SOUNDBITES — “Marie Osmond’s poor gay son killed himself because he had been told how wrong and how sick he was every day of his life by his church and the people in it. Calling that ‘depression’ is a lie! Yet the Osmonds still talk lovingly about their church, saying nothing about its extremely anti-gay Crusade. Marie also has a gay daughter! Hey, I want her and all the gay kids in the world to know that they are just fine being gay and that they deserve love and respect instead of insults and rebuke! I have gay people in my family and my circle of friends and I am kicking bigot ass and taking names! … Yet, even though the people they say they love the most in all of their public displays and speeches (THEIR KIDS AND FAMILY!!) are gay,– their own children,for crying out loud- these people cannot find the christian decency and compassion within themselves to stop their hypocritical gay bashing!! How sickening. I know so many Mormon kids who were gay and committed suicide, and I just cannot and will not stay quiet in order to not offend bigots anymore. It is all so terribly depressing. Marie please don’t talk about how your faith in your church has helped you get through this one! Please get some integrity and tell that church of yours that you will leave it and stop giving it ten percent of your money if they don’t stop trying to destroy your kids’ and all gay people’s civil rights and dreams and hopes!!” —Rosanne Barr attacking the mother of a dead son(via)
Cam
Sounds pretty much like the stories every Mormon I know has told.
AlanInSLCUtah
I have to agree with Roseanne.
jason
You go, girl.
sonofloud
His blood is most certainly on Marie’s hands.
Staciegirlie
Roseanne Barr is my new best friend. I hate religious bigots too.
I’ve been saying this all alone.
Brian
This is horrific. Really, Roseanne? You know Marie’s son was gay? You know EXACTLY why he killed himself? You know that he DIDN’T suffer from depression? (Which is a real condition, BTW, you idiot).
I used to think there could be nothing worse than losing a child. But I was wrong. It’s worse to have suffered the death of a child, only to be attacked by a stranger who presumes to know your life and wants to use your pain to make a political point.
Lots of kids kill themselves because they are gay, and lots of those kids are Mormon and have heard anti-gay preaching their whole lives. But to attack a grieving mother like this and pretend to know all of the circumstances surrounding the suicide of teenager is just reprehensible.
Cam
No. 6 · Brian said….
________________________
No, it’s reprehensible to continue to be a part of a religeon that attacks your children, excommunicates people for being gay, tries to get parents to turn their backs on their gay children and kick them out of the house etc…
Staciegirlie
@Brian, whatev’s.
It’s your type of thinking and sweeping stuff under a rug such as unaccepting parents and religious figures which deters any type of prevention.
Joseph
How many times do I have to say it?
RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Republican
I thought her son had drug problems. When was it confirmed that he was gay?
David in Houston
I have to agree with Brian above. We do know how the Mormon church feels about (and treats) gay people. What we don’t know is that Marie’s son was gay. I love Roseanne as much as the next gay guy. But until it’s confirmed that the son really was gay, I think Roseanne’s diatribe was a bit premature and uncalled for.
DX
@Brian:
It’s ok Brian, you can tell us, you’re a Mor(m)on, aren’t you?
Brian
I can’t believe these comments. No, I’m not Mormon, and never have been. And no, I’m not sweeping anything under the rug.
Again, this isn’t about a political point, or about the fact that the Mormon Church is anti-gay and that many kids who grow up Mormon (or Fundamentalist, or Catholic, etc., etc.) kill themselves because they can’t reconcile their religious indoctrination with their sexuality.
My point is there is no evidence that this is what happened here. Maybe it is, but read Roseanne’s ignorant comment again. She said (1) that Marie’s son is gay; (2) that he had been “told how wrong and how sick he was every day of his life”; and that (3) it is a “lie” to say he suffered from depression.
Do any of you people seriously think that Roseanne knows any of this for a fact? She is just spouting off.
Again, I’m not arguing with the fact that religion, including the Mormon Church, often drives gay kids to suicide. I’m saying that there is no evidence whatsoever that any part of Roseanne’s comments about this specific suicide is true, and that it is in fact reprehensible to attack a grieving mother.
ewe
Sometimes the truth is so clear it does not need any further elaboration.
Cam
No. 13 · Brian said…
I can’t believe these comments. No, I’m not Mormon, and never have been. And no, I’m not sweeping anything under the rug.
_______________________
Yeah Brian, thats what you said the last several times you’ve signed on to defend the Mormon church.
ewe
@Brian: It is more reprehensible to deny a young dead man his innate nature. Save it. What you say is no different than parents who tell their children to remain in a closet because they themselves are full of shame and consciously or unconsciously pass it on to their offspring. It is unacceptable. EVEN IF this young man was not homosexual, it does not give any free pass to Marie Osmond for promoting a hateful religion and smiling her whole life through this lens at the expense of us. Having said that, it goes without saying that most of us feel for any mother who loses her child but it still leaves us with the insistence to address the issue and the issue is Marie Osmond and her filthy religion she has attached to herself as as her own identity.
Brian NYC
It was a Mormon tied Matthew Shepard to the fence while a Baptist that beat him to death. Christians.
Roseanne was accurate. Marie and all Mormons should be ashamed.
