Thursday, February 25, 2010

JohnnyWeir Resonds to Homophobes

While he is definitely quirky and not afraid to cause controversy and gossip, Johnny Weir has some good advice for all of us in the LGBT community as he responds to bigots who have made homophobic remarks about his Olympic performances. It boils down to having the courage to be yourself and ignore the slings and arrows that may be thrown at you. To be gay in this country - at least in backwards areas like Virginia and other "fly over country" - you need to develop an attitude of "if you don't like me, that's your loss - I don't give a damn." Obviously, achieving that point takes time and isn't without some hurts, but to live out and proud, that is the mindset one must achieve. Here are some of Johnny's comments via Towleroad:
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Said Weir: "I'm not somebody to cry over something or to be weak about something. I felt very defiant when I saw these comments. It wasn't these two men criticizing my skating, it was them criticizing me as a person, and that was something that really, frankly, pissed me off...I hope more kids can grow up the same way I did and more kids can feel the freedom that I feel to be themselves and to express themselves and that's the most important thing."
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The skater added: "I'm always thought of the sparkly flamboyant character that wore a crown of roses...nobody knows me. I think masculinity is what you believe it to be. To me, masculinity is all my perception. I think masculinity and femininity is something that's very old fashioned. There's a whole new generation of people that aren't defined by their sex or their race or who they like to sleep with. I think as a person you know what your values are and what you believe in and I that''s the most important thing."
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You've got it right Johnny - your critics are clueless and their homophobia speaks more about them than you.

1 comment:

Stephen said...

Go, Johnny, go! Johnny is great!