We all have "the list," right? The list of people who you would breakup with even your most serious relationship to be with. I think you know what I mean.
Danny Roberts was the first one on my list. And I think he will always be there.
When Danny was on Real World: New Orleans, he was one of the first positive gay role models that I saw on television. Take that back: he was THE first. At the time, I was living in Venezuela, largely pushed back into the closet by the machismo culture there, and had little to no exposurer to gay life at the time. Like many others in the closet, I was starting to regress into thinking that maybe "they" were right, and I was wrong. Maybe being gay WAS a bad thing.
Then I saw Danny. Weekly, I would see him having fun, being healthy, and having a solid loving and compassionate relationship. I remember many nights tearing up over the scenes of him, knowing that back home I would find a community, find a man, or even just find myself. The image that he presented, and MTV gets some major credit for this, gave me hope.
Part of the whole thing was that Danny was dating Paul, an Army Ranger whose face had to be consistently covered up to avoid being kicked out of our armed forces. If there was ever an argument against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," it is Paul.
Well, at first today, I was gleeful at the thought that lovable, adorable, funny Danny is single. Hope lives on for my crush. Then I saw the video I have posted below, and it made me remember how special I felt their relationship was. Sad that it's over. There was truly love there.
God bless them both for being positive role models when there were none. If only we all had that strength.
3 comments:
I think we all have that strength within us. I just don't think we all have the luxury of having a platform like MTV. At a pragmatic, daily level, we have to take into account the communities that we live in. I don't think we should beat ourselves up for making the decision to stay in the closet when that seems like the best, safest, choice.
Alternatively, of course, the real power is in seeing, not just the celebrities on the Tube, but the out folks on the street. We are all potential role models to others.
Agreed, and I have definitely played my part in various communities as a role model and example for others (read: loving Catholic schools).
I just look at the example those two gave us and am amazed by their courage to take on an uncharted world.
i made a poster out of a couple of Danny pics i came across on the net, and although everybody else found it entertaining, some might get offended.
feel free to enjoy in the art that is Danny!
[i didn't know how to post the picture here and your readers might not be to keen on the material]
so here's the URL:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/Stevey707/xXx/DannyRobertsblog.jpg
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