Michael
@Brian: Sorry but the kid was gay. CNN had an article the other day profiling 5 young guys who killed themselves and you could tell every single one of them was homosexual yet the article nor any of the comments about it made mention of this. It’s complete bullshite religion drives gay youth to kill themselves and I have never, ever, respected Roseanne so much as I do now. Gay male youth are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide and make up over 1/2 of the youth suicides.
Michael
@David in Houston: Have you seen his pictures. If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck and dresses like a duck then it’s definitely a duck.
Brian
Wow — it’s “defending the Mormon Church” for me to AGREE that its teachings lead gay kids to kill themselves? Unbelievable.
Okay, I give up. My point is that Roseanne was talking out of her ass by pretending to know the details of this young man’s life and by saying that the fact that he suffered from depression was a “lie.” Again, I agree with the general principle that many religions lead many people (gay and otherwise) to kill themselves. But Roseanne had no business spouting off about a specific situation as to which I guarantee you she had no personal knowledge.
Many of you don’t seem to understand my point, so I won’t try to reason with you.
Rick H
I worked in entertainment news when Marie was on Dancing with the Stars and it was discovered that her son was a drug addict. At that time I was interviewing her on set and off camera we had a good talk about her son. While she didn’t admit that her son was gay to me I did see all the signs that pointed to him being gay. I told her she has to be there for him no matter what her personal feelings were about what she “Thought led to his drug problem” and she burst into tears.
Marie is a good person that has been misguided by lies just as many people have. But she is a strong and smart person who I think over time will realize what has happened and be a great ally for us in the long run. Yes I do agree that she is part of the problem by defending Mormons but right now she doesn’t need to do anything but grieve for the lose of her son.
hephaestion
God bless Rosanne! Thank you Roseanne, for telling it like it IS!
Every parent of gay children needs to stop giving money to their church until they agree to perform same sex weddings and speak out WEEKLY on behalf of their gay children.
Oh Boy
@sonofloud: I think she has done a great job standing by her lesbian daughter and you do not know the whole story. I am sure she is in a lot of pain so I think you need to back off.
Tackle
@Brian: I agree with you!
TommyOC
I’m not completely onboard with Roseanne’s timing, but her message I can totally stand behind.
While I won’t try to play doctor or psychiatrist in trying to figure out what was going on in the mind of a troubled young man, I can’t help but speculate that being despised and shunned by your church – a place that should be one of solace and refuge – is one of those things you just don’t need.
It’s inarguable that Marie Osmond loved her son. And something tells me she exempted him from the personal bile her church’s members throw at gays in general. I just wonder if she has fully reconciled the fact that the church’s policy conflicts with her HUMAN policies of common courtesy and decency – especially when I’m sure she employed the latter with her family.
And finally, it’s a shame that Roseanne Barr’s name isn’t as recognized as Margaret Cho’s and Kathy Griffin’s in the category of “Celebrity Women Who Are Fierce Gay Supporters.” She certainly deserves it.
tiier
I was just molested by an ad. Some bullshit survey with capitalist aims. Where is Roseanne during these times?
zenflo
Right on, TommyOC.
alan brickman
i think Roseanne nailed it….
alan brickman
she is a fierce suporter of gays..why isn’t she respected more?….
strumpetwindsock
Exploitative, grandstanding bitch. If she actually had something constructive to say she could do it with a phone call, but then she wouldn’t get her smug face splashed all over the press.
Remind me to show up and piss all over the funeral when one of her loved ones dies.
Sapphocrat
Echoing TommyOC, Roseanne’s timing may not be perfect, but…
She’s only saying exactly what many (most?) people are thinking.
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: And the mormons piss all over us when we are alive and well. Marie Osmond is a mormon. Marie Osmond may be a nice person just like George Bush may be a nice person to chit chat about nothing but the both of them are enemies of gay people even when they dress it up in god and profess to be unaware of what their religion is spouting off about. My feelings go out to Marie Osmond but they are mostly reserved for her son. And to hell with anyone who thinks defending this organized hate against me is going to somehow soften the truth.
ewe
@Sapphocrat: and more importantly it is the truth. Chances are it is not going to ever come out of the mouths of any Osmonds so when they decide to honor our existence maybe we won’t spit back.
strumpetwindsock
The fact that she would stoop to calling a grieving mother out into the street and dare to throw the word “integrity” at her makes me not really want the kind of support she is offering.
I don’t need that kind of help from anyone.
I just wonder why she didn’t say this last month when the comment wouldn’t have gotten her press coverage.
schlukitz
Two of these Mormon profligates showed up on my doorstep this evening with their book of Mormon which they proudly displayed when I answered the doorbell.
I told them that homo-hating religious people who deny other people their just-due equality and finance legislation to take the rights of minority groups away from them are not welcome in my gay home and not to ever ring my door bell again.
Of course, just like a bad check, they will return again since they are trained to take rejection and doors being slamming in their face. The word “NO”, is simply a challenge to persist in their recruitment tactics.
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: you are defending the osmond image. It is bright teeth and utah wholesomeness. It is as phoney as a cereal box and exactly only that. A phisod. I feel empathy for her as a grieving mother. I feel contempt for her disgraceful discriminatory religion that spends its time mocking gay people. I said Jerry fallwell should have each body hair plucked from him in hell before roasting on a pig spit the day he finally was aborted. Her little shirley temple attitude toward life as we fight for our lives gets no pass with me.
