This is going to be a rant, so be forewarned that I’m not exactly in the best of mood as I write this.

*begin rant*

For those of you who watched Tuesday night’s American Idol where the top 12 male singers performed, you may have remembered the performance Danny Noriega did, along with his responses to Simon. His singing was ok, nothing too great (he performed Elvis’s “Jailhouse Rock”). Danny decided in lieu of doing a song showcasing his vocals, he would impress the audience with his flamboyant personality and dancing on stage and getting really into the music. He did it brilliantly! However, during his responses to Simon, it became ever-more apparent that he is openly gay, flamboyant, and proud of it. He never said he was gay, but his very feminine mannerisms and over-the-top head rolling were dead give aways. I LOVED that about him. I LOVE a man who can embrace his masculine AND his feminine side and feel proud of himself. I wish more of my own customers would have that kind of confidence. It annoys me so much when my customers sort of do this whiny voice and say things like, “Bbbut what if sssomeone… finds… out that I wear panties?” I mean, really. It bothers me when people are always questioning themselves as if being feminine is somehow wrong. A part of me wants to rolls my eyes when guys constantly look to me as if I must reassure them that what they love to do is ok. Fucking wear them. Ok? It’s ok and if someone has a problem with it, it’s their issue - not yours. Wearing panties is not a big deal, for either gender. I don’t care if someone is a man or a woman, you have to do what makes you comfortable. If you don’t feel comfortable in your skin or in your clothes, then you’re going to look as uncomfortable to the outside world as an 800-lb. pregnant naked man trying to do a tightrope in a tutu. If something feels awkward, then don’t do it. I love Danny cause he’s fucking proud of himself and has confidence and charisma while identifying as (what I perceive to be) a gay or bisexual male.

After being introduced to Danny and his flamboyant nature, I curiously went to the forums at American Idol to see what other people thought of him. And fuck. It’s all negative. So many homophobic people in the world. What is the big fucking deal of someone being gay? This pisses me off so much. Why can’t people just ACCEPT one another regardless of their sexuality? What fucking difference does it make? Who fucking cares what gender someone likes? Does it make him worse as a performer if he’s gay?

One person wrote, “There are some gay men which really are great performers and talents… They don’t carry display their sexuality either… If this was american drag queen idol.. then a guy acting annoying and freaky would be ok… I want to see a guy sing.. I don’t want to be able to guess his sexual preference…”

That is possibly the most condescending thing a person could write. Danny is gay, not a drag queen. He wasn’t wearing makeup or female clothes. Where do these people get off writing this kind of stuff about a person? He said he wanted to see a guy sing, and he did. But he didn’t want to guess his sexual preference? What!? So when people watch heterosexual performers and they’re singing to members of the opposite sex, isn’t that guessing THEIR sexual preferences? What a dumb statement. Madonna is famously known for being multi-sexual and people are always talking about her sexual preference. It’s what MADE her.

Another person wrote, “I think he needs to take his pseudo “Panic at the Disco” haircut and his big girly pink lips and go home this week. And if you don’t want to be perceived as being gay, then don’t comment ON CAMERA on NETWORK TV in a homosexual sounding voice!”

Excuse me? A homosexual sounding voice? What exactly does THAT mean? A homosexual sounding voice? Oh I get it… everyone who is gay all sounds the same. *rolls eyes* If that were the case, people wouldn’t be hiding in the closet all the time and people would just automatically know. I’m a gay female, do I have a homosexual sounding voice? Come on now. Does my voice sound “gay”? Hell, most of my customers are men! Obviously my voice must come across as at LEAST bisexual because guys love the challenge of being with me. This just pisses me off cause it’s people like this who stereotype gay people and show how homophobic they truly are. It angers me because these hateful gay-haters are proud of their ignorance. It’s people like those above that made it difficult for me to come out of the closet. It was SO hard to come out to my family, and so many of them still won’t speak to me because they hate my lifestyle. And to know that even to this day, so many hateful comments like that are made. Telling someone they have a “homosexual sounding voice” is equivalent to telling someone they have a “black voice” or a “Jewish voice.” It’s rude and disrespectful.

And even worse, most of the comments about Danny online are so hateful, that it seems anyone who mentions his name gives him a gay-slur or say that he gives gay people a bad name. You know what? It’s about fucking time someone like Danny got on television. I’m so sick of homophobic people dissing gay people because of their flamboyancy or openness. It upsets me greatly that some folks can be so heartless, expecting gay people to transform into the heterosexual agenda for the task of pleasing the public.

Fuck the public. Be yourself.

I don’t think Danny is the world’s greatest singer by far. More than likely he won’t win. I doubt he’ll make the top 10. But for goodness sakes, I hope he stays on the show as long as possible, because someone somewhere is getting inspired by him and is realizing that he can persevere and be confident regardless of the hateful comments being thrown at him at every angle.

Homophobes can drink rat poison for all I care. Their bigotry and hatred is psychological murder. Eye for an eye.

*rant over*

Love
Isabella
xoxoxoox