Ellen Page's moving speech at the Time to Thrive Conference

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Tsar said:
Its all nice and what not but there are more serious shit happening in the world now. Lots of conflicts and revolutions that aren't being reported. I mean how many of you know that egypt currently in their second revolution basically straight after the first? Or that syrias war is spreading into other countries or about greece's nazi golden dawn movement that is gaining political power?

Sorry I am in a mood as I type this.
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Jesus Christ. Do people who say things like this actually read what the crap they post? No matter what you talk about, there's always more serious shit going on somewhere. The world can't stand still because there's more serious shit going on elsewhere.

"Hey guys, let's not discuss Irrational Games closing down because there are people starving in Africa."

That's what this kind of dumb reasoning leads to.

Sorry, I am not in a mood as I type this, but I am getting really tired of seeing people say something as dumb as this.
 
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It'll become one again. Funnily enough, two of the actresses I follow on Twitter turned out to be gay. I think I have a thing for lesbian women.
 
Sorry, I'll get it back on track then. It's really great that she did what she did. I think it is pretty tough growing up as an LGBT teen in today's world and they can really do with positive rolemodels like Ellen Page. They don't have nearly enough of those. There's Neil Patrick Harris, but I think he speaks to an older audience and the character he's best known for (Barney Stinson) isn't the absolute best rolemodel.

Some people might think reporting on something like this is inconsequential, but the LGBT struggle is real and a lot of people have a real tough time because of their sexuality every day. If Ellen Page coming out gives at least one kid hope for the future, it is well worth reporting on it.

In light of the struggle facing many LGBT people every single day, including places such as Russia and Uganda where being gay can land you in prison or killed, I would say reporting on something like this is just as important as reporting on the conflict in Syria.
 
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Wish I was a chick :D

I just don't have the heart to watch that speech I have opened it up about 10 times and close it just as fast.
 
Clive Woofer said:
Jesus Christ. Do people who say things like this actually read what the crap they post? No matter what you talk about, there's always more serious shit going on somewhere. The world can't stand still because there's more serious shit going on elsewhere.

"Hey guys, let's not discuss Irrational Games closing down because there are people starving in Africa."

That's what this kind of dumb reasoning leads to.

Sorry, I am not in a mood as I type this, but I am getting really tired of seeing people say something as dumb as this.
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Don't be sorry. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Tsar said:
War effects us all. Europe is in a lot of trouble that kinda effects you doesn't it? I wasn't just aiming at this I was aiming at the media as a whole.
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Stupidity affects us all, yes. However, there are countless things in the world that demand attention and all of it is worthy of it.

You are currently obsessed with wars and armies. The rest of us go on with our lives and there are other things that matter to us and other battles that we fight back at home that aren't necessarily in the form of guns and camo.

To me, as a gay person, gay rights is very important to me. When I see someone standing up in the public light and saying, "Look, you stupid fucktards, gay people are not necessarily how you imagine them," that makes me happy.

I care about animals, I care about the negative effects of bigotry, I care about human rights, I care about poverty, I care about the maddening effects of superstitious beliefs, I care about the EFFECTS of war and the causes thereof.

You have your interests and I have mine. I don't piss where you argue your rubbish, don't piss where I argue mine. If you don't want to read something that offends/upsets/irritates/whatevers you, then don't. It's a free fucking world.

/thread unsubscribed.
 
Lycanthrope said:
Don't be sorry. I couldn't have said it better myself.



Stupidity affects us all, yes. However, there are countless things in the world that demand attention and all of it is worthy of it.

You are currently obsessed with wars and armies. The rest of us go on with our lives and there are other things that matter to us and other battles that we fight back at home that aren't necessarily in the form of guns and camo.

To me, as a gay person, gay rights is very important to me. When I see someone standing up in the public light and saying, "Look, you stupid fucktards, gay people are not necessarily how you imagine them," that makes me happy.

I care about animals, I care about the negative effects of bigotry, I care about human rights, I care about poverty, I care about the maddening effects of superstitious beliefs, I care about the EFFECTS of war and the causes thereof.

You have your interests and I have mine. I don't piss where you argue your rubbish, don't piss where I argue mine. If you don't want to read something that offends/upsets/irritates/whatevers you, then don't. It's a free fucking world.

/thread unsubscribed.
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I am sorry if I offended you. Yes what I posted was dumb there I admit it.
 
Well now that we've gone past the emotional posting stage; let's try this positive posting thing now :)
 
Tsar said:
War effects us all. Europe is in a lot of trouble that kinda effects you doesn't it? I wasn't just aiming at this I was aiming at the media as a whole.
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Like Snare said, people need smaller stories that they can relate to. If you just showed news of wars and revolutions, people would quickly become desensitized and bored of it. That's obviously a serious problem, but that's how humans are wired.

Media and news sources can only exist if they are getting views and making money, so often reporting on these things helps them to report on the more major events happening around the world.
 
addam said:
Like Snare said, people need smaller stories that they can relate to. If you just showed news of wars and revolutions, people would quickly become desensitized and bored of it. That's obviously a serious problem, but that's how humans are wired.