Scot
While it is true, we don’t know if Marie’s son was gay, we do know that her daughter is. And her son saw the way HIS church treats HIS sister everyday and every way. Damn good reason for depression in my book.
It’s sad the way Roseanne said what she did but maybe taking the sugar coating off will draw more attention to a very relevant point, especially since no Osmand can argue that point.
zenflo
Tragic, indeed, when a family is brought to this sad place via the sway of an unyielding church built upon polygamy to satisfy the needs of paunchy old men, and a Garden of Eden located somewhere in Kansas.
strumpetwindsock
@ Ewe
I am doing no such thing. I am just saying that Roseanne is out of line, and making more than a few assumptions about the situation. Making a public attack like this helps no one except herself.
You know, I might think her motive was be something other than self interest if she had remembered to at least call Michael Blosil by name instead of just referring to him as Marie Osmond’s poor gay son.
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: The mormons would be doing in Utah what they are doing in Uganda if they had the chance. Marie Osmond is a mormon and her son did not survive. Roseanne Barr is not the enemy here.
jeff
I don’t think Rosanne is wrong, but her timing is really poor. She is saying some things as facts that she can only surmise, but she did have some Mormon background, so she knows that much of how the religion doesn’t give any quarter to anyone who is different.
Lukas P.
LGBT youth (and adults) ARE more likely to attempt suicide and to succeed at it than their straight counterparts. Males, in general, have higher success rates (use more lethal means) than females. The documented suicide attempt/success rate of Transfolk is still the highest %.
GLBT folks also have higher rates of depression and drug use than their straight peers.
I can’t say this next bit based on anything except my experience –not a helluva lot of studies on the subject — but kids raised in devout, religious homes do seem, to me, to be at greatest risk. I know that seems obvious, but I can’t let that issue go without comment.
So: Ms Osmond’s son could have very conceivably been using/abusing drugs AND been dealing with depression.
Ms Barr’s timing can be questioned, as may her unwillingness to accept the depression theory, but her support to the Queer community is steadfast. And heartfelt.
I too wonder why she’s often overlooked as one of our straight, beloved allies.
ewe
ok ok ok. So if timing is the only issue everyone is so outraged about then i might agree but think about this…. How many people really care about anyones opinion on Princess Diana today? It makes perfect sense to address the corrupt hypocrisy of the mormons at a time when one of their celebrated figures has lost her son and will go down as nothing more than an obscene statistic for their flock to hold up as evidence for more ugly rhetoric. It’s a lie. She’s a lie. The Mormons are a lie and the young man is dead. I say she and her religion have blood on their hands.
Brian NYC
@jeff: Roseanne’s “timing is bad?” What about the timing of the kids suicide? That was okay?
Fanatic religious beliefs kill a lot of people. Mormons and Osmonds should both feel ashamed, not just because of their beliefs, but because those beliefs just killed a young man.
ewe
@Brian NYC: I agree and if we waited for people to think of us not being rude or saying and doing something at the wrong time, we would probably have never even had a Stonewall. That’s just one example. Shall we go on? Fighting the ugliness of pharmaceutical profitteers as our brothers lay gasping for their last breath dying miserably from AIDS…. Where the fuck was Marie Osmond? Nowhere! And she did NOTHING except make her son feel inadequate. Shame on her.
Bussy
Gasp!Is there any specific factual comment that says this poor soul was a gay man? Roseanne Barr is an idiot. She has no right to get on her ‘straight ally’ high horse and blast a mother who just lost her own fucking child. The Mormon church(dont get me started) is a cult that has been spewing their hateful nonsense forever..time will deal with them. But to attack a grieving mother without even bothering to know the facts around her son’s death is not only assholery but attention grabbing cruelty.For those who side with her, well it just goes to show how mentally fucked up u are. To advance the anti gay bashing you do not really care whose in your way,huh? Just bash stupidly and blindly. You are no better than the homophobic gay bashing repugnicans.
Lukas P.
@ewe: Roseanne’s timing isn’t *my* only issue. Discounting the possibility of depression in Marie’s son raised my blood pressure, too.
Without evidence specific to the guy in question: “gay plus male plus depression plus drugs” [plus religious indoctrination] are all risk factors for suicide and none should be overlooked.
ewe
@Bussy:I don’t think so. You are directing your frustrations at the wrong group.
ewe
@Lukas P.: yeah and add a dash of mormon and we see a dead kid whose life didn’t even get to a place where it could start afresh.
ewe
I don’t give credence to people who have life size statues of the virgin mary on their styrofoam grass either.
Lukas P.
@ewe: Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, Baptists, and many Evangelical churches, etc. all count as strikes. Religious orthodoxy in any form scares me: I see folks suffering the scars every damn day.
Just try to get a grant funded to research/study the topic of religiosity and suicidality, and you’ll see that this is yet another issue “we’re not ready to deal with yet.” Believe me [or don’t!] I’ve tried!
ewe
Lucas P: Well. Bada Bing. I am only concerned with my gay breathren and what they think not those fools and their idolatry.
