I'm not a representative of the gay community, in the same way that being Cuban, I'm not representative of the Latino community.
I just speak for myself. And I'm Perez Hilton, Rick Sanchez. I can be offensive. I don't have to be politically correct. I can call her the B-word.
Perez Hilton, April 2009
One of the major errors of the GLBT community is they continue to forget that once you declare that you're gay or transition, you are a minority and the old 'rugged individualist' rules no longer apply to you.
As a matter of fact, in the Houston GLBT community we used to have signs posted in many GLBT clubs that stated:
What I do reflects on you
What you do reflects on me
What WE do reflects on the ENTIRE gay community.
It's something we already know in the African-American community, but it reminded people of the fact that whether you like it or not, the parent society will look at you as a representative of the marginalized community and your behavior better be on point lest you paint the entire community in a negative light.
One the continued problems of this movement and a reason it continues to have PR problems is the consistent failure to realize that you ARE a minority and the rules you USED to operate under are different.
You have to be cognizant of the fact that every GLBT person is a potential ambassador to the community. It's even more important to remember that point when the media spotlight is on you. When the unblinking eye of a camera is on or a tape recorder is running for a print interview, at that moment you are a representative of the GLBT community.
And as a former employee of GLAAD Hilton should know that better than anyone.
Yeah, what Carrie Prejean said was jacked up on many levels. I was even more pissed off about the 'in my country' comment that got lost in this dustup over her opinion on same gender marriage.You had a perfect poster child for bigotry right here, but Perez Hilton fracked it up by arrogantly going too far with his criticism of Ms. Prejean.
Calling her a 'dumb bitch' was out of line. You do not have the right as testosterone based lifeform, be you gay, straight or trans to call any woman the b-word. Hilton then compounded the mistake by arrogantly stating on an international network the next day that you have the right to be offensive. I sincerely doubt you'd feel the same way if someone called you the derogatory terms for a Latino or the f-word.
That was Grade A stupid.
You also forgot the element of race that's always bubbling under the surface in American life. A Latino publicly calling a White woman the b-word ain't gonna fly.
Perez Hilton played right into the meme of the 'selfish gay male' because he grossly overreacted instead of blasting her for the comment without being offensive, then backing off and letting her get justifiably whacked in the court of public opinion.But because he didn't, Prejean now has a plausible argument she can peddle to the Faux watching sheeple that the 'mean gay blogger' cost me the pageant, and Hilton's reprehensible antics have now turned Carrie Prejean into an aggrieved poster child for the Reichers to use as a baton to beat the community with instead of the inarticulate bigot she really is.
Gee thanks Perez, way to go.
The bottom line is that your actions, positively or negatively, DO have an effect on the entire gay community, even if you don't think so.
