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I was not going to post about Anderson Cooper
Topic Started: Jul 2 2012, 09:25 PM (771 Views)
kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
I was going to wait till someone else did and post this again. Posted Image
Again I'm as against gay pride as I am gay shame . . .
But then I started to read some of the posts from the public, and realize this is still news and will be till we have equality.

Source

“The visibility of gay people is one of the core means for our equality.”

"Anderson Cooper helps us move "what shouldn't matter" closer to "what doesn't matter".
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
Posted Image

I don't care what people do. If you think that his coming out (gee, really? even him?) moves you closer to "equality" -- whatever the heck that's supposed to mean -- then you are looking for approbation and approval in the wrong place. Gays tend to alienate people by their instance of being accepted with their hateful, aggressive and transparently idiotic rhetoric of "homophobia" and "bigotry". Your gay community is its own worst enemy.

Anderson Cooper making a public pronouncement of what everyone already basically suspected and didn't care about doesn't help your "cause".
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
A point worth noting, from Paul Brandeis Raushenbush:

Quote:
 
It seems pretty likely that Cooper will be able to transcend the bias and prejudice. His waiting this long to come out probably will help him. He has built up enough cred as Anderson Cooper, that he will probably do just fine as Gay Anderson Cooper. But let's not pretend like what he did wasn't hard, or that it wasn't brave, because coming out is always hard and brave.

But there is something else that is worth considering before we move on.

Mr. Cooper did something really important in his coming out email to Andrew Sullivan. After eloquently explaining his decision not to come out before now (wanting a private life) and what prompted him to come out now (not wanting his desire for a private life to seem like it was something he was ashamed of), Anderson Cooper used some very strong language towards the end of his email about his sexuality -- he used God talk.

In my opinion, the ability to love another person is one of God's greatest gifts, and I thank God every day for enabling me to give and share love with the people in my life.

Cooper's email was sent to Andrew Sullivan, who is known to be a practicing Christian and a passionate and articulate writer about the intersection of religion and LGBT issues. Cooper specifically used religious language with Mr. Sullivan, knowing that Sullivan would not have merely bleeped over, or considered pro-forma, the talk of God and thanksgiving, he would have taken it to mean something -- which it did.

Anderson Cooper thanked God for his ability to love another person of the same gender, and thanks God every day for the love he has in his life. In his easy manner, Mr. Cooper is saying his sexuality is a divine gift, and that he is thankful to God that he was so wonderfully made.

That is some beautiful and powerful stuff.

And it also goes to the heart of the fight for full rights for the LGBT community.

Religion remains the central battleground for gay rights and most of the anti-gay rhetoric relies on the argument that being gay is 'un-natural' and goes against God's design. It is an insidious line of attack that makes people, especially young people, to distrust and despise their own experience of desire and love.

Anderson rejects that idea with his two easy sentences -- his ability to love the way he loves was given to him by God and he thanks God every day for it.

Take that.

Those of us who are within religious communities fighting for the full dignity and rights of LGBT people within our traditions should be celebrating this day. Not because Anderson Cooper has come out as gay, but because he has testified to all of us that our ability to love is an expression of the Divine that lives within all of us no matter who we are.

Thank God.


Indeed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-raushenbush/anderson-cooper-gay_b_1644667.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
Why would he have "thanked God for his ability to love another person of the same gender"? What is particularly meritorious or virtuous or special about that? I love a lot of people, male and female. I don't have to desire them sexually or be erotically attracted to them in order to love them.

What is so wonderfully made that you find sexual attraction in someone of the same sex, rather than the mystery of the "other" sex? In the light of the article you posted, it seems so pandering to Sullivan.

