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Thursday, August 11, 2005

LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!

why are there so many straight actors on the covers of gay magazines? gay magazines are an important voice of a community that has historically had very limited to NO mainstream outlets.

yes, putting a straight actor on the cover may make him appear to be "down" and "cool with the brothers", but what does it do for "the movement"? oh yes, remember "the movement"? we still don't have equal rights, teenagers are still being killed for being gay and the perversive "straight acting" phenomenon is rapidly chipping away at all the achievements made by brave gay men and women for the past 35 years.

if the cover of a magazine represents it's editorial viewpoint, then putting a straight actor on the cover of a gay magazine says "you're not straight enough to be on your own cover"... that is very harmful. does VIBE put country music stars on it's cover? does EBONY put white folks on it's cover? (and no, MARIAH does not count). why would the editors of gay magazines sell the community so short?

"animal farm" by GEORGE ORWELL is a parable recalling the hypocrisy that overcame the communist movement in THE SOVIET UNION. in the beginning, the ideals set forth by the revolutionary workers were "all for one, and one for all". to make sure this creed would always stay in place, a set of commandments were written.

one of the commandments was "no animal shall walk upright on it's hind legs" (to emulate a human). well, by the end of the book the self-serving pigs were walking around upright on their hind legs, and all of the commandments had been amended or erased. the animals who were alive during the revolution had long forgotten what the commandments even said. is that the fate of the gay rights movement? it looks that way.

bottom line, whoever made the choice to put a straight actor on the cover of a gay magazine is gaining some sort of LEVERAGE to further their own career by making nicey nice with some huge P.R. firm that promises even bigger stars down the road. maybe they're strategizing for a mega position at TIME/WARNER/VIACOM/KRAFTFOODS/PMK/SONY/EXXON, but they sure as hell ain't thinking about their responsibility and role as a voice to a new generation of young gay people.

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Posted by Ru on Thursday, August 11, 2005 at Thursday, August 11, 2005 | Permalink

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