Man, I am exhausted! It took all the energy I had to make a fabulous Halloween costume last week and make sure that Hurricane Sandy arrived to devastate the Eastern Seaboard. Apparently, gay people have special powers like that, at least according to the "Christian" pundits who blame every natural disaster on our very existence. Global warming be damned! Let's blame the gays!
But the truly exhausting part of living my life is fighting back against the lies and distortions that are still put forth about the LGBTQ community. Just when it seems like people are finally becoming more fair-minded, empathetic and in favor of our full equality, there's some knuckle-dragging homophobe waiting in the wings to rain on our parade. Come to think of it, that sure takes a lot of energy, too, living a life where you constantly have to bash and degrade other people. And for what? What do people like that get in return for their negativity?
And it all got me thinking about what kind of special powers the gay community actually does have, such as the immeasurable contributions we've made to the fabric of society and culture in every city, state, country and continent. As October was LGBT History Month, I was reminded of the multitudes of those contributions. And that was important for me to show in my book Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay, as I want the gay kids of today to see a few of the people who've done just that and to give the future generations their own greatness to aspire to.
But for all those people who don't acknowledge us that way? Let's make a deal...
Still Homophobic? 55 Things Featuring LGBT People You Can't Enjoy
But I have not even scratched the surface here. There are thousands more examples in the world of sports, design, literature, acting, film, music, television, movies, science, art, architecture, theater and on and on and on. Now, granted, plenty of heterosexuals are/were involved in everything I cited here, and this is not to say that gay people are any better or more talented than straight people are. But the big difference is that straight people are not discriminated against solely based on their sexuality.
So the time has come for the LGBTQ community to finally say: It's all or nothing. You don't get to hate or demean gay people and vote against our equality -- or worse, vote for politicians or a party who publicly state that we are not equal citizens -- and still enjoy all the things we bring that enrich your daily life experiences.
And if you want to remain homophobic, you do so at your own peril. Because be warned: We have calls out for a twister, a blizzard, an earthquake and a drought!
P.S. As a gift for you reading this, here's my 30-minute "Out 'N Proud Mix" that I made for National Coming Out Day, which features tons of your favorite LGBTQ artists and musicians.