Friday, June 17, 2011

My Weekend Crush

The thing about equality is we’ll never get it on our own. There simply aren’t enough of us. The truth we sometimes like to forget is that the vast, vast, vast majority of the world simply isn’t gay. Straight peeps be everywhere, yo. Like almost any minority group, our GLBT rights depend on fair-minded people who aren’t like us championing justice over their own majority. So then when a straight (or straight identified, we’ll get to that later) person comes out and wears her support for us with pride, I can do nothing but applaud. Which is exactly what I did when those first shots of Dianna Agron wearing her now-infamous “Likes Girls” shirt on the Glee Live Tour surfaced this past weekend. All right, I might have let out something between a yelp and a gurgle in excitement instead.

Granted it also raised an eyebrow. But those questions were all answered the next day when Dianna herself wrote a lengthy post on her Tumblr about The T-shirt Heard Around the World. As she said in part:

Yesterday, during our second show, instead of wearing my usual shirt during “Born This Way” I decided to wear one that said “Likes Girls”. It should actually have read, “Loves Girls”, because I do. The women in my life give me things that the men in my life can’t. And vice-versa. No, I am not a lesbian, yet if I were, I hope that the people in my life could embrace it whole-heartedly. And let me tell you, I can easily spill (quite comfortably) what I admire, respect and think is beautiful about any of the women in my life. Piece of cake!

Last night, I wanted to do something to show my respect and love for the GLBT community. Support that people could actually see. Which is why I decided to change my shirt for the show. I happened to read a few comments that were posted on twitter. Many of you asked, “why?” This is my response. I am not asking for you to agree with what I am saying, but if you are listening, thank you. That is all I can ask. And a step further would be to take a moment to (honestly) answer the questions that I have raised. We can’t always put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. But we can try.

Now, I know there might still be some lingering gray area for some of you about exactly what this declaration meant. I know she didn’t say, “No, I am not bisexual.” But the intent, to me, seemed so pure and so heartfelt that I take it not only at face value but as a gift. We need more people like Dianna, straight-identified famous folks who are willing to be unabashed in their support for our rights. And we really need more unfamous folks, straight allies from every corner of the world, too come forward and say enough with the hate an intolerance. Face it, without them we’ll keep getting sent to the back of the bus.

We’re all born how we’re born. Gay people, straight people. We can’t help it. But we can help how we treat each other. Sometimes in this world, it seems all we hear about are the bad seeds. Those amongst us who sow bigotry and fear. But I still believe there are enough good people who can see past who we love and recognize it for what it really is – love, period. Dianna Agron, she’s one of the good ones. We need more like her in this world. Also, seriously, could she be any prettier? No, no she could not. Happy weekend, all.

14 comments:

  1. oh clap clap clqap. now i wanna watch glee for her

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  2. I have so much respect & love for Dianna Agron. I've seen videos of the performance when she wore that shirt, and she was flaunting it with pride. She let people (ok, tumblr) think she herself was gay/bi for an entire night and didn't care. And I'm sure there's still a lot of speculation about her sexuality. But in the end she is as you said a straight-identified celebrity who is loudly & proudly supporting LGBT rights, which is something we need if we're ever going to make progress.

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  3. Agree with you, agree with her. :)

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  4. Well said! and I completely agree!! I look forward to seeing what Dianna will do in her career... she is one to watch, and a noble supporter! :)

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  5. Anonymous8:34 AM

    i expected something fun today like

    yesterday. little disappointed.

    you can't close this week like this ds.

    cry~cry~no~~~no~~~ okay.

    i actually don't know the actor.

    somewhat, is it LGBT season again?

    i think there was some pride parade something

    during summer. in my faint memory.

    i honestly very like your joke like yesterday.

    we been thru all the olympic jokes, vacation

    jokes, actors jokes, so on so on~

    there was best moment isn't it?

    may be we can vote what posting

    each person likes the most?

    nice day, love you!

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  6. Anonymous8:46 AM

    by the way the picture looks great!

    nice weekend!

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  7. Standing O for you and Ms. Agron. I think it was one of the bravest things she could have done to show her support. I have to admit I was highly disappointed when some in our "community" were angry. Really? Come on people, get it together. We need all the allies we can get.

    Brava to her and to you for continuing to wave the flag of equality!

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  8. Anonymous9:51 PM

    I'm one of those still on the fence about the straight identified part but I am really glad that wasn't even what it was about for her. No one should be afraid to wear a shirt like that. Rock on, Dianna Agron! A week later I'm still so shocked she did that. So sad she's no longer officially the little lamb but she'll always be the brave little lamb to me.

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  9. Anonymous11:13 PM

    Thank you Ms Snarker. Wholeheartedly agree!

    The t-shirt says "loves girls" not "lesbian" or "bisexual".

    In no way does this t shirt suggest she had any intentions of leading anyone to believe she way gay.

    Shame on all the haters, you are why our allies are often few and far between.

    Dianna Agron, you are amazing.

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  10. Anonymous11:14 PM

    *"likes girls" rather.

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  11. shinniebaby8:09 AM

    Beautiful inside and out... xoxoxoxox Dianna

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  12. Wastepaperbin9:20 AM

    We're simply born this way.

    And for Dianna Agron, I would say +10 in sympathy and support, at least :)

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  13. Anonymous9:55 PM

    beauty. Miss Dianna doesn't just support gay rights, she has been doing extensive work on civil society - e.g. Japan's earthquake recovery and also worldvision etc. She's a good woman. I don't care who she's attracted to or loves, I am very grateful that such a wonderful person is in our world!

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    For Gay And lesbian Travel.

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