Lukas P.
@ewe: Yep, our lgbt brethren are hearing a lot of religious crap. TV, internet, radio, you name it. My own focus/strength is to help pick up the pieces when folks fall apart, but I’m grateful to people with the info and wherewithal to fight religious hypocrisy front and center.
P.s. Never get into a cab with a driver who has the plastic Jesus, Mary, or bloody Saint, or rosary on the dashboard. The taxistas think that will protect them from harm so they can drive as crazy as they want. I speak from experience!
Dame Helga von ornstein
I think one of the best responses in regards to 9-11 would have been to put out public service announcements informing people that God in nothing but a BELIEF. There is no proof what-so-ever that one ever did exist (and yes, I know I cant prove otherwise) and the bibles of EVERY religion was written by man.
This foolishness about following the way of this and that or you will be condemned to hell amounts to the worst kind of brainwashing legally allowed on children. How devastating do these idiots think it is to be a kid and know your different but a BIBLE written by MAN tells your parents they must convince you that you are sub-human if you be yourself.
These people have blood on their hands, as do many other religions across the world, race, or denomination be damned. It is time to reel these people back into reality, and soon.
ewe
@Dame Helga von ornstein: You are much more enlightened than many. Don’t waste too much of your precious time on people who may never get it.
ewe
@Lukas P.: All this superstition probably made Marie Osmond sound no better than a rabid barking dog in her sons eyes. It must have been tremendously difficult for him. It is one thing to realize your family may be just plain ignorant and stupid on the topic because they know no better but to be from people who constantly put you down and use some wierd storytelling garbage from so many years ago has got to put some kids into a “fight or flight” mode.
Devon
I agree about the Mormon church and their nonsense.
But for fuck’s sake, maybe think about letting her put her kid in the damn ground before you go on the attack.
Ryan
Roseanne’s comments are disgusting and shameful. Attacking the mother of someone’s child who just died is beyond the pale. Roseanne has NO IDEA why Marie’s son killed herself, and neither do any of the nasty posters on this site. BTW, Marie supported and loved her openly gay daughter, and even supports gay marriage. But Roseanne and total creeps like her feel no shame in spitting in her face when her son’s body isn’t even cold. Roseanne is no better than Pat Robertson.
Jan Dapitan
Report: Warren Buffet in Felt-Related Death
Key Biscayne, FL (March 5, 2010) – Omaha billionaire Warren Buffet drowned today off the shores of Key Biscayne , Florida, after accidentally plunging into the warm tropical waters of the bay while enjoying a much deserved respite aboard a secondhand yacht, the S.S. Berk.
Mr. Buffet was 79.
Buffet – who in recent years was consistently ranked by Forbes as the nation’s wealthiest man – became famous late in life when he gave away much of his vast fortune to Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
According to authorities, Buffet tripped on the S.S. Berk’s slippery deck and fell overboard, plunging 200 feet into relatively calm waters.
Rescue workers said Buffet might have survived the plunge but for the fact that he was wearing a suit made almost entirely of a type of Sri Lankan felt that absorbs 100 times its weight in water.
The billionaire flailed desperately for a matter of mere seconds before the rapidly increasing weight of his highly absorbent suit pulled him under.
“We had been testing out a new look for Warren for Spring 2010, and we had both concluded that he looked best in felt,” said actress/designer Kristin Davis, who engineered a “fashion makeover” of the financial behemoth that rocked fashion runways in 2008.
Davis had chosen the more absorbent Sri Lankan felt over competing felt from Bolivia because it gave Mr. Buffet “a fluffier look.”
According to reports, Davis had flown down to Key Biscayne to show Buffet some “new colors” she had recently discovered that she hoped he might add to his fashion palette for spring 2010. In a press release, Davis said she “felt bad” about the incident.
Davis most recently appeared in the hit film “Couples Retreat,” and will be seen next in “Sex and the City 2.”
Buffet had been “despondent” recently about unsuccessful investments in Irish banking and in an Austrian dessert sprinkle chain. But Buffet’s family denied that this had anything to do with his death, characterizing the death as “super accidental.”
Buffet is survived by sons Bert and Ernie and daughter Gretel.
DR
Roseanne needs to sit down and shut up on this one. Nice job from the attention whore (does she ever speak when there isn’t any drama, and does she have any concept as to proper time and place?), way to attack the mother of a dead young man, and way for this board to pounce all over the assumptions as if they were fact.
Let the woman bury her son in peace.
Tackle
Roseanne Barr has a history of running her big mouth before getting all the facts.She does not know all the facts in this situation. This is a women who blamed Blacks for the defete of prop-8. Stating,”They showed themselves every inch as bigoted and ignorant as their white christian right wing counterpartners who voted for Mccain-palin & Bush-Cheney”.
She had a knee-jerk reaction, thinking that the False 70percent
numbers were true. As it was later proven it was more like 49percent that Blacks voted against prop-8 . Blacks only made up around 6-9 percent of the acatual Electoral vote,Not having an impact on prop-8 at all.
And as for as i know, she never apologized or admitted she was wrong. Like a decent women would do.
Robert, NYC
Now if Marie Osmond were antigay, would some of us still think it wrong of Roseanne to attack her? Maggie Gallagher claims she isn’t antigay yet she doesn’t agree with full equality for LGBT people.
