Where do I start???
OK; by asking "what do you think you are teaching young kids here", what are YOU teaching young kids??? Are you seriously saying that in the year 2008 references to homosexuality are still taboo, and to be kept in the closet? What is she teaching kids? Well... I seriously doubt that she was trying for anything other than putting on a show. But hey - maybe she could be teaching kids that some bees like red flowers, and some bees prefer blue flowers, and that it is OK.
To make things worse, they showed a clip of Bette Midler, also commenting on the negative effect this stunt could have on young people. BETTE!!!??? With all due respect to a gay icon, but when she was rocking it up back in the day, what did SHE teach kids while running up and down the stage with white residue left under both nostrils? But that was not all: The wife of Maryland's Governor was recorded saying that "If I had a gun, I would probably shoot Britney."
What the hell is going on here??? A murder threat is OK for young kids to hear, but two girls kissing goes against people's conscience!?
Maybe I am not understanding the whole "Britney issue"... maybe I am the idiot here. But to me it says so much about the way people are still not able to accept the fact that homosexuality is part of the world and of society. Would anybody have blinked an eye if Madonna was kissing Justin Timberlake on that same stage? NO.
How dare this bitter and uptight woman sit there (probably wanting to make out with Madonna SOOO badly), talking about "what kids learn from this"! Kids listen to this very interview, and get yet again injected with the information, that anything "gay" is wrong.
I am not big on the whole "gay awareness" thing. In my opinion it is almost like we gays are putting ourselves in an outsider position by constantly claiming that we are "normal". Well... if you feel so "normal", then why do you need to point it out all the time??? I don't really like talking about it, or explaining it or justifying it. I talk about "my partner Manolo" and about our relationship as the normal thing it is for me. There is no discussion, no "please accept me", no worrying about how I might be looked at. Again - this is the year 2008 for crying out loud. Anybody who needs an explanation or is not able to accept it, needs to crawl back under the rock he/she came from - and stay there. To me, that is enough "gay awareness". And I have to say that I have rarely encountered negative reactions, which I believe is partly a result of that approach. If I don't turn it into a big deal, others won't either.
My brother - for example - was still a kid when I first came out. At that age, one can teach kids anything - good and bad. But because my family was so supportive and completely accepting, there was never a moment in his mind where he looked at the issue in a negative light. I will never forget a few years ago - he was a teenager, and I spent a few weeks in Germany - we walked up the street with one of his friends. As we passed a house, his friend made a comment about two "queers" living in some apartment, and without wasting a minute Benjamin said to his friend that there is nothing wrong with being gay and that it is nobodies business anyway. I was so proud and moved by this little guy's strength and level of acceptance. And this is exactly what I mean. Let's get our kids used to the fact that gays and lesbians live all around them instead of hiding things, and by doing so implying that it must be bad. It is this kind of "protection" that makes people feel that they have the right to call us "fagots" and "queers", and are still thrown by the sight of two guys or girls walking down the street holding hands. Without wanting to sound like a victim, don't people think that we would like to show affection to the people we love publicly? How many times a day do any of you straight people have the spontaneous need to grab your husband's/ wife's hand, or to give him/ her a kiss or a hug? Now imagine first having to check if there are people around that might beat you up for it! It is time for people to teach their kids that there is nothing wrong with the image of same sex couples, but we will not teach them that by saying that two girls kissing on TV is bad for them to see!
Looking back, I guess it always took the "shock factor" to eventually change things for the better. First there was "stone wall" and the gay parades... then there was Ellen coming out on daytime TV, followed by other artists and public figures. We got "Will and Grace", and by the time "Sex and the city" got rolling, same sex kissing became almost fashionable - or so I thought. But obviously there is still some more boy-on-boy and girl-on-girl action needed before people like Diane Sawyer finally stop trying to protect "the poor children" from the horrors of gayness.
And on this note I want to thank Britney. I love her music, love her voice and love her constant appearances in the media!!!(OK... I am pushing it here...).
But... KEEP IT UP BRITNEY!!! YOU ARE MY NEW HERO!
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