Your weekly dose of celebrity commentary and gossip, with a lesbian spin.
Twitter was blowing up this week with celebrities congratulating President Obama on his re-election. Well, for the most part that is. There were some exceptions. Like former Saturday Night Live star Victoria Jackson who accused the President of being a communist and stated, “I can’t stop crying. America died,” among other comments.
As I was doing my usual round of Twitter stalking Wednesday morning (I allotted myself an extra 15 minutes due to catching up on the Presidential election gossip, of course) I stumbled upon LGBT Nation’s video campaign for Barack Obama. Once again I was a little late on the bandwagon (21 days too late to be exact), but I was surprisingly touched as I listened to gay and lesbian celebrities talk about why they voted for President Obama.
Former professional tennis player Billie Jean King reminded us that while “each generation keeps pushing the ball forward, President Obama has pushed it forward faster than any time in the history of our community.” When Obama became the first president to endorse gay marriage, King was in tears. She and her partner of 33 years no longer felt like they had to hide.
Even Jane Lynch talks about growing up thinking “gay” was a mental disability and having to keep her sexuality a secret for many years.
Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson said, “I don’t know if he knows how many lives he’s changing by just saying that simple thing. He’s saving lives really.”
It is certainly confusing when people like Donald Trump tweet, “Another four years—not good for the country but we’ll have to live with it,” even though Obama repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, made it possible for government workers to have benefits for their partners, and passed Hate Crimes legislation.
Or, as actress Wanda Sykes reminds us, Obama has hired more gay and lesbians in his administration than any other sitting president. And at the time, that didn’t even include the historical election of the first openly gay politician and first Wisconsin woman in the U.S. Senate, Tammy Baldwin.
If President Obama could change that much in four years, I am excited to see what the next four can bring. So suck up those tears Victoria Jackson. America is anything but dead.