Russ
@Tackle:
I think her point/opinion was that she regards black people that voted to take away a right from a minority group is according to her, a bigot and ignorant be it 49% or 70% would likely not change her argument on that fact. I do not think she believes that black people were solely responsible for our defeat on prop 8 either way.
It’s interesting that you do not consider her a decent woman. I wonder if you would regard her comments as indecent were they directed towards white people.
Rob
This is a disgusting attack. Does anyone know if Osmond’s son suffered depression or mental illness throughout his life? Does anyone know if he was bipolar or schizophrenic?
Just because someone is gay and commits suicide doesn’t mean that he does so because of his sexual orientation.
Neither Rosanne nor the rest of us seem to have an iota of fact about what led to the death of Marie Osmond’s son. Instead, many just want to take out their justified anger against a religion on Osmond.
Stop and think about what many of you are saying. You want to crucify Osmond based on rumor. You have no idea about the medical history of Osmond’s son. Hell, you don’t know if the kid killed himself because his dog died or he broke up with a lover. Instead, you’re happy to join a with hunt against Osmond in the middle of her grief.
strumpetwindsock
@ Robert, NYC
Actually yes, I would consider her comments out of line no matter whom she was attacking.
In the first place I don’t think it is appropriate at all to attack a grieving person.
Secondly she makes quite a few assumptions, some of which are probably wrong.
And thirdly from the tone of her rant I don’t think she gives a shit about Michael Blosil. I think she is more interested in finding the biggest spotlight around where she can jump in and pretend to be the big hero.
Oh-So-Very
Fuck yeah, Roseanne! Represent!
Brian NYC
I don’t think Rosanne was “attacking” anyone, she was pointing out the obvious. She has the balls to say it, while many Christians just apologize for being Christian.
Some religious people are affected by religion and others are infected by religion. Mormons are all about infecting. For Marie Osmond, her silly beliefs are more important than her Son. That’s an infection.
Robert, NYC
Brian, NYC, I agree with that. At least Roseanne isn’t a hypocrite, hidding behind religion and doing something totally different to her beliefs as most so called “christians” do, even though she’s jewish. I once asked Maggie Gallagher in an email exchange with her if she would support discrimination against her own children if one of them were gay. She refused to answer it so I construed that her silence gave consent. If my own parents had supported discrimination, I would have disowned them, let alone villified them, thankfully that was not the case, quite the opposite. Even if this turns out that Marie’s son was gay, it would be good hear her speak up and defend his orientation. I doubt that will happen though but if she does, it will probably be as an apologist for her cult, loving the sinner and hating the sin nonsense, just to make it sound less offensive. I think she may to some extent support us but I don’t think we’ll ever see her chastizing her cult for its hard stand against us.
Ryan
@Robert,
Marie Osmond has an openly gay daughter. She is pro gay rights, even pro-gay marriage. Maybe you should learn a little about a person before you blame them for their son’s death, it makes you look like less of an asshole. You, Roseanne, and Pat Robertson are all cut from the same cloth, apparently. And do I even have to mention that none of us even know why her son killed himself? Roseanne should be completely ashamed of herself, and so should everyone defending her.
DR
Wow, holy short-term memory loss, Queerty! Not long ago Marie Osmond came out with her lesbian daughter in support of marriage equality, now you all assume that she took that stance back and decided to ostracize her adopted son to the point he killed himself?
I don’t blame her for not talking right now, the body has barely had a chance to get cold! And Strumpetwindsock is right, I don’t believe that Roseanne, or for that matter most of the blogoshpere including the folks posting here, gives a whit about Mike Blosil, you;re all just jumping on the anti-Mormon bandwagon and assuming the worst about this whole situation.
I am disgusted at the support being shown for Roseanne. Yes, let’s just kick Marie Osmond a bit while she’s down. Sickening.
Brian En Guarde
GO ROSEANNE! Kick their bigot Mormon asses so hard their asses burst through their teeth!! YEA!!!!
Ryan
@Brian EN Guarde. Hopefully, you’ll never know the sorrow that comes with a loved one taking his own life. But if you do, I hope you remember your words here today, and feel deeply ashamed.
Brian En Guarde
Mormons should feel deeply ashamed, we should feel angered that they let their religious fanaticism result in death.
Brian En Guarde
“Everything I was taught was bigotry and dehumanizing slander.” http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9hx01_prayers-for-bobby-9-9_shortfilms
Robert, NYC
Ryan, before you start mouthing off and insinuating I’m an asshole, show me where I said outright that the reason Roseanne’s son killed himself was that he was gay and that I blamed Marie Osmond for her son’s death? Show me? Just because I support some views in here doesn’t mean that I support the fact that he might have been gay. I don’t give a damn if he was or not. People commit suicide for various reasons. The fact of the matter is, Marie Osmond has never castigated her own cult that was instrumental and in fact the biggest financial funder of the Prop. 8 initiative that guaranteed its success! Be very careful when you start calling people names just because you don’t agree with what they’re saying and taking the moral high ground. You mean to tell me you’ve never cast an aspersion on someone? Everyone is guilty of that, right or wrong. I suppose you would defend Osmond if she weren’t so “pro-gay”.
