Bob Costas, Caitlyn Jenner, Arthur Ashe Award

The elderly sportscaster, Bob Costas, recently commented about Caitlyn Jenner, transgender woman formerly known as Bruce Jenner who won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1978, getting the Arthur Ashe Award. Costas seems to think that someone other than Jenner is probably more deserving of the award…and, he thinks this is all about exploitation. I’m going to post a few quotes and comment. This is an excellent example of a straight person coming from a place of privilege not getting the point.  And this has nothing to do with being politically correct. This is about understanding what Jenner experienced.

This is what the Arthur Ashe award is about:

The award is part of the annual ESPN sports awards show and is given to someone who shows ‘strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost.’

Costas said this:

I’m pretty sure they could have found someone who was much closer to actively involved in sports, who would have been deserving of what that award represents,’ said Costas.

Think about that for a moment, and then read what the award is all about again. And then think about the fact that Jenner spent 65 years living as a man when he secretly identified as a woman. During this time, he won an Olympic gold medal, one of the highest sports achievements on the planet.

Then Costas said this:

Costas thinks Jenner was chosen for one simple reason: ‘I think this is a play to pump up audience the way lots of things are put on television, to attract eyeballs, not because of the validity, but because of whatever the kind of gawker factor is.’

This is where the straight man of privilege just doesn’t get it. He will never know what it takes to come out as L, G, B, or T. He will never know what it’s like to live with the secret, the shame, the self-loathing, and the ridicule. Will Jenner attract “eyeballs?” Of course he will, and that’s partly because he had the courage to come out in such a public way. Sometimes there’s a huge difference between exploitation and something that is so attention-worthy it’s hard to ignore. Unfortunately, I’m sure Costas is not the only one who feels this way, and I’m certain he’ll just never get it.

You can read the rest here. The comments tend to vary, but most support Jenner and one even mentions Arthur Ashe and HIV.  

Hairdresser Bans Homophobes

Aside from the fact that I rarely hear anyone refer to a stylist as a hairdresser anymore, this is an interesting article about turning the tables around.

The sign in the window of Russell Hughes’ hair salon in Prestatyn, North Wales, reads: “If you are racist, sexist, homophobic or an a**hole… don’t come in.”

Hughes posted it there earlier this week after a father, who has evidently never stepped foot in a hair salon, was shocked to learn that the well-dressed man about to cut his son’s hair… was gay!

Yesterday I posted about the homophobia I see on Twitter all the time, which usually comes in the form of using the word “gay” as a pejorative. There’s now a hashtag that says, #thatssostraight, to show how gay people can turn things around, too, with straight people.

You can read the rest here. I’m not normally a fan of an eye for an eye, however, I can’t fault someone for being hurt and fed up with discrimination.

Gay Happily-Ever-After 

I don’t think I’ve ever written a novel that didn’t have a happy ending…or happy for now. So I’m thrilled to see that we now have a fairytale that’s gay with a happily-ever-after trope.

How often in fairy tales does the brave knight rescue the princess and they live happily ever after? Well, Daniel Errico’s added a bit of a twist to that old story with The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, which just premiered on Hulu.

“LGBT relationships are typically avoided in children’s media or labeled age-inappropriate, putting kids at a disadvantage towards understanding later on in life,” Errico told The Huffington Post about putting the fairy back in fairy tale. “It’s important for kids’ movies and TV to introduce the world in a nurturing and positive way, which means creating multi-dimensional LGBT main characters.”

The rest can be read here, you’ll love it. If you don’t like happily-ever-after, think about the significance of this…and the fact that it took Hulu to do it. What is even more interesting is that there’s strong chance that Mary Poppins was written as a lesbian, by PL Travers, and you’ll rarely ever see that come up anywhere in heteronormative circles. I’m sure Bob Costas wouldn’t get this one either.