That question came to my mind after reading this interesting article in the Washington Blade by Joey DiGuglielmo.
As much as the Blade encourages everyone to be out and be proud, I have to admit there are moments in my personal life where I choke a little. Or at least pause.
I was invited by Crystal Schelle, the features editor at the Journal, to submit a column for the paper’s 100th anniversary Monday. Crystal was my first editor and the Journal was the first paper I ever worked for. It’s the daily that covers my hometown, Martinsburg, W.Va., and the rest of the state’s Eastern Panhandle.
I also mentioned the Blade in my tagline at the end of the story: “Joey DiGuglielmo lives in Washington and is news editor of Washington Blade.”
So while it wasn’t even an explicit “I’m gay” proclamation, it still made me pause. There’s a difference between being out to some family, friends and acquaintances from my home town and announcing it in the newspaper there.
Don’t get me wrong — I certainly don’t think being gay is anything to be ashamed of, but I also don’t want to rub it in anyone’s face. I’ve never been a wear-it-on-your-sleeve kind of guy about being gay or anything else.
But baby steps are good to take. While mentioning I work at the Blade could hardly be considered a ballsy move, announcing it so my entire hometown, a small town in West Virginia, no less, was a good step to take.
I agree with many of the arguments voiced on this site that urge celebs like Anderson Cooper and Jodie Foster to come out if, in fact, they are gay. While I agree that such steps would be great for the gay community (you know — us “radical homosexuals!”), I have to also realize that little tinges I feel over small stuff like a tagline would be magnified a thousand times if I were as well known as Cooper or Foster.
I've dealt with that issue to a small extent myself. Although I am straight, I'm very selective who I tell about my GLBT advocacy and refer to this blog. Outside of my church and the GLBT community, there are a lot of people who know about my sportswriting but a mere handful who know about my "other life." I compartmentalize because, as I have written here numerous times, many people in the sports world don't exactly embrace GLBT people, and probably won't cozy up with their advocates either.
Perhaps, like Joey DiGuglielmo, I need to take some more baby steps myself.
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You say, "Perhaps, like Joey DiGuglielmo, I need to take some more baby steps myself".
ReplyDeleteYou seem from what you have said, to be ashamed of being an advocate of the GLBT community or for being connected to your "other life".
I believe I can tell you why, and it has nothing to do with what other people think or feel. If you are doing something with correct motivation and in a moral manner it shouldn't matter.
Mind you I said "IF".
Jesus hung out with sinners of every ilk He was not ashamed or held back. Why? Because He was on a mission, to tell them how to be sure of heaven as their home for eternity. He knew what the religious leaders said about Him.
The point I am making here is that you have chosen to "hang out" for the wrong reasons, with people who engage in wrong behaviors.
You lie to them. along with the rest of the activist sorts there at the Blade or whatever News paper you write for, who lie to them. Jesus would tell them the truth for He is Truth.
Your hatred is masked by your attempt to enable the sexually immoral to continue to be sexually immoral. Why do I say, "your hatred"? It is not "love" that causes a person to tighten the snares and chains of sexual sin on another human being.
Please, for your own sake and the sake of those who do not see, let the Lord open your eyes.
Grobie