Friday, September 2, 2011

GLAAD vs Huffington Post over Gay Sugar Babies and Daddies


The other day, Huff Po did a piece on Gay Sugar Babies and Daddies. Many of us read it and rolled our eyes. It wasn't new news, this has been going on for awhile. But GLAAD wasn't happy with the writing on this post.

In fact, they were heated about it:
The author quotes someone as saying these gay students “used the money to afford the extravagant and often lavish gay lifestyle,” while another said, “In the gay scene, all you really have is your age or your money.” Fairbanks herself writes, “Unlike in the straight world, many say they find working as an escort on the gay scene to be an accepted, even applauded practice.” Another person tells her, “The gay community were really the first to embrace the sugar lifestyle, even more so than the straight community.” She interviewed yet another person who told her that he “finds the gay culture more accepting of one-night stands and casual relationships.”

The “gay culture.”
The “gay scene.”
The “extravagant and often lavish gay lifestyle.”
The community embraces the “sugar lifestyle.”

These are not phrases that should appear in any piece of responsible journalism (that’s not debunking them as myths) let alone one published by an outlet that frequently publishes positive and affirming stories about the true diversity of the LGBT community. But this article doesn’t stop at just presenting the “gay scene” as a single-minded monolith – it also claims that this gay monolith supports prostitution.
I get that GLAAD is upset, but this what the Sugar Babies told the writer. She is quoting the Sugar Babies. I don't get the anger. Believe it or not, this is a reality in our community. Hell, it's known that many of the twinks in WeHo are kept boys.

I think this is an issue GLAAD could move on and over.

source

4 comments:

Bob said...

GLAAD doesn't like it, but their focusing their anger on the story and story teller.

Wrong focus.

If you don't like the idea of Sugar Daddies and Sugar Babies, maybe work on instilling some sense of self-esteem into the students, who then might want to pay their own way rather than rely on someone else.

Judy C. Adanna said...

You are right about this. GLAAD is acting like none of that sugar stuff is real. I don't like seeing that label queen A-List fakery either where all these skinny white boys try to talk and act like fierce black drag queens, but it's out there and GLAAD looks silly trying to pretend that all gays are suburban couples with two adopted kids.
What I don't understand is why anyone gives a damn about someone having a sugar daddy in order to pay for college. If I had been cute and skinny enough to find a daddy when I was 19, I wouldn't have had to pay off my student loans for all those years.

Bruno Laliberté said...

a question nags me:
does the Huffington post has an anti-gay agenda?

just asking...
because that's the kind of story the right-wing would love and spin out of proportion...

on the other hand, i know of some guys who opted to be kept boys...
i find that this says a lot about their character. their problem as far as i'm concerned. but i don't feel this story relates to me or my reality in any way. when i was young, i would NEVER have accepted those terms, even if they were offered to me on a couple of occasions... not would i, now that i am older, seek the company of such fellow. i like to see a guy at my level, in character, in shape and economically. if he can't hold his own, he better not bother me...


i'm just saying...
:)~
HUGZ

Anonymous said...

Gays are just like republicans when it comes to the truth. Deny deny Deny

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.