Thursday, May 25, 2017

GLAAD In Need Of A GLAAD Moment Of Its Own Over Lorrie Morgan Brouhaha

From: Boy Culture
 Lorrie Morgan is a big-time country singer who will be appearing at an LGBTQ event co-hosted  by out country artist Ty Herndon and out CMT host Cody Alan — and yet, on her personal Facebook page, she has routinely mocked trans rights.

This is messed up.

The Concert for Love and Acceptance is a nice idea, a benefit for GLAAD held in Nashville and featuring country acts like Herndon, Billy Gilman (GLAAD misspells his name in its press release), Dana Goldberg, Kree Harrison, Michael Ray, Mickey Guyton, Runaway June, Ryan Kinder, Street Corner Symphony, Thompson Square and Trent Harmon. It's a positive thing to hold an event for LGBTQ issues in the South, where empathy for the cause is perceived to be low, and Morgan's inclusion was a good idea before her antipathy for trans people came to light.

I mean, what do you do when one of the stars appearing has shared memes like this:


 Morgan is approvingly passing on a nasty, anti-trans message that was initially posted by a group that is opposed to gay marriage.

She also shared this one, which is the tip of the iceberg as far as her anti-Obama tendencies:


 Again, this isn't about supporting former President Obama, it's about an obvious bias she has against trans people, one that does not jibe with GLAAD's distinctly pro-trans mission, and that doesn't work with her being invited to perform at a concert promoting love and acceptance.

Are we supposed to love and accept people who want laws in place that pettily harass trans people?


 On top of her anti-trans views, Morgan — who recently posted a pic of herself with a Confederate flag insignia as her (I think) guitar strap, prompting a fan to warn her about liberals' reactions to it — posted this indefensibly racist meme:


 ... and, for good measure, a revoltingly misogynistic post regarding President Trump's alleged sexual abuse of women, one that plainly argues only attractive women should be believed when claiming they've been sexually abused, and that men with pretty wives could never be credibly accused of attacking women less attractive than the one they have at home:


 Who Morgan voted for does not necessarily dictate her views on LGBTQ issues, but her Facebook posts clarify those, and just by the way, the Trump Administration is stacked with people openly, nakedly hostile to LGBTQ rights. In fact, GLAAD's own website gives you the below ad if you visit it:


 Morgan is a huge Trump supporter:





 So ... if GLAAD correctly perceives that Trump is a problem, and if GLAAD is so good at calling out media figures for saying and doing things that harm LGBTQ causes, why isn't GLAAD calling out Lorrie Morgan? Is it really so embarrassing to disinvite someone from performing when she has shown so little regard for the gay community? What has she ever done for us? Is it a political issue involving Herndon or others attached to the show?

If a Republican lawmaker had shared those same memes, I have no doubt GLAAD and any other progressive LGBTQ person would be able to ID that lawmaker as hostile to our cause — why is a diva given a pass?

Morgan apparently issued a weak apology, but her latest statement — again, on Facebook — on the whole matter is unrepentant:


She does not get it. She does not get why saying Michelle Obama is ghetto is racist. She does not get why supporting Trump is supporting an assault on gay rights. Most clearly, she does not support trans people. That's all fine — let her duplicitous gay fans make excuses for loving her anyway. But why is GLAAD embracing this person? How can she possibly stand on a stage and sing for love and acceptance, whens he thinks vicious statements like the ones she's made and the ones she's sharing are just funny ha-ha jokes?

As a postscript, I see she's going the whole I'm not like that route. Whether we're talking about her or any other public or political figure, I'm not racist or I'm not anti-LGBTQ are not defenses when it comes to demonstrably racist or anti-LGBTQ things they've said and done. Leave the arguments about what the person personally believes to fans who care, we are talking about the racist, anti-gay things that the OKAY, OKAY not-racist, not-anti-gay person is saying and doing — that's the stuff that matters.

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