Are Hollywood Celebrities Helping Or Hurting The Gay Rights Movement?

By Meghan Chavalier

April 23, 2009

With the most recent debacle known as Miss Gay USA the gay community was confronted with the horrible revelation that a beauty pageant contestant didn't agree with gay marriage when asked by celebrity judge Perez Hilton what she thought about same sex marriage. The next day it was all over the news, you couldn't access any news media outlet without seeing the video from the contest. The aftermath? Having to listen to Perez Hilton talk about it over and over again on every news program he could find, hearing Miss California talk about how she stands by her answer to the question on every news program she could find. It can only be summed up in one word...ridiculous.

The last time I checked Perez Hilton was a gossip columnist who has made a career out of other people's pain and suffering. He has "outed" many gay people, who may not have wanted to come out of the closet. He doesn't speak for me as a gay activist and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. He is someone who milks the media to get his name in the papers and nothing more. Another celebutard trying to become famous. Rarely does Perez Hilton ever publish anything on his website that is positive for the gay community, unless he's outing someone or talking about how hot someone looks half naked. Until this week, he didn't have any gay agenda, unless it had to do with himself. Don't buy into the hype, because the only thing you're doing is feeding his ego, and the last thing we need is another celebrity with a bigger head.

Do I care if Britney Spears stands behind gay marriage? No. It doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is that our government realizes that under the Constitution of the United States of America we are all guaranteed the same equal rights.

Celebrities feed on their own egos. Been to Twitter lately? It's become a lovefest for celebrities. I can think of more important things going on in the world than hoping that Ashton Kutcher gets over one million followers on Twitter, and honestly he shouldn't care about it either, but he does.

There are people dying from AIDS, starving, dying in genocides, homeless, unemployed by the millions globally and we're supposed to care about someone who is living a life of luxury who has nothing better to do than sit at home on their computer wondering how many people adore them? Give me a damn break already.

Hollywood has figured out another way to capitalize on their celebrity by jumping on the gay movement bandwagon. Until the gay marriage debate became such a hot topic, where were the celebrities? Think about that for a moment and then we'll move on.

The problem is that the media has managed to suppress the real news, with celebrity fluff. How often do you hear stories about the Iraq War anymore when you turn on the news? Our young men and women are still dying every day and it seems we have pushed those stories aside and replaced them with stories about the Octomom.

Equal rights for the gay community should be important to every gay man, woman, and transgendered individual. It shouldn't matter what celebrity is endorsing gay rights this week. It should matter that you need to stand up to your government and demand that you be given the same rights as every other tax paying American citizen. You don't need to be a celebrity, or have a celebrity endorsement to know that you deserve these rights.

Quit worrying about Jennifer and Angelina and Brad. They have their own lives to live, and so do you. Wake up in the morning and tell yourself, I might be gay but I deserve to be treated with respect by ALL people. I am no less of a person than anyone else because I am gay.

Now, some may argue that it's great that celebrities are taking a stand and coming out for gay rights, but celebrities also pat themselves on the back when they do this knowing that it will make every media outlet anytime they speak out about any gay issue. It's a matter of spin control for their career and nothing more.

Did you ever wonder how hard it was for Rock Hudson to stand up and tell the world he had AIDS? Do you think at that point it mattered to him what it would do to his career? No. This was a man who realized that by standing up and telling the world he had AIDS that he would make the world realize that it could happen to anyone, even him. His agenda was to bring the issue to the forefront and put a face to the disease. Sometimes celebrities can make a difference, and it did, in his situation.

I can only ask each and every one of you, my brothers and sisters in the gay community, to please stop letting the glitter of Hollywood stand in the way of the real issues at hand. We are a community fighting for our own survival. We, as a gay community, must stand together to fight the good fight. You may never win an Academy Award for gay activism, but at least when you walk down a street with your head held high and your eyes wide open and one foot directly in front of the other, you'll know that you made a difference in the world, and it didn't take being a celebrity to do it.