Still a Heartbreaker

I never thought I would ever utter these words but... Donny Osmond has pissed me off. Didn't even think such a thing was possible. I mean, come on, he's Donny Osmond - the most adorable representation of everything that was good about my childhood.

My mom once gave him a back rub at a creative meeting she had with the Bros Osmond, causing some serious pre-teen swooning on my part - not to mention the cardiac arrest, and diary gushing, that occurred when I answered the phone and Merrill was on the other end to set up said meeting. Donny once helped me package and label schtuff at a FedEx when I was in a hurry. He was lovely and kind as could be and I had almost gotten over the shock that he is as tall as my right leg when I heard that, on his blog, he had publicly defended the Mormon Church's position on gay marriage. I thought, "Oh, no he didn't..." But, oh yes, he did.

In reading his response to the question "How do you feel about gay marriage, Brother Osmond?" I wasn't surprised at all that he feels the way he feels, or that he would turn to The Proclamation on The Perfect Family That Became Extinct Long Ago. He is a Mormon in good standing - a high profile true believer - I would expect him to stand by his prophet. BUT, the fact that he didn't even pretend to be torn or conflicted in the least bothered me to no end.

Anyone in the entertainment industry works with gay people every day - but that boy's career was built on the backs of gay men. You cannot tell me that the Donny & Marie Show was not a gay fest of the highest degree! I watched every freaking episode, obsessively and religiously, and I am here to tell you that it single handedly prepared me for the future years I spent on Castro Street. Gay people have made him up, costumed him, written songs he has sung and shows he has been in. They have choreographed him up one side and down the other and backed him up with their vocal and dance talents that, in many cases, far surpass his. Gay men have made him look good for decades. They created Donny Osmond and this is how he repays them???

Here is what I really can't stand, when Mormons (or any other conservative religious folk) get on their high horses and quote The Brethren and The Scriptures with sweet smiles on their faces and self righteous judgment dripping from their lips like honey and then end with, "It's not my place to judge... I am not being judgmental... I have lots of gay friends that I love... I love gay people... Blah, blah, blah..."

If he had said, "This is what my church teaches and it is what I believe but because of the wonderful gay people in my life I am left highly conflicted. There is pain and confusion and am not sure where to put it all..." I would have applauded him for being honest. For being a human being with a conscience and a heart. But that's not what he said.

What he said was some of his "best friends" are gay, or rather have "gay tendencies," and are accepted as long as they don't act upon their temptations. If they do they have "succumbed to temptation" and are immoral and unchaste and are using their free agency and the dictates of their own conscience to NOT live the commandments. Fine. That is what he believes and he is just as entitled to those beliefs, and his right to express them on his blog, as I am. But it's the "I am not a judge and I will never judge anyone for the decisions they make..." that angered me because that is exactly what he did.

I am so tired of the Anita Bryants of the world sitting in judgment calling gays sinful and immoral and weak and then putting the "But, don't get me wrong, I love gays - I even have gay friends" band aid on the wounds they have inflicted so they can feel Christ like.

They may know gay people and they may include them on their list of friends but what they are extending is not real friendship and what they are feeling is not real love, it just isn't, no matter how big they smile while pretending it is.