and the jewelry all came out of a quarter machine in a plastic bubble. Who can afford Gucci and Cartier in this economy?"
Also, why are we always drawn in when someone gives an emotional speech after a big win?
For instance, at the SAGs, Drew Barrymore won a Best Female Actor award (I guess the term "actress" is taboo) and appeared to be overwhelmed when she reached the podium.
I say "appeared," because she is an actor. Not only that, but she was just recognized by her peers as being the best in the biz at what she does.
Do you really think she didn't contemplate what she would say if she won?
The notion that in self-obsessed Hollywood someone would just assume the statue was going to a competitor and not carefully rehearse an acceptance speech is ridiculous. It's acting, people, and the chance to display your craft in front of a room full of your peers is a worm too tempting to pass up, I'm afraid.
Speaking of award shows, is there any cooler person in Hollywood than Betty White?
On the SAG award show, the 88-year-old White was given a well-deserved lifetime honor by her co-star in the movie "The Proposal," Sandra Bullock.
Bullock had good-naturedly cut White up in her intro by saying, "She starred in four different television shows called 'The Betty White Show.' Four. Most people would stop naming shows after themselves after the third one."
White showed that she's still the sharpest tack in the room, however, by offering this retort when she hit the stage: "Isn't it heartening to see how far a girl as plain as she is can go?"
That wasn't even her best line.
In an interview before the telecast, she was asked what there was left for her to do in Hollywood. Without missing a beat, she answered, "Clint Eastwood."
If we are fortunate to live as many years as there are keys on a piano, we should all be as cool as Betty White.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | February 9, 2010 |