What is so "beautiful and powerful" about any of this?
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
I think you misconstrue the point. There is nothing "particularly" or especially meritorious or virtuous or special about the ability to love a person of the same sex - in every manner - as opposed to loving one of the different sex. I believe the point is that it is no *less* a thing to be thankful to God for than the ability to love a person of the different sex - it is not something to be ashamed of, as LGBT people are continually being told that it is. Just as people disdain the word "pride" when LGBT people use it in talking about their sexuality, it seems to me to be a "pride" that is in no greater quantity than to offset the "shame" that they've been told to feel for their sexuality, in order to make their own feelings about their sexuality equal to the feelings of heterosexuals about their own.

What is so wonderfully made is the divinely created human being, who is capable of loving one another regardless of the particulars of genitalia. What is wonderfully made is the divinely created human being who, even in all of our particular diversity, is still individually and collectively created in the very image of God - male, female, gay or straight. What is wonderful is that the love between two people of the same sex is no less a divine mystery than the love between two people of the different sex.

What is "beautiful and powerful" about this, IT, is love.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
ivorythumper
Jul 2 2012, 10:47 PM
I love a lot of people, male and female. I don't have to desire them sexually or be erotically attracted to them in order to love them.
But it helps.


Andrew Dice Clay quote, un-PC
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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apple
one of the angels
he sure is cute
it behooves me to behold
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
Twenty bumped into him on the subway once while she was living in the city. She said the same thing.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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Larry
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Mmmmmmm, pie!
Quote:
 
What is wonderful is that the love between two people of the same sex is no less a divine mystery than the love between two people of the different sex.

What is "beautiful and powerful" about this, IT, is love.



Then the same can be said about pedophile relationships.

You need to get out of the ministry, Dewey.
Of the Pokatwat Tribe

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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
Thanks for offering your opinions, Larry. I don't share them. But I'm not going to argue about them with you.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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apple
one of the angels
i remember first seeing his picture.. he is so silvery.. a very attractive look.
it behooves me to behold
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
sheesh. I thought this would be about how painful Anderson Cooper is to listen to; I find him so irritating. Too much drama, llama.

As for his being gay; I thought that was well known, and for years now, and who cares? He's just annoying.

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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
sue
Jul 3 2012, 07:20 AM
sheesh. I thought this would be about how painful Anderson Cooper is to listen to; I find him so irritating. Too much drama, llama.

As for his being gay; I thought that was well known, and for years now, and who cares? He's just annoying.

+1 on the irritating.
I never watch him.
He does some squinting thing with his eyes and I just find him unpleasant to watch.

My gaydar never even showed a blip on AC.

Nancy Grace is the Drama Llama/
IMHO of all the TV "journalists" she is the most unwatchable.

Posted Image
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Nancy Grace is in a class by herself. :lol2: I wouldn't even put her in the journalist category. What she does needs it's own title.

Seriously, Cooper's gayness is news down there?
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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
Well, apparently many people are much more interested in the personal lives of "stars" than I.
I'm a grumpy old man who actually has never really given a crap about famous people.
I live in LA and on several occasions have noticed a famous actor at a restaurant and intentionally never gave him/her a second look.

What IS news is AC's public announcement (which replaces his former secrecy which could be seen as implying shame about something bad) and his acknowledging that gays being visible is essential if we are ever to achieve equality.
What this famous man did yesterday helps us inch towards the end of discrimination.

Nobody around the world is talking about Kenny being gay.
I'm not famous.
But in my daily life I do my part and am as likely to casually mention, "My partner, he blah blah blah ... " as you are to mention your wife.

Rock Hudson finally announcing he was gay and had AIDS was another event that shocked many people who thought ALL gays were swishy lisping drag queens who sashayed around San Francisco carrying big green penises.
Surely, there are no gays in OUR community, in MY family, or at MY job.

Information is replacing ignorance.
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Friday
Senior Carp
Honestly, I thought he did it for attention, to stay "relevant".
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
kenny
Jul 3 2012, 08:03 AM
What IS news is AC's public announcement (which replaces his former secrecy which implied shame)
Sure, I see what you are saying. I just thought he had talked about this years ago, and heck, I hardly ever read anything about him, or listen to him.

