Gay Role Models

[foxy]

Reading about all the mess that "gay American" Governor McGreevey has gotten himself into makes me wonder where are all the positive gay role models? Surely there must be some out there that are alive and aren't entertainers. Barney Frank comes to mind but after him I'm pulling a blank. Can anybody name some others?

[BgMstr4u]

How about Gene Robinson, the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire? A man publically elected by a representative assembly as bishop after 17 years of ministry there, most of them as an openly gay man. A man who has retained the affection and love of his former wife and children and has been in a committed relationship for more than 10 years. A man who has become the most reviled Christian in the world today, hated by bigots simply for standing up for the real Gospel truth of love. A man who has handled the crisis over his election and consecration and the nonsense since with grace and humility.

 

Let me know if you can find a better role model!

[Trixie]

How about Greg Louganis? Despite sufferig a fair amount of hardships in his life, he surfaced to become an intelligent, classy gay man.

 

 

Trix

[Barry]

Also Rudy Galindo, overcoming many hardships to become a world class skater.

 

Barry

[giovoni]

Teary homosexuals

 

I appologize for the asside.. however there was a VERY funny headline in a comedy newspaper that Denver (and I'm sure other cities must have? ) called "The Onion" that read:

 

"Homosexual man tearfully admits to being governor of New Jersey"

 

Thought I just had to share that

 

"Deserve Victory"

[giovoni]

RE: Teary homosexuals

 

So to make up for that off topic joke... here is a page I found.. not sure if everyone on here is actually gay (in fact some of the names could be argued about on a whole different thread probably) but it seems like a good list.. there are plenty of gay role models around me here in Denver in what I've chosen to do... giving a list of their names though would be dumb for me and probably highly inappropriate on their behalf.

 

anyway the addy:

 

http://www.posimages.org/rolemodels.html

 

"Deserve Victory"

[FourAces]

One of the few Gay role models for me is Elton John.

 

RT

[OneFinger]

WOW, I was so surprised that my name didn't appear on this list. :+

 

In all seriousness, thanks for posting the link. I think we all need to be reminded of those who came before us and paved the way.

[VaHawk]

Elton John????? A gay role model???

 

Are you referring to Mr. Closet case himself? Even in his hey day of popularity when everyone knew he was gay, and he continued to deny it while he dressed like a dyke doing bad drag?

 

The same man who only admitted he was gay after his musical career was in the crapper and then rode the wave of “openly coming out” to further his own riches and portray himself as some kind of forerunner of open gayness? The same Elton John who to this day, lends his “presence” to gay fundraising events, but of course, only for an exorbitant appearance fee?

 

Regardless, the post was about non-entertainers, and so far all the responses have been about entertainers, and yes even Rudy Galindo and Greg Louganis are entertainers. I suppose that no one can come up with a valid response because this society worships entertainers and no one hears about all the real people who should be gay role models, or when they do those models quickly fade into oblivion.

 

One of my very favorites, was Leonard Matlovich. A man who grew up when all homosexuals had to hide in the closet or suffer the consequences of being openly gay which included violence and/or loss of livelihood. A man whose military career proved that gay men could honorably serve in the armed services, and led to gays in the military service even being considered acceptable,leading to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and will eventually lead to total acceptance in the future. A man who defiantly fights the battle even after death with his tombstone inscription of “they gave me a medal for killing three men and a dishonorable discharge for loving one”.

[tedbear]

There's Cooper Anderson, CNN News Anchorman and host of "Cooper Anderson 360 degrees." Cooper is highly respected and his star seems to really be rising. He's openly gay and has been recognized by GLAAD for his reporting on gay issues. His mom's poor little rich girl (and former blue jean maven) Gloria Vanderbilt.

 

He's also pretty damn hot, IMHO.

[tedbear]

>He's also pretty damn hot, IMHO.

 

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/cooper.anderson.html

[FourAces]

Yes Vahawk that is the one

 

The thing about entertainers is they can reach out and touch the youth of the world. That is something many potential Gay role models cannot do. They simply don't have the media to be able to.

 

I'm not suggesting Elton is the most important but probably the most visable in our generation. And someone who I personally respect.

 

RT

[bostonman]

>There's Cooper Anderson, CNN News Anchorman and host of

>"Cooper Anderson 360 degrees." Cooper is highly respected...

 

...and, LOL, you do realize that you have his name backwards? It's Anderson Cooper. ;-)

[woodlawn]

>Regardless, the post was about non-entertainers, and so far

>all the responses have been about entertainers, and yes even

>Rudy Galindo and Greg Louganis are entertainers. I suppose

>that no one can come up with a valid response because this

>society worships entertainers and no one hears about all the

>real people who should be gay role models, or when they do

>those models quickly fade into oblivion.

 

Nice to see that you have returned from the exile imposed on you by those who would like this to become a "gated community."

 

When it comes to gay role models Bishop Robinson certainly gets my vote. I know of no other prominent gay man who has devoted his life to helping others rather than helping himself and who has lived his life in a manner that anyone would be proud to emulate.

