A Stand Up Gal

We desperately need gay celebrities to stand up and matter of factly set the record straight on issues involving gay rights. Yet, so many Hollywood entertainers are either in the closet, or so busy pandering to straight audiences that its encouraging when one just comes out and tells it like it is. Today that stand up gal was Portia De Rossi and she got nothing but heartfelt applause from me.

First they try to tackle what they must have believed was a sensitive subject,...coming out. But, instead of shrink from the question or do a little two step around it, she tackled it head on, with no apologies, and like it was the most normal thing in the world to be gay...good for you girl. Thanks for bring a smile to my face today.

She took the high road when Elizabeth asked about Meredith Baxter Burney's coming out and her take on that. Instead of offering her own opinions or venting her spleen as some of us are wont to do (*ahem* guilty as charged), She instead related it back to her own experience, which was a classy way to redirect the dialogue.

It was also interesting that they make the claim that the reason Portia is successful in a straight role is that men are always willing to believe that women will switch for the right man....really? So, Neil Patrick Harris is also gay and playing a straight role with a good deal of success, but does that mean that his female viewers believe they can turn him from the gay side?...I don't think so...at least not in the majority. Also, Harris is on every single industry awards show from the Oscars to the Golden Globes, how much gayer can you get? Most of the people watching these shows are more likely so caught up in the story that they don't give any thought to the sexuality of the actors in it. At least, until the gossip tabloid shows that come on right after. Both of these individuals are good actors and like all good actors, should be judged on how much you enjoyed watching them.

But now the section of the program that made me stand up and cheer like the rebels blowing up the Death Star. All emphasis on certain text added by me.

Whoopie Goldberg: Proposition 8...is that gonna change your legal standing as a married couple?

Rossi: No...It doesn't change the legality of our marriage. Our marriage still holds but...

Bahar: You were grandfathered in?

Rossi: yeah...but see this is whats so horrible about it. Ellen and I were wanting to have a commitment, we were ready for that kind of life. But, for many people out there, many gay people who have always wanted to be married...unless they were with their perfect lifetime partner within those few months that it was legal, they don't have the option to be married anymore....and that's whats so horrible about proposition 8 passing is that it just takes away the people's right to have what, you know...everybody in this country should have BECAUSE ITS REALLY NOT A RELIGIOUS ISSUE OR A MORAL ISSUE, ITS JUST SIMPLY A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE AND THE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY CAN GET TO VOTE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE MINORITY SEEMS VERY....UNAMERICAN TO ME. ITS JUST DOESN'T SEEM LIKE WHAT THAT COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.

Bahar: Do you think that the gay community...I'm not saying that you represent them....but do you think that if they took the word "marriage" out and made it....equal, everything...and the same exact rights, that the gay community would still want it to be marriage?

Hasslebeck: For instance, like o.k.....just as an example of that ( tangentively ?). Men and Women...Women want all the rights of men, but their not asking to be called men. Do you think...maybe Joy's right...maybe it is the ....is it the word? or is that word more important than the rights?

Rossi: No, of course the word isn't more important than the rights...BUT... WITHOUT THE WORD WE DON'T HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS, because everybody is allowed to be married....um, you know...every citizen of this country should have that right, that legal right to be married and marriage...I think...actually...the word actually does mean something because...you know, because people who see a gay coupling as like a lesser...a lesser thing in society, it can continue to be lesser than marriage...when really its the exact same thing...exact same love, exact same commitment, um, and love of family,

(*STANDING OVATION!!!*)....YAAAAYYYY!!!!....Well...that didn't really happen, but it should have.

Finally!....someone willing to put their ass on the line. She didn't have to dedicate a whole show to it, or hold a benefit concert...she just had to tell it like it is, not hide behind the excuse of being an entertainer and not an activist. This is activism in its truest form...just having the courage to tell the simple truth....that's why Portia De Rossi just became the silver lining in my cloud today....way to stand up and show em how its done girl...