Media and news sources can only exist if they are getting views and making money, so often reporting on these things helps them to report on the more major events happening around the world.
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Indeed. Even telling the truth is not a free enterprise these days
 
On Friday, Ellen Page came out publicly at the Human Rights Campaign’s Time to Thrive conference in Las Vegas. The star of Juno's eight-minute long speech contained a critique of Hollywood’s repressive standards and a mention of her own struggle and the suffering she underwent while keeping her sexuality a secret.
Her strength and bravery in coming out is not, for me at least, in question. It’s inspiring to have high profile actors, musicians, sports stars and entrepreneurs come out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. It makes being part of the LGBTQ community feel less lonely, and not something that should be hidden because you’re afraid of mockery, of not being selected for jobs or of losing friends, contacts and status. The normalization of homosexuality by famous names even makes it harder for young people to bully their LGBTQ peers. I wish Ellen Page had been out when I was a scared twelve-year-old who knew she had to get a boyfriend to fit in and stop the taunts of ‘ugly lesbian bitch’.


Jane Czyzselska writing for the Guardian yesterday is of the opinion that Page’s disclosure “shouldn’t really be news”. I fear that commentators who wish to deny the importance of Page’s speech are rather missing the point. Page’s coming out should be news, as long as we live in a world where homophobia still exists. It should be news because she is giving hope to all of those who are still in the closet, still “lying by omission” and still too afraid to embrace who they are. If we skip over Page’s speech as unimportant, as an irrelevant disclosure, we are downgrading her bravery and failing to recognise how valuable it is for the LGBTQ community when high profile persons decide to be publicly out.

One of the most interesting parts of Page’s declaration was when she addressed the “crushing standards” that Hollywood places on all of us in terms of beauty and success. She mentioned a recent E! article where she was criticised for wearing sweatpants. The writer asked “why does this petite beauty insist upon dressing like a massive man?” and Page answered “because I like to be comfortable”. Why was the E! piece written and published in the first place? It is, of course, irrelevant celebrity gossip. Who cares what Page wears when she’s off to the gym? But it’s also an example of the pernicious and nasty way that magazines, newspapers (you know who you are) and blogs penalise female celebrities for their appearance, twenty four hours, seven days a week. This is a highly gendered form of criticism. E! shamed Page for ‘looking like a man’, as if femininity is something you can measure by the kind of trousers someone is wearing, as if there are concrete rules for how you should look and behave when you belong to a particular gender.


The front page of The Sun today shows a picture of Angelina Jolie wearing a tuxedo. The headline? ‘Brad and Mangelina’. The headline is crass and insulting, as if Angelina has somehow transgressed by wearing a garment that is typically favoured by men, instead of the gown that she ‘should’ have worn. As Simon Amstell says in his stand-up show 'Numb', “maybe your idea of what a girl is supposed to be is quite restrictive”.


In my last piece for Independent Voices, I criticised Shakira and Rihanna’s faux lesbian performance in Shakira’s latest music video. A commenter below wasn’t particularly keen on what I’d written, and stated that I ‘looked like a lesbian’. I think this was meant to insult me, but it provides a great example of how our society likes to shout women down and shame them. Making light of what a woman wears, what she looks like or how ‘feminine’ she is perceived to be isn’t okay. Maybe we should stop reading the appearance-focused, mean-minded gossip columns and allowing their influence to encourage us to believe that it is normal to constantly police ourselves and our bodies. Wear those sweatpants Ellen; I’m really glad you’ve decided to come out.
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I think this is something to think about. Source
 
lol @ the last 3 pages of this.

But back on topic now finally, great speech and very courageous of her. Not many things as daunting as public speaking in general even about mundane things, let alone coming out.
 
The world is a f-ed up place. There are so many evil and bad and negative going around. You will struggle to open up any news media and find all the articles are positive. Hell, if you find even half of them to be positive, that would be fantastic. Unfortunately, that's not the world we live in. It is why news like this is a great thing to see.

I saw a video where Piers Morgan interviewed Ben Shapiro. In their second interview, they discussed a tweet Ben sent stating that being openly gay in today's world is not note worthy or worthy of any praise. That may have been the first time EVER I actually agreed with Piers, because he tare Ben a new one. We live in a world where being gay is not a freedom people get. Too much gay people get ostracised by the media and by the general public, even in tolerable societies

Two years ago, I had my best friend in the world, a person I see as a brother, came out too me and admit he was gay. Up to that point, I thought of myself as a very tolerable person, but believe me, that was a seriously difficult and challenging time. I am ashamed to say that even my family tried to talk me out of being friends with him.

This prejudice is a deep seated one in any society, and seeing someone so high profile come out is an inspiring achievement. I've seen what that can do to a person, and it is sad that our world is so f-ed up and intolerable.
 
From a peanut-gallery perspective: I don't understand how people's minds work any more. Just because you don't agree with someone's lifestyle or life choices, it somehow MUST mean that you are either a racist, sexist or homophobe. Personally, I do not agree with someone's choice to be gay/lesbian. But that is my personal view and I'm also entitled to it WITHOUT fear of being labelled.

What do you guys think about that?
 
You're right, you are entitled to your view ...... as long as that view does not include openly deriding or hating the targets of your opinion. We all have prejudices of some kind, it's how we act that sets us apart.
 
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