The opposition to NY's passage of gay marriage has impsired me to look up this old article I wrote under a pen name "buttersboi" for LGBT blog queersupe.com after the passage of Prop 8. It's slightly edited here and I won't link directly to it due to a few choice obscenities. Yup, I'm known to curse a little bit. Okay, a lot!
Prince Can Go Hug His Camel!
11/30/2008
I am surprised to find that not everyone in entertainment has been outraged by the passage of California’s Proposition 8. In fact, some actually support it. Forget how disturbing it is to know that Pretty in Pink’s Ducky is a McCain supporting Republican (no one knows his view on Prop 8), but the Paisley Park pop diva himself has professed his support for denying the rights of gay Californians to marry (though he later claimed he was misquoted – but the New Yorker stands by their story).
Prince has always mixed spiritual overtones in his music, yet it took a Kevin Smith special to shed some light on this once popular icon’s evolution into a practicing Jehovah’s Witness. Evidently Prince believes it his duty to enforce his views of salvation on others when not spontaneously demanding the purchase of a camel at three in the morning.
Prince told a reporter for the New Yorker, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.‘” This makes me wonder what those infamous yellow bottomless chaps were for that Prince wore years ago on MTV. What a tease! He also went on to preach the wickedness of homosexuality.
Prince rooted his career on his cheeky androgyny to gain acceptance in the gay community. Now he believes himself to be the authority on scripture and that both Republicans and Democrats have it wrong. Prince is also finding new ways to alienate his public by failing to fulfill contractual agreements including personal appearances and product endorsements. He won’t even allow fan sites to post any images of him, his album covers or even their own photographs of Prince themed tattoos and memorabilia, but I digress.
There does seem to be more to this “minority hatred” toward the gay community than media spin. Self-professed comedian DL Hugley admitted his conflict on the measure during his attempted CNN facsimile of Bill Maher’s popular HBO program. Even stars like Forest Whitaker and Don Cheadle belong to the Film Independent organization that donated funds in support of Prop 8. Why did minorities vote in strong numbers for a proposition to repress another minority? Jesus.
(Please forgive the sarcasm to come. It's not intended to offend anyone. I'm only pointing out the hypocrisy employed in Jesus' name that should infuriate most Christians.)
We all love Jesus. He usually has blond hair, blue eyes and tight abs when Mel Gibson isn’t busy obscuring all of that by bloodying him up and killing him in his movies. I don’t know why Mel hates Jesus so much. Spirituality can be an important force in centering an individual. It sure has helped minorities through some inconceivable times. Personal enlightenment has now been replaced with irrational superstition that is preventing gay men and women of some basic civil rights. God and religion have become a child’s binky for grownups.
Religion and gay rights can easily coexist as long as these “non-profit” organizations aren’t funding political initiatives. Nobody intends to force churches in opposition to gay people to perform their marriage ceremonies. Nobody is trying to teach gay sex in schools either. The only indoctrination comes from the Christian community. Maybe they are mistaking their own tactics for ours. I could care less how a church or individual feels about my life. I just want the opportunity to live it the way I see fit – a way that doesn’t hurt anyone and has the same legal protections as others gay, straight, black, Hispanic, married or single. This battle is about more than marriage, it is about equal opportunity.
Let’s be honest here; this isn’t really about God. He’s merely the justification for the prejudice so such people can sleep at night. This is about what everything else is about in this country – the kids. That’s why the advertising in Prop 8 focused on children. The leading website on the subject, preservemarriage.org, has admitted to the fact that they don’t want to legitimize gay families. They really aren’t concerned about the “definition of marriage” as they claim. These zealots are worried about trying to explain their disapproval of thriving gay people and families in their community to their children without sounding intolerant. Ultimately – it’s about hate.
I love classic Prince music. He wrote “When U Were Mine” for my favorite singer Cyndi Lauper (who would likely whoop his butt now) and other such Christian favorites such as “Cream”, “Get Off”, and “P**** Control”. Should we forgive Prince? Maybe it’s some sort of madness talking. Let’s not forget the popular “Little Red Corvette” where he boasts his reuse of prophylactics. That could certainly cause it. I’m kidding of course! It’s just difficult to make sense of this crazy talk from the star of “Purple Rain” and “Under the Cherry Moon”. Maybe he’s spending so much time with his dromedary that he no longer knows how to interact with real people.
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I hope you enjoyed the article. Originally it unintentionally embedded some clips that I have since removed due to some of them being possibly inflammatory or insensitive. Those were at the webmaster's discretion. I enjoyed and approved them, but I didn't feel they were appropriate here. I hope this editorial is taken as intended.