Ryan
Oh, sorry. My bad. I thought that when you said, “GO ROSEANNE…YEA!” that meant you agreed with her. How silly of me.
terrwill
We don’t know all the facts. And while you really can’t judge a book entirely by its cover he was a fashion student, certainly looked gay, and once I saw an interview with Marie and he spoke a little bit and I can’t say he was the butchest kid I ever heard. So I am going to check the “Gay ” box for Michael….However based on how “supportive” the Moron church is towards the Gays one would assume Michael was terrified of being exposed as Gay. Where would he turn? I am sure the Osmond clan is very clear to its members, You hurt the brand name and you are cut off. He probalby could never even hook up without being afraid of his secret being exposed. There never was a clear explanation of his “rehab” how does one know he wasn’t sent to one of these lunatic facilities where they attempted to “turn him straight”?
As to Roseanne, to those who say her timing sucks. If she waited a “proper amount of time” the message would have gotten lost. But her message is 100% correct and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for putting it out there. Each and every day a Gay kids kill themselves over their fear of families rejection because of the dogma and preaching of the famlies religion I guy I know was kicked out of his house at 15 years old because his rightwing lunatic father who was a fundametalist preacher found him jerking off with a friend. He spent the next four years living as a hustler on the streets til he finally got help and now has a stable life. But the rejection and hate his family cast carved a wound in him that will never fully heal.
Religions have used the Gays as punching bags for far too long. Sorry folks they are our enemies. and their hateful ways and dogma cause pain, suffering, and death…..
Tackle
@Russ
If she accused White or ANY group of people at having a hand and taking away rigths from another group. And it was later proven that it was not the case after making these loud accustions and not apologizing or admitting she was wrong, Yes i would still say that she is not a decent women.
But her actions proves my point.
1.She does not know Marie Osmond.
2.She did not know Michael Blosil.
3. She did not know if Michael Blosil was gay.
4.She does not know if he suffered from any type of mental illness.
5. She dos not know if he had a drug problem.
I can go on, but i wont. I cannot believe that gays would support a cold hearted coward who would “attack” a greving mother who has and supported a lesbian daughter. And in bucking with her own church, is for gay and lesbian marriage.
Brian En Guarde
The Mormons need to think really hard about their bigotry and the self-esteem of gay youth, and this youth in particular. There needs to be an accounting. They want to COME OUT OF THEIR CHURCH and come dancing in to the public realm trying to see that my secular, civil rights are stripped away. Then when something bad happens, they want to hide back away from the public. They want to be able to retreat from the consequences of their irresponsible actions, they want peace and retreat and respect. They want not to be judged. Well, you know what, they don’t get that. They don’t get to swing a baseball bat at us, any then drop it and run back to papa when things go sour.
Ryan
@@terrill Maybe you should educate yourself on the Osmonds a little more so you don’t look as spiteful and ignorant and nasty as Roseanne. It’s already been pointed out several times that Marie has an openly gay daughter who she supports, and even supports gay marriage. It’s therefore ridiculous to suggest the Osmond family would tell Michael to keep quiet to protect the family brand. Sorry, you’ll just have to find some other grieving mother to point fingers at.
terrwill
#79 RYAN:
Yesterday, in an interview with KOST 103.5 Los Angeles, Marie Osmond spoke out about her lesbian daughter Jessica and her views on gay rights.
Osmond: “You know, I think each of us has the right to choose who makes that medical decision for us, I think everybody should have the right to share homes and finances with somebody that they care about. You know on those types of things I’m very supportive. When it comes to marriage, … I think that civil rights need to be for all. When you start mixing religion into that and beliefs, you know, I do believe in the Bible. My daughter understands my beliefs. And, and, uh, you know, God said to be married and be productive with your children and, and, you know, replenish the earth or whatever. She understands those things. My daughter is sharp. And we have a great relationship and I think she would tell you that.”
Supports Gay marriage???? I think not. Its ok, Ryan you can tell the Elders you really did try………….
Ryan
“when it comes to marriage…I think that civil rights need to be for all”. Um, that’s supporting gay marriage. Maybe you should read it again? Slower? Also, that sort of belies your irresponsible speculation that the Osmonds would force Michael to keep quiet about his orientation to “protect the family brand”, doesn’t it? Your Elder comment is too stupid to even respond to. I happen to be an atheist, and silly me, I’m against leveling unproven accusations at people who’s son just died. I guess I’m funny that way.
Don-Martin
“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” – Stephen Weinberg, Nobel Laureate physcist 1999
strumpetwindsock
@ Don-Martin
We’re kind of off-topic here, but Weinberg’s words are simplistic nonsense. I don’t care how big a piece of paper he has.
There were plenty of good people who gave tacit support to the Nazis and to Joe Stalin’s non-religious regime because they thought it was good for their country.
And there are plenty of gullible good people who support our governments’ bad policies for reasons that have nothing to do with religion at all.
terrwill
@Ryan: “I favor civil rights” is the favorite cop out of those who wish to deny our right to marry. “civil rights” have about as much to do with “marriage rights” as the Moron church has to do with equal rights for all. I think you should read a lot slower
because absolutley nothing Osmond said there had anything to do with supporting Gay marriage.
