His name is Prince! And he smells funky!

We’ve all experienced that disappointing moment when an artist we like goes and says something really stupid:

When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage,
abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw
people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just
cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ”

His genocidal sermon over, the sexy MF then performed a furious guitar solo, composed a song praising incest and retired to his flowerbed:

Meanwhile, another 80s-celebrity-gone-bigot Chuck Norris has compiled a list of trumped-up examples of gay Prop 8 protesters harrassing innocent! Christian! People! “Are they fighting for their rights or at last showing true colors of intolerance against anyone who believes contrary to them?” he asks.

Well, Chuck, gay people aren’t the ones who spent nearly $40 million dollars and countless hours fighting to take away the rights of their Christian neighbours. These protests are the result of decades of horrible treatment at the hands of homophobes and hey, you’d think the star of ‘Forced Vengeance,’ ‘Silent Rage’ and ‘An Eye for an Eye’ would be a bit more sympathetic!

But unfortunately, it does our community no favours to see stories of “anthrax” at Mormon churches and video of gays ganging up on fundamentalists — even if they were stupid enough to try and convert gay people in the middle of the one city we feel most safe in. Here’s journalist Michaelangelo Signorile bravely keeping his cool in the face of hysteria:

So yes, with the inevitable backlash against the march for marriage equality now officially endorsed by Time magazine (now the first entry on my enemies list!), hopefully the ongoing protests will feature:

 

– more Martin Luther King, less Malcolm X
– more Dalai Lama, less Steven Seagal
– more Professor X, less Magneto
– more Mildred Pierce, less Mommy Dearest!

A former editor of the late, lamented fab magazine, Scott has been writing for Xtra since 2007 on a variety of topics in news pieces, interviews, blogs, reviews and humour pieces. He lives on the Danforth with his boyfriend of 12 years, a manic Jack Russell Terrier, a well-stocked mini-bar and a shelf of toy Daleks.

Keep Reading

Trans issues didn’t doom the Democrats

OPINION: The Republicans won ending on a giant anti-trans note, but Democrats ultimately failed to communicate on class

Xtra Explains: Trans girls and sports

Debunking some of the biggest myths around trans girls and fairness in sports

How ‘mature minor’ laws let trans kids make their own decisions

Canadian law lets some youth make medical or legal decisions for themselves, but how does it work?

To combat transphobia, we need to engage with the people who spread it

OPINION: opening up a dialogue with those we disagree with is key if we want to achieve widespread social change