Last night I did a facebook post about finishing at the gym and kicking back and eating dinner and watching my good friend Mike Manning on MTVs Real World: DC… You would no believe the flack I have received and the truly negative comments I have seen about him. I tell you, its truly disappointing that some members of our community want to immediately bash, name call, and what not… its HIS choice. You are not in charge of whom I have a personal relationship with, nor I yours, or ANYONE his; it’s his business. Its disappointing that simply because he is sharing a portion of his life on a reality TV show that people want to criticize him and not watch and even sympathize with him, what he is going through or the fear of how he’ll be received when his friends and family see the show. We have all found ourselves there for one reason or another. We consciously chose how we would let our friends and family know who we were born as and who we are. If he is bi, so be it, that is who he is. He is not ‘fence sitting’ as one critic called it; he is actually on a path of self discovery that we all travel down with every breath we take. Its the adventure known as life. What none of his critics have even taken a moment to acknowledge is the volunteer work he is doing to assist and help members of the community. I did not see anyone one of his critics on my facebook page even take a moment to applaud him for his selfless work he is doing. All that so many hateful, jealous queens want to do is immediately hate, because he is still discovering himself and not tagging himself with a label… Straight, gay, bi, purple or green, he is still doing more in volunteer work for the community as opposed to sitting and hiding behind a computer screen and typing out mindless rants. All I ask is for intelligent conversation folks, there is no reason for calling names. One thing I have discovered in my time is that you have no argument that you are able to back up with facts if you start calling names. Name calling is a act of frustration because one has no fact based, legitimate argument to retort with.
Now, I know what some will now criticize me for, which one has already attempted to do in regards to my thoughts and feelings on Ke$ha. Realize folks, I say a lot to generate discussion; certain things will be said to ‘stir the pot' to get people to talk. I will say that I still do not like her music and for one commentator on my facebook to compare this situation of someone name calling is completely different to mine and here is why:
Ke$ha is an ‘artist’ I use that term VERY loosely in this sense, but an artist, nonetheless… Artists are lauded and criticized… there are going to be those that like her product and those that do not. I do not like it… that is my opinion, I am entitled to that. I am not attacking her as a person, someone else on my facebook did that. I criticized her art and will continue to do so.
Mike is sharing a portion of his life through reality television. His story is a look into his personal life. A majority of it is and has been edited for TV to create that level of interest and dramatics. However, his experiences that he is sharing is his personal life, not something as an art form created to be bought and sold as a commodity. What he is sharing is what he went through as a person and how he as a person and those that love him react to it, adjust and deal with it. We have all been in his position at one time or another, dealing with how we (sometimes viewed as the pariahs of society) let those that society deems as ‘normal’ know who we are, who we were born as. In all honesty, it is really NO ONES business what goes on behind our bedroom doors or whom we fall in love with. We choose to make it others business or let others know our business, for the simple fact, I believe, because we are who we are and we are entitled as human beings who were created this way to be ourselves without fear. Everyone is different, that is what makes each and every one of us special and unique. Don’t hate because one person chooses a path comfortable for them to discover who they are: lend the hand of support, a shoulder to cry on for the tough times, a ear to listen to and help them through frustrations. No one has room to judge or critique how someone lives their live unless it is posing a physical danger to others or to themselves.
