Perez Hilton is my Ann Coulter

The title "Snaps for Discourse" came to me while thinking about how much I loathe Perez Hilton. "Oh Snap" is a term you'll often hear from him while blogging about the latest celebrity dish. I prefer to give snaps for other things. I have a few fundamental issues with Perez and what he does.

For starters, Perez is an out and proud gay man. Which is fantastic. Keeping this in mind, i don't appreciate his attempts to out every gay and lesbian celeb who insists on staying in the closet. Example, Lance Bass. Months before Lance came storming out of the closet, Perez was trashing him. Posting pictures of someone while drawing cum on their face and "i love cock" on their shirt with your Paint program is not an appropriate way of questioning someone's sexuality. Further, I don't believe it's his business to do so in the first place. As a gay man, Perez should understand the pressures associated with the coming out phase. No one deserves to be outed, except for maybe the likes of hypocrites like Ted Haggard. But Lance did nothing that warranted the mudslinging he endured before he came out. People like Lance and Neil Patrick Harris came out of the closet because of the pressure that Perez had put on them. Maybe not entirely the reason, but a big part.

Perez will defend these actions by stating that they bring visibility to Gay and Lesbian people. That maybe if there were more out celebs, society might be a bit more tolerant of the GLBT community. While this is ultimately true, he serves no positive role in making that happen. I do not believe that the end will justify the means in this situation. Celebrating Lance Bass after months of trashing him is a bit hypocritical. While doing this, Perez will also occasionally comment on something Ann Coulter says as if it's the end of world. I loathe Ann Coulter, and will comment on things she says as well. But if you ask me, what Perez does is WORSE than what Ann Coulter does. She's a nut and a radical extremist who has for years remained biggoted and ignorant in her views. But we expect this from her. Perez is a out gay man who attempts to force people out of the closet using disgusting tactics. He is a member of our community, exploiting those within the community. Treasoness? probably...

I also loathe the popularity of his website. Recently i noiced the HRC (human rights campaign) was advertizing on perezhilton.com. I'm troubled by this. This organization works to defend the rights of gay and lesbians and attempts to stop defamation by promoting public awareness. For an organization like this to begin advertizing on a website that promotes dragging a closeted celeb out of his/her secrecy, is disturbingly alarming. It reinforces that countless gay and lesbians support such tactics, or maybe are to blind to see the damage that this causes. It reinforces that celebrity trash is more important than the growing concerns of the world. And it sends the message that Perez Hilton has more important things to say than Arriana Huffington or Jack Shafer (two of my favs).

Perez Hilton should be ashamed of himself. And frankly i'm ashamed that he's a member of the community that i belong to and advocate for. For the interal gay bashing that occurs is far more dangerous than anything Ann Coulter has to say.

The Birth of a Blog

The title of my blog is pretty self-explanatory. It means exactly what it says. I applaud and celebrate discourse. I challenge myself daily to stay informed, write about things that are important, and to empower myself to change the world. Not a small task for someone who works fulltime and barely has time to eat. But i think it's highly important to my development as a person to remain aware of the problems of the world.

One of the strongest motivations for creating this blog was noticing the disconnect between current events and young people. My demographic, stereotypically speaking, is not informed, does not care, and does not vote. I find this alarming. Perez Hilton receives more hits per day than your average blog. That says to me that people in general are more concerned with the length of Britney Spears' hair, than the important issues that we face today. I also find that many gay and lesbian people have no interest in talking about politics, current events, or the issues of the world. Who's fault is this? Has our government used the GLBT community as a wedge issue for so long that it's created a disconnect? Are we as members or supporters of the GLBT community so fed up that we've completely removed ourselves from the table? If you are old enough to remember Stonewall or the murder of Harvey Milk...the chances are you participate in some sort of activism. But the same discrimination that led to those events is present today.

So what's the point of all of this you ask? I certainly don't have the answers to every problem. I can only offer observations and hope that people join me in discussion. I'm hoping that this blog allows me to share my ideas, beliefs, desires, and observations with other people. If i'm the only one reading it...i'm fine with that.

Will i occasionally get on a passionate soapbox that some might label as annoying...probably

Will I always talk about politics...not at all

Will I occasionally share with you my theories on the 7th Harry Potter book or my current musical obsessions...most definately.

I am more than my political beliefs, and hopefully you'll notice. I'll probably even blog about things that are unimportant and meaningless, but only because i love those things to. I just hope that for every person reading perezhilton.com, they spend a little bit more time watching the news or surfing thehuffingtonpost.com

Allow me to sum all of this up. I love politics and have a strong passion for staying informed. I hope that more adults age 18-35 share that as well. But i do have guilty pleasures such as my obsession with Patti Labelle, my love of college football, and my addiction to coffee. This blog will attempt to show the authentic me and nothing more. I just hope after each post...you give me snaps.