Although I'm not sure I agree with you in that 'secrecy' of one's sexual orientation implies shame. I think it just implies 'it's my private life and no one's business', which I totally respect.
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Friday
Jul 3 2012, 08:13 AM
Honestly, I thought he did it for attention, to stay "relevant".
most likely scenario.
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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
sue
Jul 3 2012, 08:13 AM
kenny
Jul 3 2012, 08:03 AM
What IS news is AC's public announcement (which replaces his former secrecy which implied shame)
Sure, I see what you are saying. I just thought he had talked about this years ago, and heck, I hardly ever read anything about him, or listen to him.

Although I'm not sure I agree with you in that 'secrecy' of one's sexual orientation implies shame. I think it just implies 'it's my private life and no one's business', which I totally respect.
Well, like I said I am exceptionally ignorant regarding the personal lives of "stars".
I have no interest, and think of "stars" as just humans, equal to you or I.

According to all of the press I read yesterday AC was out only to his family and people close to him but not the public.
He has repeatedly deflected questions on his sexual orientation by saying something like, as a journalists it is important to keep personal things personal so I'm not accused of bias in my reporting.

BUT, yesterday I read somewhere . . . one thing AC is reported to have said regarding teabaggers (as reported by someone critical of his gay announcement yesterday) is, "It's hard to hear what someone is saying when they are teabagging." (Probably not an exact quote, but we get the vulgar and insulting point.)

Now that I know AC's gay, if AC really did say that I think it was despicable, since he is a journalist.
IMHO that demonstrates hypocrisy, and he doesn't get a pass because he's in "my club" either!
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
sue
Jul 3 2012, 07:50 AM
Seriously, Cooper's gayness is news down there?
For a moment, I read "Cooper" as "Copper" and thought yeah, that would be news here. :lol:
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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
Axtremus
Jul 3 2012, 08:43 AM
sue
Jul 3 2012, 07:50 AM
Seriously, Cooper's gayness is news down there?
For a moment, I read "Cooper" as "Copper" and thought yeah, that would be news here. :lol:
Wouldn't be news to me.

Often the most vocal anti-gay people turn out to be so vocal because they are struggling with their own sexuality.
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VPG
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Pisa-Carp
I have it on good authority that Anderson came out now that he can enlist in the Army and serve his country.
I'M NOT YELLING.........I'M ITALIAN...........THAT'S HOW WE TALK!


"People say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural, 1971

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Kincaid
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HOLY CARP!!!
Didn't have a clue that Cooper was gay. Coming out to the public for public figures is good I think, because it isn't something to be ashamed about and I think people's awareness of it is good. It should be something honest, not hidden. I think private people should come out to their families for similar reasons. I think at the work place it should be handled by having pics of your mate and talking about your "partner", or similar language that makes it clear.

That said, it is a weird dynamic because the normal assumption is that people are heterosexual, and 95% or so of the time it would prove true. It is better to have incorrect assumptions cleared up on this issue, even if it is somewhat awkward to do it.
Kincaid - disgusted Republican Partisan since 2006.
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JBryan
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I am the grey one
While I have heard of Anderson Cooper I have never seen or heard him so this is just a big nothingburger to me.
"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne


There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it".


Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody.

Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore.

From The Lion in Winter.
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VPG
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Pisa-Carp
JBryan
Jul 3 2012, 09:17 AM
While I have heard of Anderson Cooper I have never seen or heard him so this is just a big nothingburger to me.
Are you all aware he is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt?

I think I see why he made this "heroic" anouncement,
he has a daytime talk show about to start.
I think I call B S on the heroic part. It's good P R.
I'm supprised he dosen't claim to be Hispanic also.
I'M NOT YELLING.........I'M ITALIAN...........THAT'S HOW WE TALK!


"People say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural, 1971

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