Dame Helga von ornstein
@Jan Dapitan: Thank you for posting this outright lie on this site. Queerty no doubt has placed me on their block senders list but someone needs to let them know that you have posted a lie about billionaire Warren Buffet and it points more to why people should not take blogs seriously because of the commentators and the blogs themselves having free reign to ignore people who try to tell them about liars such as you.
That man is the one of the richest men in the world. Common sense would tell any fool that if he had died every major financial and regular newspaper would have his death posted across the headlines of their blogs and papers. None have and he, Warren Buffet, is featured on http://www.marketwatch.com just yesterday.
Queerty, you give credence to my belief that blog editors will allow any lie to be posted and ignore commentators who send them messages to the contrary.
It doesn’t really matter to me because I only read this blog for gay gossip more or less. As for being truthful or inspiring I take this and every blog with a grain of salt. Bloggers are not held to the high standards of modern journalism and there is where the problem lies with this one.
This outright lie this person has posted needs to be removed.
ewe
@Devon I only sort of accept your sense of respect for her. I am not quite sure she actually deserves it though.
ewe
@Robert, NYC: BRAVO. There is some sense talkin. Thank you.
terrwill
@Dame Helga von ornstein:
alwayslove your name!Unfortunately this is the nature of the beast. If you come to these threads you need to take everyting with a grain of salt as you say. While there is always a lot of poo tossed at Hauslieb and co here at Queerts, this is one of my favorites because you don’t need to wait an hour to have your post reviewed and then posted. Queerts allows for as close to realtime bantering on a thread as possible. Lots of times we need to put up with asshats and their rants, however the lively back and forth are what makes the site interesting. Queerts deserves a bit of the poo tossed their way, but not in this case………..
ewe
Are you people kidding me? This woman supports a religious institution that is attempting to destroy us. When she comes forward and says the difficulties lgbt people face in this world can have devastating effects because of the hate people like her foster consciously or not then she gets a pass. Until then, she is part of the problem. A very big part. She is a mormon.
edgyguy1426
Funny thing how conservatives; religious conservatives, etc. suddenly ‘see the light’ when they’re personally affected (see: Dick Cheney, Marie Osmond, San Diego mayor.) They’re really not interested in doing the right thing until it hits home.
ewe
@terrwill: She can go to her self imposed hell with her delusional god too. We do not need to be subject to her twisted ugly fantasy.
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: yeah well tell it to me and thousands of others that put up with HATE as large and looming i dont even know how to define when i am mine were greiving over thousands of people who died of AIDS. And here you are concerned with us being respectful of someone who is a member that leads locomotive engine that does nothing except put our nature down. Get a grip and focus!!!!!
ewe
All these homophobes will feel sorry for Marie Osmond, not for the son who was so beside himself that he felt the only choice he had to keep control was to end his life. He will be seen as nothing more that collateral damage to the mormons. They will explain his grief away by labeling him disturbed and here on this site a bunch of gay men are oh so concerned for the mother that most probably started ball in motion.
Lukas P.
Raw Nerves.
Can we be honest here? Good.
Part of the disgust that I — and I’d bet others here— feel about the issue isn’t JUST related to Ms Osmond or the tragic death of her son. It has also to do with the bigger topic of the role of religion (in this case the LDS church) in the systematic attempts to suppress “queerness,” and deny LGBQs rights. The Mormon influence in the Prop 8 campaign is still fresh in our minds. We know the Catholics, Evangelicals were instrumental too. We are a bundle of raw nerves.
Our rage also comes from seeing too many of our lgbt brothers and sisters killing themselves or trying to. It’s about the hatred spewed across the internet, TV, talk radio, and the whole political arena.
So, when we hear about another young and presumably gay person taking his own life, maybe we over-generalize the situation because it taps into the sad stories we hear and see every day.
OK, maybe it’s just me.
We’re all making assumptions here about the guy’s sexual orientation, his motives, his mental state and relationship with his family. Some of those assumptions may turn out to be unfounded, and some of them may be true or partially true. Some questions may never be answered.
Meanwhile, we have queer youths hearing hate speech and lies all around them. Some of them kill themselves — or try — when they can’t take the pressure anymore from their family/religion/neighborhood/ media.
So WTF do we do folks? I hope we keep our passion and channel it so that we can help prevent other suicides. And drown out the voices that spew homophobia. Each Queerty reader can do something positive.
What’s it going to be?
ewe
@Lukas P.: APPLAUSE. My part on this thread is to demand that we stop thinking of Marie Osmond only as a grieving mother. She is a member of the Mormon hate group and she is no friend to us.
Dame Helga von ornstein
@terrwill: You are correct. What Warren Buffet has to do with this article I can’t quite figure. I will say this though, speaking about the nature of the beast.
Last year one of the most important people in the fight against AIDS passes away. I sent the article to EVERY blog that I read.
Not only did none of them think the story important enough to run but a black blogger who has no less than 200k hits per month sent me a reply telling me his readers would not be interested in a story like that. With HIV infection receeding in every community but the black community one would think ANY information regarding this still lingering menace would be allowed it goes to show the mentality of the people who have been selected by the communities overall to offer information.
