Saw this on Joe.My.God:
Lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been cast for the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars.
And it leads me to ask what you think of this premise: Dancing With the Stars is doing great things for LGBTQ Rights? Do you agree?
Over the various seasons of this show, there have been a number of folks who self-identify as LGBT, and I’m of the belief that this advances LGBTQ Rights in important ways by showing real, out, open queer folks in a way that the demographic of the show ( often thought of as a crowd not sympathetic to our issues) can come to see them as real human beings, just like everyone else. I bet that phrase raised a few eyebrows. Of course we are just like everyone else! Actually no. The anti-gay groups go out of their way to portray us as “other” and different and strange or monstrous. The portrayal of queer folks on DWST affords a counter to that “othering” in very important ways.
First, it allows queer participants to look and act like other folks. We think, breath, look, feel, fail and succeed, just like other so-called normal folks. In other words, we are really all normal. Imagine that! Second, it allows the lives of queer folks to be something other than purely political. We can care about sequins and dance steps and smiling and getting a good score. Every moment of every day doesn’t have to be a political battle for equality. Last, it places our sexual orientation into a context and allows people to be more than just their sexual orientation. Here too, is a wedge that the anti-gay forces seek to exploit. To them, everything revolves around sexual behavior. For the reality of LGBTQ persons, our orientation is what it is, and our lives are not eclipsed by only one small aspect of behavior.
Anyone who has read even a small amount of my blog will know that I care passionately about the political struggle for full equality. But I also know that a purely political solution will not end prejudice and homophobia. For that to happen both a political change and a cultural change is needed.
What do you think about this? Leave a comment and share your ideas!