Per the glaadBLOG, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton posted a video today in which he made remarks about a confrontation with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, as well as members of the band's entourage. From the GLAAD media release entitled Statement from GLAAD on Perez Hilton's Use of Anti-Gay Slur:
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today issued the following statement in response to a video posted by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton,in which he made the following remarks about a confrontation with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and members of the band's entourage.
"And that is when I made the split-second decision - that I was gonna say what I thought was the worst possible thing that thug [will.i.am] would ever want to hear. As I was standing my ground - without being violent or physical which I would never do - I told him - and you know what? I don't need to respect you and you're a f**. You're gay and stop being such a f***ot."
"These are vulgar anti-gay slurs that feed a climate of hatred and intolerance toward our community," said Rashad Robinson, Senior Director of Media Programs at GLAAD. "For someone in our own community to use it to attack another person by saying that it is, quote, 'The worst possible thing that thug would ever want to hear,' is incredibly dangerous. It legitimizes use of a slur that is often linked to violence against our community. And it sends a message that it is OK to attempt to dehumanize people by exploiting anti-gay attitudes."
"We>"We have reached out to Hilton and asked him to apologize for promoting this anti-gay slur, and we would ask media outlets to avoid repetition of the slur in their coverage of this story."
Reuters is reporting that Toronto police have charged Liborio Molina, the manager of the Black Eyed Peas, with assault.
"While not all the facts in this case are known, the violence that appears to have been committed against Perez Hilton is unacceptable and ought to be condemned in the strongest possible terms," said Robinson.
I'm with GLAAD on this. It was completely wrongheaded for Perez Hilton use anti-LGBT pejoratives to verbally attack his alleged physical attackers. Yes, physical violence is wrong, but the way to answer that wrong isn't to commit another one.
We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
~~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Call me an idealist, but I just can't abide hate speech by anyone. Hey, anti-LGBT hate speech that's hostility directed at another -- especially by one of our own lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community members -- is wrong. Yes, it's even wrong when lashing out in anger at someone we see as wronging us.
Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.
~~Martin Luther King Jr.
It's hard to have any other impression after reading this NYT piece than the Obama administration would really like to hustle the invitees to this Stonewall event through some back door, and hustle the queers back out ASAP. Look at this:As advocates for gays and lesbians intensify their criticism of the White House, President Obama has invited some of their leaders to an East Room reception next Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the 1969 Greenwich Village demonstrations that gave birth to the modern gay rights movement.Nice to know while service members are being discharged, and LGBTs are losing their jobs if they come out of the closet, and couples can drive across state lines and be married/civil unions/domestic partners/strangers in the eyes of the law that the champagne will be flowing and backs will be patted in the East Room. But hey, I hope that there is a bit more solemnity and less festive glad-handing at this event considering what Stonewall was about. To refer to it as akin to Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick's Day festivities seems pretty awful to me.The White House has not publicized the reception, and officials did not respond to e-mail requests for comment. But gay leaders from here and around the country said they had received either telephone calls from the White House or written invitations to the event, and were told Mr. Obama is expected to speak.
...Whether Mr. Obama will address the complaints at Monday's reception is unclear. One person who received the invitation said the White House was billing the event as a celebration, akin to the festive affairs the administration holds on St. Patrick's Day or Cinco de Mayo. Another said the invitation included an offer to bring a guest. "They want people to unders understand that their partners are welcome,'' said this person, speaking anonymously because the White House has not announced the event.
That's ok -- the $$$ won't be flowing at that DNC fundraiser.
UPDATE: Here is the official WH comment in the same piece.
Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said, "Next Monday's event is a chance for the White House to recognize the accomplishments of LGBT Americans. Invited guests include families, volunteers and activists, and community leaders. This event was long planned as a way to applaud these individuals during Pride month."UPDATE 2: Here's a Q of the day for you -- so if the gathering is like Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick's day, what should the decorative theme be at the White House for Stonewall if it's supposed to be festive from their POV -- floats and circuit boys dancing on them?
Hot from today's WH press briefing (via email), Robert Gibbs discloses that the WH currently has no plan to reject or change the heinous defenses in the DOJ DOMA brief. Or rather, he's not aware of any -- nothing like floating the whole plausible deniability statement, but given the matters at hand, dust has probably collected on the brief.Q Robert, on the issue of the DOMA brief, one of your colleagues over the weekend, Lisa Brown, said that she didn't think some of the language that was in that brief should have been in there. Can you clarify from last week whether that brief was clear here at the White House, whether it represents the White House's view?I wonder if that was one of the three questions asked during the WH conference call with LGBT honchos today? The Lisa Brown statement the reporter is referring to about DOMA was said while serving on an American Constitution Society panel (via Queerty):MR. GIBBS: Lisa is the Staff Secretary. You didn't ask her?
Q It wasn't a press conference; it was a panel discussion. But can you clarify whether it was cleared --
MR. GIBBS: I don't know the answer to that.
Q And do you know if there is any discussion underway about maybe modifying it or changing it?
MR. GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of.
But Lisa Brown says it could've been worse! Barack Obama's staff secretary said the Department of Justice's lawsuit response to DOMA was "an awful lot better that the brief that was written in the Bush administration," adding, "There's no question - personal statement - that there were some cites in there that should not-that should not have been in there...They were trying to...essentially eliminate arguments that the Bush Administration had made."
Speaking at a panel discussion for the American Constitution Society, Brown's words were joined by Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain, who noted: "I understand why people are impatient with the pace of progress. We have only been here 125 days, and in those 125 days have many irons in the fire. ... I hope that next year when we have this conference and that question gets asked it doesn't elicit the same kind of applause that it elicited this time."
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In semi-related news, Queerty is also reporting that Hilary Rosen will be attending the LGBT DNC fundraiser.
former RIAA chief and current PR strategist-slash-CNN talking head Hilary Rosen will be at the Democratic National Committee LGBT Leadership Council fundraiser on Thursday. We're assuming she'll attend with newly announced girlfriend Randi Weingarten, who might be attending only because she'll have a chance to troll the room looking for job prospects.
So, how have your conversations gone so far? What went well? What kind of responses have you gotten? What have you learned? Share your stories, comments and questions here!
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