This weekend was glorious in Toronto! Mother's Day happened, the weather was great, and news hit about two things that I think show we are slowly changing our mindset as a people, and I couldn't be happier.
First, Saturday Night saw the Eurovision finale. The annual contest (for those who don't know) was started in the 50s to help connect Europe post-WWII. Celine Dion sang at Eurovision as a teen, and many singers and songwriters have used the contest as a jumping off point for their careers. This year's winner was Austria with the song, "Rise Like A Pheonix." Great, Austria won, big deal, right? Well, this is the big deal—the singer is Austria's drag queen superstar, Conchita Wurst. Here's the winning performance:
I love, love, love that Conchita won, because it shows that the world is slowly changing. Sure, there are shows like RuPaul's Drag Race, but it seems to me that more people are becoming less likely to care that someone is gay, performing in drag, or whatever. This thrills me.
After this amazing win, the news came out that openly gay football player Michael Sam had been drafted to the Rams, making him the first ever openly gay man drafted. There was live video of him getting the call and celebrating by planting an amazingly adorable and romantic kiss on his boyfriend. The video is tear-worthy.
Each step we take towards true equality, even with bumps and breaks in the road, is a major milestone. And for every person making some asinine comment about, "What do I tell my kids?" there are thousands of allies and friends making sure that our kids know that there's nothing abnormal or strange about being who we all were born to be.
What about you? Do you think Eurovision made the right choice in the winner? I know nothing about football, so if you do, tell me, is Michael Sam a good player?
Did you like this? Check out my post about RuPaul's Drag Race.
Printer-friendly version