Monday, April 4, 2016

Anderson Cooper - Vanderbilt and Me

He is so fucking sexy,
and beautiful.
I watched CBS this Morning and the story about Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt today.  I think of this handsome man, and all he has been through.  The loss of his father at a young age, and the the death of his brother, who jumped from a balcony to his death, and wonder, how do our lives compare.

I'm not talking about the money, and fame, we know where that stands.  But where his life as an out man, is different than mine.  What if I would have had the courage to be OUT. Either when I was a kid, or now.  There are times I want to be free of this lie, of this life I have built.  But then, I have to sit back and realize that I have build a great thing.  Others would disagree, but I'm 51, I have a career, I have built a family that is loving and full of life.  We care for each other, love each other despite our differences.

Then I read this contrast in family.

Los Angeles father allegedly killed son because he was gay.

I do have an extended family that is homophobic, but would never go this far.  Last time I was home, my father was lamenting over his friend's son who is gay and living in New York with his husband.  They have a family vacation, and take family pictures during it.  He can't believe that his friend is okay with the pictures of the gay son's husband in the picture.  More so that they would post it on Facebook.  And furthermore, how they would allow this behavior next to the gay son's sister's kids.  Showing it as normal. Of course I sit and just listen.  Say nothing, wanting to debate him on his views.

I guess it brings me back to what makes one life better than another?  Just because one is out, does that make his life better?  Is one life more moral than the other?

I say NO.  It is different.

12 comments:

  1. Your family is like many who see same sex attraction as abnormal and morally wrong. Most are clueless as to the affect this has on someone like us; how wounding it can be. Some don't care that they may be inflicting harm. But this is why so many gay kids commit suicide or leave home, and why so many adult males are in the closet.

    I once met Anderson Cooper in an airport lounge. We sat and chatted for a while. He claims to be a reserved introvert, but I found him to be friendly, smart and certainly very handsome. I couldn't stop staring at his muscled arms.

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    1. I would love to meet Anderson. He seems like a good guy all around. I agree... I know in small town USA they are just now being confronted with it. Not enough of their own have come out of the closet. I watched part of "Milk" and that was his message. If they know who we are, it will change their minds.

      I just can't do it. Call me a coward.... But I can't.

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  2. Being OUT doesn't mean that his life is better; doesn't mean it is worse. It is different. One does not have to announce one's sexual orientation to the world to be happy. Quite frankly, it really isn't anyone else's business.
    I certainly don't think of you as a coward. Never! You are happily married, with a family that loves you and whom you love. You have a career, a home...everything the typical married person has. That you engage in male-male sexual activity once in a while doesn't make you gay, it doesn't make you anything but .... you.
    I never discussed my bisexuality with my family. Some know, most don't. Some may suspect - but that is their problem. I would no more ask them what they do in their bedroom any more than I'd ask them how they wipe their ass after shitting. I don't need to know.
    The world is too quick to judge. Just because I play with another dude's cock I am not a horrible person; I don't steal, cheat on my taxes, or lie to take unfair advantage of others. My sexual activity does not mean anything in the scheme of things. What society needs to do is come to accept that humans are sexual beings; let others live their lives.

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    1. Love your discussion. The only thing I struggle with is the adultery thing. But that is my struggle with God. I appreciate you being you.

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  3. The story about the father who killed his gay son leaves out an important fact. That is, they were Muslim. Certainty that fact does not change that it was wrong, immoral and etc. But, it does show how that the Muslim culture is to blame, not "western culture". Unfortunately, Muslim gay men are killed every day in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

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    1. I know it is a problem. It isn't perfect, but we have it pretty good in the USA

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    2. I'm going to object a little to citing it as a problem of Muslim culture. It's a problem of people twisting words that have inspired so many to do great and beautiful things to do something so terribly horrifying. I've had a friend call on the church to do an exorcism on his son. That wasn't Catholicism. That's hate. And even Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism has been twisted to reconcile hateful violence.

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    3. Great points... religions are about love, but it is the twisting of them that cause the violence and hate.

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  4. About your father.....one has to wonder if he doesn't have an ulterior motive in his ranting.

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    1. You have a point... I have thought about that, and he knows about it and wants to make sure I know his views. But I think he is in the dark.

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  5. I watched the "Nothing Left Unsaid" documentary. Wow. Really proves that money isn't the answer.

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    1. I want to watch it, but I don't get HBO. Maybe it will be on Netflix sometime.

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