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.