Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Who died and made Ellen the gay pope?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/04/who-died-made-ellen-gay-popeBy Drew Goins
Producer
January 4 at 2:31 PM
Who died and made Ellen DeGeneres the gay pope?
In December, comedian Kevin Hart’s appointment to host the 2019 Academy Awards drew renewed attention to his hateful and damaging comments about gay people. The academy asked Hart to apologize: he refused and bowed out just days after the initial announcement. Many LGBTQ people cheered the withdrawal as the right move.
But now, in an interview that aired Friday on her daytime talk show, DeGeneres has absolved Hart of his ugly history. DeGeneres, who is gay, shared during the interview that she’d even interceded to ask the Oscars organizers to reconsider Hart as host. Apparently, they’re amenable: The ultimatum perhaps wasn’t so much of an ultimatum after all, and in the end, “We want him to host,” DeGeneres says she was told. “Whatever we can do we would be thrilled.”
Et tu, Ellen? As strange as this spectacle may seem, it’s actually in keeping with DeGeneres’s brand of nice. It’s a value she has sought to spread through the world, long signing off her show by telling her audience, “Be kind to one another.” Kindness means giving second chances, and giving second chances apparently means allowing Hart, who in 2011 tweeted that if his son played with a dollhouse he would “break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay,’ ” to host the most prestigious event in American cinema — one that’s also known as the Gay Super Bowl for its celebration of fashion and drama. On the set of DeGeneres’s show, anyone who thinks otherwise is simply a hater.
<Snip>
More important, even if Hart had more fully repented, his sins are not DeGeneres’s to forgive. She faced professional danger and personal scorn in her early and courageous trailblazing, but she’s at a place in her life and career where she’s largely protected from the kind of violence Hart described. Hart’s remarks were directed to queer people of color, who are generally much more vulnerable than their white counterparts. A 2017 poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard showed that LGBTQ people of color are twice as likely to have experienced discrimination in hiring and police interactions as white LGBTQ people, and that they are six times as likely to not call the police in a threatening situation so as to avoid reprisal.
Producer
January 4 at 2:31 PM
Who died and made Ellen DeGeneres the gay pope?
In December, comedian Kevin Hart’s appointment to host the 2019 Academy Awards drew renewed attention to his hateful and damaging comments about gay people. The academy asked Hart to apologize: he refused and bowed out just days after the initial announcement. Many LGBTQ people cheered the withdrawal as the right move.
But now, in an interview that aired Friday on her daytime talk show, DeGeneres has absolved Hart of his ugly history. DeGeneres, who is gay, shared during the interview that she’d even interceded to ask the Oscars organizers to reconsider Hart as host. Apparently, they’re amenable: The ultimatum perhaps wasn’t so much of an ultimatum after all, and in the end, “We want him to host,” DeGeneres says she was told. “Whatever we can do we would be thrilled.”
Et tu, Ellen? As strange as this spectacle may seem, it’s actually in keeping with DeGeneres’s brand of nice. It’s a value she has sought to spread through the world, long signing off her show by telling her audience, “Be kind to one another.” Kindness means giving second chances, and giving second chances apparently means allowing Hart, who in 2011 tweeted that if his son played with a dollhouse he would “break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay,’ ” to host the most prestigious event in American cinema — one that’s also known as the Gay Super Bowl for its celebration of fashion and drama. On the set of DeGeneres’s show, anyone who thinks otherwise is simply a hater.
<Snip>
More important, even if Hart had more fully repented, his sins are not DeGeneres’s to forgive. She faced professional danger and personal scorn in her early and courageous trailblazing, but she’s at a place in her life and career where she’s largely protected from the kind of violence Hart described. Hart’s remarks were directed to queer people of color, who are generally much more vulnerable than their white counterparts. A 2017 poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard showed that LGBTQ people of color are twice as likely to have experienced discrimination in hiring and police interactions as white LGBTQ people, and that they are six times as likely to not call the police in a threatening situation so as to avoid reprisal.
11 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
… Oprah. Celebs could go on Oprah and apologize. Leno was okay, but Oprah was pope...
But she shouldn't expect to speak for all LGBTQ people. I don't believe for one second that Hart regrets his hateful statements. I don't forgive him. Rewarding him with a second chance to host the Oscars is just validating his hatred and slyly acknowledging that it's OK to bash LGBTQ people. I'm really disappointed in Ellen. 
