I’m dismayed, however, by the number of people I’ve observed on Facebook and Twitter reacting to Anderson Cooper’s coming out with indifference, trying desperately to sound enlightened with remarks like, “I couldn’t care less what he does in his private life.”
While I understand that there was a time where the whole “my private life is none of your business” thing was an acceptable way to deflect nosy inquiry into one’s sexual orientation and blunt societal homophobia, in most parts of the country that time has long since passed.
Discussion of LGBT identity as a matter of an individual’s “private life” is not only utterly useless, it’s counterproductive and more than a little infuriating.
In our heterosexist culture, straight people feel no obligation to keep any details of their love lives private. We’re surrounded by art, music, literature, drama, and media dissecting, lamenting, and extolling every facet of love between opposite-sex couples.
How often do we hear about the boyfriends/girlfriends, fiancées, spouses, or even the one-night stands of everyone from our straight friends and co-workers to heterosexual celebrities, major and minor?
Yet as soon as LGBT people enter into the discussion, love and sexuality become a matter of a person’s “private life?” Give me a break.
Thoughts on Anderson Cooper and the ‘private lives’ of LGBT people (via antibl0gger)
(via anxietyblogger)
-
goodcleanchristianfun likes this
-
masonwilfred likes this
-
fuckyoukatherineheigl reblogged this from anxietyblogger
-
newleif likes this
-
kileyrae likes this
-
relicsatheart said:
definitely one of those guys because it isn’t anyone’s business and they all think I’m straight if I don’t say anything, blah, blah, blah. it’s not their business.
-
computerisms likes this
-
scaleybark likes this
-
anxietyblogger posted this
