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Sir Ian McKellen Becomes Emotional Reading Touching Coming Out Letter

Sir Ian McKellen’s reading of a coming out letter is captivating in it’s authenticity and joy.

Part of the Letters Live event, which celebrates correspondence via letter writing, the reading is taken from Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City. The letter is written from the perspective of the character of Michael Tolliver after learning his parents have joined Anita Bryant’s hate campaign against LGBTs in the 1970s.

From The Independent:

The letter is obviously very personal for Sir Ian, himself gay, and he gets a little choked up when it comes to the wonderful line: “If you and Papa are responsible for the way I am, then I thank you with all my heart, for it’s the light and the joy of my life.”

Powerful and moving. Watch Sir Ian at this link (I couldn’t overcome the “autoplay” setting of the video for embedding here). It’s really worth the watching.

Here is the letter as written by Maupin:

Dear Mama,

 I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write. Every time I try to write you and Papa I realize I’m not saying the things that are in my heart. That would be OK, if I loved you any less than I do, but you are still my parents and I am still your child.

 I have friends who think I’m foolish to write this letter. I hope they’re wrong. I hope their doubts are based on parents who love and trust them less than mine do. I hope especially that you’ll see this as an act of love on my part, a sign of my continuing need to share my life with you. I wouldn’t have written, I guess, if you hadn’t told me about your involvement in the Save Our Children campaign. That, more than anything, made it clear that my responsibility was to tell you the truth, that your own child is homosexual, and that I never needed saving from anything except the cruel and ignorant piety of people like Anita Bryant.

 I’m sorry, Mama. Not for what I am, but for how you must feel at this moment. I know what that feeling is, for I felt it for most of my life. Revulsion, shame, disbelief — rejection through fear of something I knew, even as a child, was as basic to my nature as the color of my eyes.

 No, Mama, I wasn’t “recruited.” No seasoned homosexual ever served as my mentor. But you know what? I wish someone had. I wish someone older than me and wiser than the people in Orlando had taken me aside and said, “You’re all right, kid. You can grow up to be a doctor or a teacher just like anyone else. You’re not crazy or sick or evil. You can succeed and be happy and find peace with friends — all kinds of friends — who don’t give a damn who you go to bed with. Most of all, though, you can love and be loved, without hating yourself for it.”

 But no one ever said that to me, Mama. I had to find it out on my own, with the help of the city that has become my home. I know this may be hard for you to believe, but San Francisco is full of men and women, both straight and gay, who don’t consider sexuality in measuring the worth of another human being.

 These aren’t radicals or weirdos, Mama. They are shop clerks and bankers and little old ladies and people who nod and smile to you when you meet them on the bus. Their attitude is neither patronizing nor pitying. And their message is so simple: Yes, you are a person. Yes, I like you. Yes, it’s all right for you to like me, too.

 I know what you must be thinking now. You’re asking yourself: What did we do wrong? How did we let this happen? Which one of us made him that way?

 I can’t answer that, Mama. In the long run, I guess I really don’t care. All I know is this: If you and Papa are responsible for the way I am, then I thank you with all my heart, for it’s the light and the joy of my life.

 I know I can’t tell you what it is to be gay. But I can tell you what it’s not.

 It’s not hiding behind words, Mama. Like family and decency and Christianity. It’s not fearing your body, or the pleasures that God made for it. It’s not judging your neighbor, except when he’s crass or unkind.

 Being gay has taught me tolerance, compassion and humility. It has shown me the limitless possibilities of living. It has given me people whose passion and kindness and sensitivity have provided a constant source of strength.

 It has brought me into the family of man, Mama, and I like it here. I like it.

 There’s not much else I can say, except that I’m the same Michael you’ve always known. You just know me better now. I have never consciously done anything to hurt you. I never will.

 Please don’t feel you have to answer this right away. It’s enough for me to know that I no longer have to lie to the people who taught me to value truth.

 Mary Ann sends her love.

 Everything is fine at 28 Barbary Lane.

 Your loving son,
Michael

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NYC: Ali Forney Center Raises $200K To Purchase Anti-Gay Harlem Church

Via press release:

Less than two weeks after the ATLAH church, home of virulently anti-LGBT Rev. James David Manning, announced it had been foreclosed and was being put up for auction, the Ali Forney Center launched the #harlemnohate campaign and has raised $200,000 as an initial goal towards buying the building to provide housing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) homeless youth in Harlem.

