Okay this may be slightly controversial, and by the time you read this the show will be over, but I am Team Perez Hilton. In what can only be described as the apex of Channel 5’s existence, Celebrity Big Brother has brought together the nation in a way that hasn’t happened in an age - and at the centre of this ‘community glue’ was the relationship between Perez and Katie Hopkins, Perez and Big Brother, Perez and the Great British public and Perez and himself.
The outpouring of what I like to call homo-homophobia has been astounding. The hate from the ever expletive laden, venom filled tweets and Facebook posts levelled at Perez was disheartening and vile in itself. It wasn’t just the straights having a pop at the infamous celebrity self proclaimed gossip queen, it was us gays. Even newly appointed LGBT Editor of Buzzfeed Patrick Studwick had a pop, calling him a ‘stain on the gay community’, and ‘a despicable human being’, sorry but who are you to make such an assertion?
Yes, his claim that the isolation he felt was like ‘being diagnosed with AIDS in the early 80s’ was despicable, but clearly the man doesn’t have the words or the vocabulary to express himself in any other way than in shock-tactic American News-esque soundbites. The man has built his entire fame and brand from this.
Why are we acting surprised, his offering has been out there for ten years? What he has to say is crass and often at times offensive, there’s no denying that, but look at his notorious blog, made famous with monosyllabic words and doodles drawn over the pictures of the rich and famous. Doesn’t that tell you a little bit about the man?
Thousands of us took to social media to decry and effem-i-shame Perez. Many echoing that well trodden sentiment that he puts back the gay community fifty years, thanks to Michelle Visage’s impassioned diary room moment. It’s the same line we use whenever a gay guy says or does something that isn’t the stereotypical heteronormative or ‘straight acting’ way we seem to like our community to act in the public arena, less we be judged to be lesser than human.
You only have to look at the hate heaped on the likes of Louie Spence, Rylan Clark or Alan Carr to see that we do this all the time. If an openly gay guy doesn’t ‘act straight’ or ‘talk straight’, then he’s setting us back.
Bulls**t.
Well, he doesn’t, they don’t. Perez doesn’t put anyone back fifty years - only himself and after-all it’s his life to lead.
The only people putting us back fifty years are those who shame other guys for expressing themselves in the only way that they know, and if they’re putting it on as an act for their career then so be it, but they don’t represent us.
The homo-homophobic’s distain says more about our community than it does about Perez’s way of dealing with his surroundings. His attention grabbing and self centred view of the world isn’t anything to do with his sexuality, let’s not confuse the issues here.
If we want to live in a world were we’re not judged for the people that we love, then we had better stop judging people for the way that they act. Every last overactive, poofy, queer boy, cross dressing, non-binary, non-clone, bull dyke out there has the right to act and be however they like. If you don’t like it, then as Perez said, leave. For each of us have a colour in our fabulous rainbow.
If you agree or disagree, take to our forum to have your say.
So in this month’s issue we’re jam packed we have a Cucumber overload, which does sound painful, but we’ve got interviews with the cast of Russell T. Davies’s acclaimed new series, we have a word with Louie Spence and Joey Essex about their Jump experience, we share cocktails with RuPaul Drag Race’s reigning champ Bianca Del Rio and then there was Pam Ann. We also have an EXCLUSIVE with Barbara Hulanicki, famed iconic designer of the 60s who can call Cher, Twiggy and Freddie Mercury amongst her life long friends and clients.
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