Overreaction Of the Week: Bearded Drag Queen is "End of Europe"; Michael Sam in Interracial Relationship! Gasp!

The other day, while writing in this here blog thing the happiness I felt about Michael Sam being picked up by the St. Louis Rams, and Conchita Wurst, the bearded drag queen from Austria who won the Eurovision international singing contest, I knew there'd be a backlash.

Some Russians think Conchita Wurst is
"the end of Europe." Really?  

I also knew some of the backlash would be over the top. The winner of the Wayyyyyy Over The Top Award goes to Vladimir Zhirinovsky. 

Yeah, I hadn't heard of him until today, either, but he's one of those wackadoodle Russian politicians who spend their time being super homophobic.

What our Vladimir said was laugh out loud classic. Here's his reaction to Wurst and her singing victory:

"There's no limit to our outrage. It's the end of Europe. It has turned wild. They don't have men and women any more. They have 'it.' Fifty years ago the Soviet army occupied Austria. We made a mistake in freeing Austria. We should have stayed."

Well, then. Where do we begin.

Let's start with "It's the end of Europe." Really? No offense to Conchita Wurst, but I don't think she has much control over the fate of Europe. Don't get me wrong. I listened to her sing. She's good. Very talented. And winning Eurovision is a big deal. Especially for her.

But honestly, Eurovision is a singing contest, not a battle for Europe.

Vladimir: Here's a paper bag. Breathe into it. Stop hyperventilating.

I also honestly don't know if a 50 year Soviet occupation of Austria would have prevented the existence of Conchita Wurst.

However, I'd certainly would rather watch Conchita Wurst and her beard and listen to her sing day in and day out than hear about the zillions of fatal human rights abuses the Soviets would have continued to inflict on its occupied states to this day.

Is this football player flaunting his sexual
orientation in an interracial way?  

A lot of people are also quite upset with Michael Sam, the black, gay athlete who was seen worldwide on TV kissing his white boyfriend after learning he'd been selected to play for the St. Louis Rams.  

Never mind that a kiss like that is something would expect out of a committed couple in a situation like that.

I get it that people are a little queasy with PDA, especially when they haven't seen a gay couple involved. Also, some people are totally upset because not only is this a gay couple, but, GASP! an interracial one as well.

Two strikes against them!

Get over it, people

I love the Tweet Joe Jervis of the JoeMyGod blog has been circulating. It shows a black NFL player kissing a white woman, presumably his girlfriend or wife.

Jervis, tongue firmly in cheek, notes how that black football player is flaunting his sexual orientation in an interracial kiss.

My favorite Tweets about the Michael Sam situation come from some guys who wondered how they are going to explain Michael Sam to their kids, because, weirdly, Michael Sam has two first names.

A Great Big Gay Weekend Unfolds

Twitter was, um Atwitter Saturday night with these three facts repeated ad nauseum in hundreds of 140-character or less missives:

Michael Sam, with his boyfriend, being told
Saturday that he is being drafted by the NFL team
St. Louis Rams.

1. A bearded drag queen singer named Conchita Wurst won Eurovision, the enormous, premier annual song competition in Europe. She's quite good.

2. Two lesbians got married in Arkansas Saturday, complete with a valid Arkansas State marriage license, thanks to a judge's ruling on Friday

3. The NFL team St. Louis Rams drafted Michael Sam, the openly gay football player. When Sam got the news he kissed his boyfriend, and the pair playfully smashed cake into each others' faces.

Needless to say, few of us, including Yours Truly, never thought we'd see any of these things happen, much less all in one bright Saturday in May.

It sure does leave me in a cheerful mood, though.

Bearded drag queens, Arkansas lesbians and gay football players might or might not be your cup of tea, but the message to the LGBTQ community is clear: You've come a long way, baby.

The world still isn't perfect for gay people, but it is slowly becoming more fair.

There will always be a virulent anti-gay crowd, still paranoid that any time a gay person gets married, or keeps a job, or adopts the kid, the Apocalpyse Is Upon Us.  So far, the sky hasn't fallen, so I think we're safe.

This anti gay crowd has long seen the writing on the wall, which is why they seem to have been getting more shrill and unhinged in their opposition to gay rights.

This couple got married in Arkansas Saturday.  

The news from Saturday will probably really put them over the edge.

I have mixed emotions about that fact. Of course I have a terminal case of schadenfreude, that sense of guilty pleasure over people not having a good time, so I'll indulge in that for awhile.

I'm sure the religious right, and probably Fox News, is depressed, angry and distraught at the moment.

On the other hand, when some people are ideologically backed into a corner, they lash out like a trapped animal. I worry that the drumbeat of great news for the gay community will increase gay bashings, as a few yahoos take matters into their own hands, thinking they're "saving the world" when they're just being idiots.

Other nations see what's going on and are joining the gay bashing wagon, too. These national leaders trying to distract their populace from their own incompetence or mendacity by exploiting anti-gay hate for their own self-preservation.

That's why Vladimir Putin in Russia has been pushing anti-gay laws. And why Brunei wants to put gay people to death via stoning.  And why Uganda is pretty much doing the same thing, pushed along by the odious American anti-gay activist Scott Lively. 

But you've got to be brave. That's how Conchita Wurst the bearded drag queen, our happy married lesbians in Arkansas and Michael Sam got what they wanted and deserve.

For the rest of us, it encourages to seek and win our own little victories.

Which is always an awesome thing