KillSpray
Don't be mad
A killspray original, pardon the length, had to get it off the chest:
This is the confounding thing about the gay thing for me now that Jason Collins is all over the media is the one sided nature of the coverage. there is a opportunistic fakeness and hypocrisy to it all. The political correct thing to do is support him as courageous, etc, etc, and I guess he is in a certain sense. At the risk of character assassination he admitted that he is a gay man, in a sports culture that is, at the very least, suspected as being hostile toward gays. But ive noticed an extremely ironic emerging trend in the mainstream media on these sorts of "x comes out of the closet" stories. It seems that now, for one to express anything less than pure admiration for the closeted (quasi) celebrity is not only risking a similar character assassination but in fact is an act of reputation suicide. There seems to be no room for those who are perhaps legitimately uncomfortable with the topic, or those, like me, who are simply exhausted/indifferent with it.
The mainstream culture is and has seemingly always been uncomfortable with sex and sexuality, even in its most conservative and basic expression, so it's understandable that the topic of homosexuality would also produce discomfort, to say the least. Yet to express any discomfort publicly is to risk being labelled homophobic, a term that is quickly becoming as stigmatizing as being labelled a "racist." That is the unfortunate state of the discourse on sexuality. It seems to me to be perfectly reasonable for one to be uncomfortable with the public discussion of (read: obsession with) homosexuality, just as one may be uncomfortable with the public discussion of anything with strong sexual overtones. Yet it seems one would be taking an enormous risk to express those sentiments in the face of the chorus of praise and hero worship being rained down on whoever the gay (quasi) celebrity of the moment is.
Then there's the people like me, who arent really uncomfortable, just tired of the narrative of the closeted gay (quasi) celebrity as courageous hero and thought leader.
Frankly, Its a tired and worn out nrrative. People struggle with themselves in all sorts of ways. I heard Jalen Rose onthe radio today saying, to a certain extent it always takes courage to be happy, in any area of life. I thought it was a great observation. There will always be people who will hate you for deciding to be happy, no matter what it is you're doing. In that sense Jason Collins is courageous, in the same way that many others are courageous on a day to day basis. It's just that Jason Collins is an aging journeyman, professional athlete, who came out the closet in the right political climate and the rest of us aren't.
It seems clear to me, that much of the apprehension surrounding "coming out" is a phobia that gays have that they will not be accepted, which is a fear we all share at some point, gay or straight. The obvious difference is the particular history of gays, the fact that the group has been targeted by organized hate, the taboo surrounding the topic of sex in general and the specific discomfort with the actual homosexual act. That history lends tons of credence to his personal struggle, which I imagine was incredibly difficult. But it doesn't change the fact that the media has been shamelessly exploiting these narratives for far too long, without adding any new layers to the story, or giving any new perspectives.
. I really wonder how much of the overwhelming support is heartfelt vs celebrity personalities attempting to position their "brand" as "progressive" on the back of a hot button and in fashion social issue of the day. I*have no doubt that many of the people publicly championing Jason Collins' cause would cringe if asked about one of their "out-of-the-mainstream" sexual preferences.**And let's be clear, the Jason Collins story*isn't a story that really implicates the gay rights struggle in any direct way, it's more of a pure human interest story. Yet it appears that you'd be risking your public reputation if you admitted that you're just not very interested.
This is why I'm ready to throw my hands up and say, enough with the gay stories already! At this point it's so transparently *a plain exploitation of the current religious and political climate, that its disgusting. I mean, I never had a problem with gays, or anybody else in my whole life, but the media seems like its hell bent on making me wish I never had to hear the word gay again in my whole entire life.
