Republican & Gay Marriage

David Jolly is a freshman in the US House of Representatives from Florida and he’s publicly supporting gay marriage. He’s also a Republican, which for some reason this article seems to find fascinating.

‘I believe it is fully appropriate for a state to recognize both traditional marriage as well as same-sex marriage,’ Jolly, 41, said this week as he spoke about a recent judicial ruling that made same-sex marriage legal in Florida’s Monroe County.

 ‘ … As a matter of Constitutional principle, I believe in a form of limited government that protects personal liberty,’ Jolly said. ‘To me, that means that the sanctity of one’s marriage should be defined by their faith and by their church, not by their state.’

You can read more here, where there’s an interesting note about Jolly’s personal life.

I’m not really surprised at the tone of this article. It seems to suggest that all Republicans are anti-gay and anti-gay marriage and I think that’s because it’s not from a US publication. The fact is that there are gay Republicans and Republicans who do support gay marriage, and it’s more common than most would imagine. In recent years many Americans from both parties have felt the need to go silent with regard to politics because they fear backlash from the loudest voices/bullies from both extremes. I think that’s going to come to an end in the future.

Hollywood Fails Gays

Speaking of loud left wing liberal politics, the irony of this next link is interesting because it claims that ultra pro-gay Hollywood has failed in the way it portrays gays in films. The survey was done by GLAAD. They covered the seven largest studios in 2013. There were 102 releases, and only 17 LGBTI characters. According to this survey, not one gay character was a lead. As a side note, I often look at Tony while I’m scrolling through on demand and wonder why there is only one gay film, hidden in the indie section, that I had to find out about on social media. And it’s usually not a very good film.

‘The lack of substantial LGBT characters in mainstream film, in addition to the outdated humor and stereotypes suggests large Hollywood studios may be doing more harm than good when it comes to worldwide understanding of the LGBT community,’ said GLAAD’s CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis.

 ‘These studios have the eyes and ears of millions of audience members, and should reflect the true fabric of our society rather than feed into the hatred and prejudice against LGBT people too often seen around the globe.’

I’ve been saying basically the same thing since I started blogging. This is one reason why I sometimes parody heteronormative films in books, with gay characters. Time and again, it’s fail, fail, fail for Hollywood. And if they do get it right, they fail in other ways…like Matt Damon joking around about how weird it was to kiss a guy (and to get paid quite well to do that). Not all do this. Actors like Trevor Donovan play gay roles, do it well, and with respect. They make it look simple. But unfortunately, Donovan and the others aren’t in the majority.

The same thing could be said about books and the publishing industry, which is one of the main reasons why I have always been pro m/m romance. In the m/m romance genre things aren’t always perfect, but most of the time the authors (and the readers) get it right. I also think this is why the genre continues to grow. But I don’t want to get off topic. This is about films.

You can read more here. The bigger question for me is why do we, as gays (and those who support us), continue to take this? If they aren’t exploiting us for monetary gain, they are examining us as if we’re lab rats. If they aren’t treating us as if we’re pet poodles, they are patronizing us and portraying us as heteronormative clones. And we…I include myself in this because I’m just as guilty…take it each time.

Nelsan Ellis Slams Luke Grimes

Finally, someone is speaking up and not letting “them” get away with it. I’m talking about Nelsan Ellis from True Blood. He plays Lafayette, the gay character on the show that was supposed to have a gay storyline with Luke Grimes this season. I posted about Luke Grimes allegedly quitting when he found out about the impending gay storyline. And now Ellis is speaking about Grimes and the situation for the first time in public.

‘I just think that, you’re an actor, you’re an actor on a show that’s True Blood, we’re all sitting there going, “You quit your job because … really?”

I’m just… I’m over him,’ Ellis tells Vulture. While a spokesman for Grimes said the departure was over the actors’ feature film schedule, HBO has maintained it was over the creative direction of the character. Says Ellis: ‘You quit your job because you don’t want to play a gay part? …

You have to be open. But more importantly, you make a statement when you do something like that.

You can read more of what he has to say with this link.

Stay tuned for Grimes’ reply, which I’m sure will come very soon.