“It has been an extraordinary two weeks,” said Carl Siciliano, Executive Director and Founder of the Ali Forney Center. “We have been overwhelmed with support and encouragement and now have the opportunity to turn a place that has promoted hatred and violence into a safe space for LGBT homeless youth,” continued Siciliano.

“Ali Forney, who inspired the founding of the organization, was murdered in Harlem in 1997, only 12 blocks from ATLAH. In 2013 Islan Nettles was beaten to death in Harlem only one mile from ATLAH. Could there be a more just outcome to the ATLAH foreclosure than that the young LGBT people most endangered by the hatred and contempt Manning promotes would take over his building?” said Siciliano.

“AFC’s acquiring the beautiful and historic building that now stands as a symbol of hate would be extraordinary, but the bottom line is this: the Ali Forney Center has 200 youths per night on the waiting list for our beds. As an organization, we have no obligation more urgent than to increase our capacity to provide housing to these vulnerable youth. With the support of the Harlem community, those who have contributed and many others offering to help, we approach the February 24th auction with confidence and hope. Given the real estate market in Harlem we anticipate the bidding will go significantly higher than the $1.02M owed and we are in discussion with potential developers and investors to acquire the building and we anticipate having a partner by the time of the auction. We will continue fundraising through the #HarlemNoHate campaign and make every effort to be in as strong a position as possible to acquire the building,” concluded Siciliano.

To contribute to the campaign, supporters can go to http://harlemnohate.org

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Eric Trump: Waterboarding “Is No Different” Than What Happens At Frat Houses Every Day

Eric Trump, son of GOP White House hopeful Donald Trump, believes waterboarding is akin to chugging beer:

“You see these terrorists that are flying planes into buildings, right? You see our cities getting shot up in California. You see Paris getting shot up. And then somebody complains when a terrorist gets waterboarded, which quite frankly is no different than what happens on college campuses and frat houses every day. And, you know, the man would keep this country safe. There is no question about it.”

Bolding is mine.

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Donald Trump: ‘Shout It Out – Ted Cruz Is A Pussy’

Donald Trump

How very presidential.

While campaigning in New Hampshire last night, GOP candidate Donald Trump was criticizing Sen. Ted Cruz’s position on waterboarding when a Trump supporter yelled, “He’s a pussy.”

Trump picked up the comment and repeated it to the delight of his supporters.

As Donald Trump brought up his chief rival, Ted Cruz, during a rally in a sports arena the night before the New Hampshire primary, a woman in the crowd shouted out an insult of the senator from Texas. “She just said a terrible thing,” Trump said with a smile. “You know what she said? Shout it out.” The woman shouted louder, but still couldn’t be heard throughout the cavernous arena.

“Okay, you’re not allowed to say and I never expect to hear that from you again,” Trump said with mock seriousness, like a father reprimanding a child. “She said — I never expect to hear that from you again! — she said: ‘He’s a pussy.’ That’s terrible.” The crowd of several thousand burst into cheers, applause and laughter, while reporters asked one another if they had heard that right.

Donald Trump later told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that he repeated the slur for the crowd because “we were just having fun” and was just doing everyone a “favor.”

He also likened repeating the word to a “retweet,” brushing off any responsibility for the use of the word.

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“Daddy Ref” Clete Blakeman & His Biceps Win The Super Bowl

Glad to see I wasn’t the only one tracking Super Bowl referee Clete Blakeman throughout the game last night.

According to NewNowNext, 51-year-old Blakeman is a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln Huskers quarterback, and a happily married personal injury attorney living in Omaha.

Apparently, much of the Twitterverse was as obsessed with him as well.

#Woof

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Philly Gay Basher Kathryn Knott Sentenced To 5-10 Months In Jail

Convicted Philly gay basher Kathryn Knott was officially sentenced today to 5-10 months in jail.

When the judge announced a sentence of five to 10 months in jail, Knott, 25, slumped forward in her seat at the defense table and wept.

Knott’s attorney, Louis Busico, who had sought only probation for her, asked the judge if Knott could begin her jail term at a later date.

“She’s going to surrender now,” Covington said in her typical soft voice.

At that, Knott’s mother, Carol Knott, rose from her seat in the second row. A deputy sheriff motioned for her to sit down in the front row.

After Knott got up, red-faced and weeping heavily, she went to the bar of the court and hugged her mother. She then hugged her father, Karl Knott, the police chief of Chalfont Borough, in Bucks County. Then she hugged her mother again.

