i was just thinking about how much of our knowledge is formed by the media.
what made me think of this? well for one.. michele is visiting her brother in mississippi (that’s just plain fun to type 
) and she was telling me about a conversation with her niece (who’s 9)… and how she knows what a lesbian is because there is an out lesbian on some model show. huh. interesting that this little girl’s source of LGBT individuals is some reality tv show.
and then that got me thinking about all the out lesbians that are in the spotlight right now. there’s pretty many of them, especially compared to years ago when the discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals was much more widely spread (i was about to say “popular”.. but it still seems to be kinda popular with all the states that voted… well.. nevermind. i’m not going to even get into that whole bag of worms. it will just make me too upset.) and what’s even greater about the quantity of lesbians in the limelight… but the QUALITY of them… or i should say the relationships. of course you always have the “bad examples” in the media of broken relationships… but we see that all over the place. its so encouraging to see two very stable, loving, normal and REAL relationships within the “star” community. (well.. three if you want to consider rosie stable.. but while her relationship is stable.. she tends to rub many people the wrong way because she speaks from her heart with such passion. but she’s not so much “in the spotlight” at the moment.. so i’m not counting her and her wife.) in particular i’m talking about ellen and portia… and melissa and tammy etheridge. i’ve been wandering around youtube.com and finding some really great examples of how their relationships are so real and such a good example for ANY relationship…. gay or straight.
i mean.. think about it. what is the subject that graces most “star” magazine covers? ‘so and so broke it off with so and so’ ‘so and so is cheating on so and so with blahbity-blah’ .. i mean.. we see all this junk all over our media… it’s kinda refreshing to see some people who live their lives SMART. people who actually live as a good example.
now flip back to people that i know personally.
yesterday i attended a wedding reception (you may seen a picture of the dancing here on my blog. if not.. scroll down.) it was such an amazing time and was a great celebration of a couple that couldn’t be more perfect for each other. but i left that wedding reception and found myself bitter and angry as i drove home. why? because their marriage has been deemed “not legal” by people who will never know their names. they have been called “not worthy” of laws to protect their future together. and there is no good reason why. none.
in one of my online forum/groups this topic came up recently. and i brought up one of the “arguments” that anti-gay-marriage-people use: ‘the gay people are trying to tear down and destroy marriage’. riiiiight. like.. by having two women be protected under the law with a legal marriage license.. this is going to affect your relationship.. how?!?
a straight married woman posted “The sanctity of my marriage is not dependent upon whether or not two women exchange vows, or two men trade rings. Denying them the ability to act, think, and do as they please gives me nothing, but denies them their very freedom.
Sorry… doesn’t fly with me.”
and it doesn’t fly with me either. it’s like the lyrics in the melissa etheridge song that i posted the other day (again… scroll down and watch that. trust me.. you won’t be sorry ) “it’s funny how you find just what you seek”… and even the Bible talks about that. interesting. eh?
and i leave you with a quote from tammy etheridge that she said in an interview in response to how she always refers to melissa as her wife: “in 80 years its really not gonna matter. our children are going to read history books about how they used to treat the gays. and that’s ok. right now we’re just in the middle of it. and i’m gonna love her until we get through it. and get on the other side. nobody can change that.”
well put. (and ps. tammy has a blog. go check it out… cuz all the cool kids are doing it. hehehe. )
on that note. i’m going to go watch a movie now… and wait for my baby to get back tomorrow!!!
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