Dear Members of the Media,

Perez Hilton is not the spokesperson for the gay community.

Cordially,

T Lo



Look, far be it for us to rag on a fellow gay blogger. Perez has his niche and he's managed to swing an astonishing level of success and exposure out of it. He's never been to our taste, but to each his own.

But there are SO MANY other, better qualified spokespersons out there whom the media could book on their various talk-fests to discuss the issue of gay marriage. Book Perez if you want to talk about stupid celebrities. Book Dan Savage or Andy Sullivan or hey, how about someone from the Lambda Legal Defense fund or Freedom to Marry or even the execrable Human Rights Campaign?* You know, the people who are actually at the forefront of the issue? These are people who have plenty to say about the issue and the intelligence and knowledge to back up their points. What has Perez's contribution been? To call some bubbleheaded, bigoted beauty queen a bitch and a cunt? No thank you.

To his credit, we'll begrudgingly admit that in his various appearances this week he's managed to tone it down quite a bit, but he's still not representative of us or anyone we know.

*Nothing against anyone with an HRC bumper sticker, but they're far more interested in throwing black tie events than they are in working toward real solutions to the problems that many gay people face. Consider sending your next donation to Lambda Legal or Freedom to Marry.