Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts

June 15, 2011

Robert

* Blogmaster's Note *
Robert is the guy who wowed us all with his Madonna "Vogue" video.
And I am thrilled to present you his "Born This Way" story. Enjoy!

_____________________________________________________

Robert, age 10
Boston, Massachusetts (1992)

This is a photo of me, my sister Jennifer, and our dogs Frisky and Chloe.
It's especially significant to me as they were born the summer I did my "Vogue" video, and their birth truly completed "our family."


Not long before I discovered Bette Davis, Diana Ross, and Madonna, I spent hours adoring Donna Summer, Laura Branigan, and the "Solid Gold" dancers.

My lone male idol as a toddler made me feel different from how I felt watching my many beloved female idols. It was Michael Jackson, who was not only my idol, he was my Prince Charming.

What I consider my "defining homosexual moment" occurred around age 4, while watching a TV special hosted by Shari Lewis. During a musical number, one of the male performers onstage happened to be gorgeous, muscular, and clad only in a loin cloth and fez. And my body tingled in a way I couldn't understand.

I had no idea why the sight gave me a feeling so utterly lovely, but the awareness was palpable enough that I have never forgotten it.

I barely knew what homosexuality was when I performed to "Vogue" at age 9.
Back then, I was precocious, but innocent: carefree, unaware, and having a blast.


People ask if my parents knew I was gay then, but they didn't know for years.
Their love for my sister and I was unconditional and overflowing. Physical safety and emotional well-being was their only concern for "how we would turn out" when we moved from childhood to adulthood.

My mother put her emphasis on honesty, while my father relentlessly instilled tolerance. Self-expression was never stifled. Whether I mimicked male or female idols was never an issue: they loved me, my uniqueness, and my ability to not try to fit an image.

I had no idea how lucky I was. I thought my upbringing was "normal."
And I hope that society is moving towards proving my inner child right.

My message to youth now is:
FEEL the power of being yourself!

Your REAL family will love YOU for who YOU are. If your biological family does not, then your REAL family has yet to be discovered.

There IS a world of love that awaits beyond the pain of growing up in a heterosexist society, so allow yourself to be excited for what lay ahead.
So please - don't give up!
_____________________________________________

Click here - "Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay" book
Click here - "My First Gay Crush Blog"
Click to follow my blog with Bloglovin'

June 12, 2011

:: HAPPY GAY PRIDE! ::

Greetings, everyone!

 HAPPY  GAY  PRIDE  MONT!!! 

In the same 24-hour period this week, two gay-related stories exploded and went viral on the internet. The first was comedian(?) Tracy Jordan from "30 Rock," and his vile, ignorant, and disgusting tirade against gay people at his show in Tennessee. He "joked" about how he would "stab his son" to man him up, if he "acted gay." He soon issued the standard 'I hope this saves my ass' apology.

Tina Fey's official statement was brilliant:

‎"I hope for his sake that Tracy Morgan's apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian coworkers at '30 Rock' - without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with,
or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket. The other producers and I pride ourselves on '30 Rock' being a diverse, safe, and fair workplace." - Tina Fey

Sadly, if Jordan's (or any comedian's) tirade included this level of violent racism or anti-semitism, he would probably be instantly fired. Which might still happen, we'll see. Or maybe, Tina Fey will find a genius way to write this in to the show, and make Jordan suffer for his deeds, on camera.

My brief opinion of this is:

What Tracy Morgan said on stage was spoken from his heart.
What Tracy Morgan said in his apology was spoken from his publicist.
Words like that have direct, negative consequences against gay people, period.

Actress Nia Vardarlos spoke some amazing truth to power about this
HERE, on The Huffington Post. We need more voices like this, NOW!

So that was the BAD news. The GOOD news, was the other story:


This video of a 9-year old Robert Jeffrey, who posted it on his Vimeo account on June 6th - which now has 712,000+ views! Robert's video embodies everything this blog is about, and everything gay pride SHOULD be about:

Self-pride, self-love, and self-acceptance...
And a fearless determination to simply be himself.


I've contacted Robert, and will feature his "Born This Way" story sometime next week. In the meantime, enjoy Robert's infectious energy, and remember back to the little gay boy or girl inside of YOU!

And I wish you all a very HAPPY GAY PRIDE MONTH!
xo - Paul V., Blogmaster

March 10, 2011

* CNN.com & AOL News Videos *


Hey everyone!
This is just a fantastic feature! Much of my mission statement
for
the "BTW" blog is in the video, so I hope you enjoy it!

xo - Paul V.

* THANK YOU SO MUCH, CNN.COM! *




Click below to see the feature with full text and other quotes.
www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/03/09/born.this.way/index.html



On 3/10/11, AOL News posted this great video as well:



http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/10/what-can-a-picture-reveal-about-your-sexual-preference-video

And I'd like to repeat this quote here, so it's clear to everyone:
"Stereotypes exist for a reason, because they are true on some level. As the gay community has every shade of masculine and feminine, the people on my blog are simply representing -- and owning -- all those various shades, but without the shame or guilt that society has assigned to those traits."