[Guest zipperzone]

>There's Cooper Anderson, CNN News Anchorman and host of

>"Cooper Anderson 360 degrees." Cooper is highly respected and

>his star seems to really be rising. He's openly gay and has

>been recognized by GLAAD for his reporting on gay issues. His

>mom's poor little rich girl (and former blue jean maven)

>Gloria Vanderbilt.

>

>He's also pretty damn hot, IMHO.

 

If your such a big fan of his I'd think you would know his name is

ANDERSON COOPER - not Cooper Anderson. Get with the program!

[Guest zipperzone]

>

>>He's also pretty damn hot, IMHO.

>

>http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/cooper.anderson.html

 

I agree that Anderson is a hottie (in a rather unconventionla way) and was intrigued enough to click on the address given above. It led me to his bio on the CNN web site.

 

However, there is nothing in that bio that alludes to his being gay, even although Anderson is totally out. There is one brief mention about a story he did on a gay high school athelete but nothing about him personally.

 

Now what do you think that says about CNN???????????

[Guest ReturnOfS]

There's federal Judge Deborah Batts http://www.femmenoir.net/Leaders-Legends/JudgeDeborahBatts.htm ; Peter J. Gomes who is a Black, gay, GOP but no love for Bush, Harvard University minister and professor http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-96/11-10-96/a03sr004.htm ; and Keith Boykin, former aide to President Clinton http://www.keithboykin.com/bio/. This is just to name a few.

 

 

On a little different note, I thought that I would throw in this link to an interesting article that I found:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/editorial/0401/12/a09-32598.htm

[eastbayguy]

>The same man who only admitted he was gay after his musical

>career was in the crapper and then rode the wave of “openly

>coming out” to further his own riches and portray himself as

>some kind of forerunner of open gayness? The same Elton John

>who to this day, lends his “presence” to gay fundraising

>events, but of course, only for an exorbitant appearance fee?

 

This does raise the question of what makes a gay role model. But, one tidbit of info on EJ, he's done several HRC dinners for no appearance fee. Just travel expenses for him and one other person. His arrangements with others may include a fee, but at least for some HRC events, he has done it gratis.

 

--EBG

[Jared]

>I agree that Anderson is a hottie (in a rather unconventionla

>way) and was intrigued enough to click on the address given

>above. It led me to his bio on the CNN web site.

>

>However, there is nothing in that bio that alludes to his

>being gay, even although Anderson is totally out.

>Now what do you think that says about CNN???????????

 

Why should whether he's gay or not be in his bio??? How many bios do you see that say so and so is a heterosexual? I never even realized he was gay. I think it's actually pretty cool that he is doing well and is not stressing that he is or is not gay.... it shouldn't be a major factor in his profession.

[Jared]

I'd like to add Danny Roberts from MTV's "The Real World" to this list. I've had the opportunity to hear him speak and can tell you that he is a wonderful role model for many younger people.

[+ Charlie]

How about Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the only U.S. Representative to be openly gay before she ran for Congress? Or Martina Navratilova, who is often held up as a model not only for gays but for women and for older people? Or Dr. Frank Kameny, who was fired from his government job in the pre-Stonewall days and immediately started organizing the fight for gay civil rights, back when it was really dangerous to be open? He was our Rosa Parks!

[Ethan_NYC]

as a young boy growing up I had a sense I was different. When James Dale hit the news, I found hope and inspiration.

James is probably the most famous ex-Boy Scout in America.

 

http://dir.salon.com/people/feature/2000/07/17/dale/index.html

[skins1]

http://www.posimages.org/rolemodels.html

 

did anyone actually read the list from this site that was posted above?

 

chief crazy horse? gay? come on. marlon brando? No. RuPaul? ok now you're pushing it.

HEHEHE

[VaHawk]

Thanks, woodlawn. Thank you for your support during the recent brouhaha about me. I really appreciate it and I admire your logical arguments about banishment and an open community. I have always thought that you are the most logical, fair minded person who has ever posted here.

 

In reality, Daddy was very open minded and fair, and I was gone as long as I was only because of password problems and a cyberspace glitch that was causing me not to receive communications from this site. Daddy came up with a solution this past weekend that enabled his communications to get thru to me, and get me reconnected. I appreciate all the extra effort and work that he did to make this happen.

 

I also appreciate everyone else who supported the idea of an open community, and railed against banishment such as Trixie, Doug69, Benjamin, glutes, BuckyXtc and many others. Almost as good, were the many others who refrained from posting negative comments about the situation, as sometimes silence is more deafening than the loudest protests.

 

Woohoo, FFF is back and that makes this site much more interesting. Now don’t you go disappearing, as the loss of you would make this a much poorer site. Thanks for being who you are!

[Guest LatinoRican]

Leonardo da Vinci

Michaelangelo

Harvey Milk

James Baldwin...just to add a few more...