Knott, of Southampton, had been convicted by a Philadelphia jury in December of four misdemeanor counts – simple assault, conspiracy to commit simple assault, and two counts of reckless endangerment, but acquitted of a more serious felony charge of aggravated assault. The judge also ordered Knott to serve two years probation after her jail term.

The attack that Knott took part in sent two men to the hospital. One of the men had such severe injuries that his shattered jaw had to wired shut for months.

During the trial last year, Philadelphia Magazine reported on the details of the vicious assault according to the testimony of one of the victims, Zachary Hesse:

“What is that, your fucking boyfriend?”

“Yeah, so what if it is my boyfriend,” Hesse said he replied. He said Harrigan shot back in a “tough-guy” tone: “I guess you’re a dirty fucking faggot then.” Hesse approached Harrigan and shouted the same words back at him. Harrigan then pushed him, Hesse testified, and he pushed back. That’s when Harrigan punched him.

Hesse testified the ensuing incident was “terrifying.” He said the group shouted “fucking faggot” and “dirty faggot” constantly; he said it was said “more than 10, more than 20 times.” He threw a punch but it didn’t connect. About six people grabbed his arms, he said in court, and eventually Kathryn Knott threw a punch or slap — he closed his eyes when he saw her open hand coming toward his face — at him while shouting the slur. He identified Knott has his assailant in court.

It’s worth noting that Knott was offered the same plea deal her two co-defendants accepted which would have kept her out of jail serving only probation and community service.

She refused the deal.

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Advice Columnist Answers Anti-Gay Mother’s Letter Perfectly

Amy Dickinson

Advice columnist Amy Dickinson ran a “Best Of” column today, including this one exchange from February 2013.

The question comes from a “mother” (I’m using the term loosely here) who is “Feeling Betrayed” by her son. The mother says he won’t stop being gay, and honestly believes the only reason he’s “being gay” is to get back at her for FORGETTING HIS BIRTHDAY THREE YEARS IN A ROW.

Dickinson handles the situation perfectly.

Enjoy!

Dear Amy: I recently discovered that my son, who is 17, is a homosexual.

 We are part of a church group, and I fear that if people in that group find out they will make fun of me for having a gay child.

 He won’t listen to reason, and he will not stop being gay. I feel as if he is doing this just to get back at me for forgetting his birthday for the past three years — I have a busy work schedule.

 Please help him make the right choice in life by not being gay. He won’t listen to me, so maybe he will listen to you. — Feeling Betrayed

Dear Betrayed: You could teach your son an important lesson by changing your own sexuality to show him how easy it is. Try it for the next year or so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person’s sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one’s parents, the parents’ church and social pressure.

I assume that my suggestion will evoke a reaction that your sexuality is at the core of who you are. The same is true for your son. He has a right to be accepted by his parents for being exactly who he is.

When you “forget” a child’s birthday, you are basically negating him as a person. It is as if you are saying that you have forgotten his presence in the world. How very sad for him.

Pressuring your son to change his sexuality is wrong. If you cannot learn to accept him as he is, it might be safest for him to live elsewhere.

A group that could help you and your family figure out how to navigate this is PFLAG.org. This organization was founded for parents, families, friends and allies of LGBT people, and has helped countless families through this challenge. Please research and connect with a local chapter

For. The. Win!

Bravo Amy!

(h/t Queerty)

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Haters Call Super Bowl Half-Time Show “Homo Pride Celebration” Due To Too Many “Rainbows”

As a hard-core Coldplay fan, I was thrilled seeing my favorite band head up the half-time show at the Super Bowl.

I know the gays love how fierce Beyoncé may be, and how funky Bruno Mars can kill it, but for me it was all about Coldplay.

I thought the groovy LED stage, which gave the over-head cameras much to shoot, was way cool, and the utilization of the crowd in the stands for the final “Believe In Love” message was fab and fun.

Apparently, though, some anti-gay idiots took all the colors to represent a pro-gay message (and what’s wrong with that?) saying there were a disarming amount of rainbows in the show.

For the record, the color scheme was clearly dictated by the cover of Coldplay’s new album, “A Head Full Of Dreams.” Check the cover art:

You see where this all came from, right?

Here’s just a sample of the kinds of vitriol sprayed all over Twitter about the abundance of rainbows. Keep in mind, however, that those complaining here are the same folks who enjoy men in tight costumes jumping on top of each other and then slapping each other on the butt. THAT is ok; but, a rainbow? “Damn homos!”