None of these blogs differ much from the other as far as intellect goes. God help the children who are expected to lead the community in the future. You are correct in your comment. It is the nature of the beast. And intellectually starved beasts they are ALL proving to be.
Here is the article by the way. This man should be held a hero by the gay community but no one was interested and so few will ever know his contribution to the gay community, race be damned.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-joel-weisman23-2009jul23,0,7095313.story
Robert, NYC
LukasP, and if people look closer, religious cults, including the Mormons are responsible for the bulk of the hatred and homophobia and our youth taking their lives at a far higher rate than their straight counterparts. Its all very well for a religious celebrity to support rights for us but quite another when they do nothing to challenge their own institutions if they think what they are doing is so wrong. I suspect Marie Osmond doesn’t think its her place to do that. Doing nothing only enables them and remaining silent only gives consent. I doubt if she’d have been so supportive had she not had a gay child. Its a very different matter when it hits home. That’s why Cheney had an epiphany. The religious cults have a lot to answer for. The Mormom cult spent more than anyone, $22 million to make Prop. 8 happen, the roman cult more than $1 million. I wonder if Osmond’s money contributed to any of that? Behind closed doors, people do very different things from what they say in public, just as they do in the voting booth. If people don’t believe that, they’re more naive than I thought they were.
Lukas P.
@Robert, NYC: AND @ EWE, too.
Yep. As I said on another thread, the arguments for Prop 8 were based on religious views: Once the verbiage was stripped away. Olson & Boies showed, point by point, that the political, economic, psych/sociological arguments against same-sex marriage were not based on facts. The animus behind the Prop was based on religious beliefs.
On a personal note, I was raised by my parents, without religion. I also
have friends who belong to churches that are “affirming,” but I still don’t buy the whole theism thing.
On a professional note, I have yet to be called in to deal with a Quaker or Unitarian who’s suicidal based on their religious beliefs. They’re just victims of bad jokes about Oatmeal or Unitards! (g)
edgyguy1426
and Roseanne ends up with this that didn’t make it onto this post:Marie please don’t talk about how your faith in your church has helped you get through this one! Please get some integrity and tell that church of yours that you will leave it and stop giving it ten percent of your money if they don’t stop trying to destroy your kids’ and all gay people’s civil rights and dreams and hopes!!
G-d is trying to use you for something good and this is your opportunity! Your church is wrong and on the wrong wrong wrong side of things! Get as vocal about that as you are about your diet. G-d bless you too, Marie.
Take a hard look at the facts now as you use this very sad time for introspection, healing growth and prayer, and become a strong symbol for loving mothers who make no apologies for hatred against their own kids!
Dame Helga von ornstein
@Robert, NYC: For those of us who grew up with the Jackson Five, the Sylvers and Donnie and Marie you would understand why we, now middle-aged, LAUGH and LAUGH loudly at Donnie and Marie (the Jonas Brothers too) every time their squeaky clean, wholesome (whatever the hell that is suppose to mean)American image gets interrupted by reality.
I am an atheist but were I to take any biblical saying and apply it to what has happened here I would have to say the saying “God does not like ugly and will punish those who do ugly) sounds very fitting in this case.
I cheered and cheered loudly every time Danny Bonaduce punched Donny Osmond during their celebrity boxing match a few years back. I actually enjoyed watching Donny getting his ass beat so bad I found myself praying for Tanya Harding to invite Marie Osmond to enter the ring so she could beat the living shit out of her.
Remember that idiot with the hideously large nose who spent 8 years claiming Bill Clinton molested her too and entered the ring with Tanya and got her ass whipped? I can’t remember her name either but that is just where Marie and Donny’s celebrity have fallen to.
This is sick but stories like this are the American way. Like it or not.
Chitown Kev
One can debate about the timing of Rosanne Barr’s statement given the personalized nature of what she said about Marie Osmond.
About the larger frame of the homobigotry of the LDS church, she’s on the money.
terrwill
@Dame Helga von ornstein: Dame, my dear you are on a roll today! The Moron church supposdly has a “clean up squad” to deal with such matters. I can bet that any and all items which may have linked Michael to a gay lifestyle were cleansed and removed from his life. The squeaky clean image these rightwing lunatics attempt to portray makes my stomach turn.
As to the Jonass Brothers.Your going to tell me that Joe isn’t Gay? That bitch opens her mouth and a rainbow spills out with colorflul unicorns riding it. I hope those fcuking purity rings are made of some toxic substance that makes their fingers fall off.
Lukas P: And you know damm well the Quaker oat man never diddled a little boy! : p
strumpetwindsock
@ Kev
Well the argument about the church is on the money, I agree with you there.
I’m not so sure she is though (and you seem to be alluding to that possibility as well).
There are plenty of people who jump on the right cause for the wrong reason, and this little stunt stinks of crassness and/or opportunism, IMO.
As I said, that’s not the kind of help I would ever want, and right or wrong I wouldn’t appreciate anyone sticking his or her nose in my personal business that way
terrwill
‘Nother reason I love Roseanne: I remember seeing an interview with her in the past few years and she was asked if having so many Gay charachters on show back then may have caused a lot of religous types not to watch her show. She replied “Maybe thats why their God made so many channels on the damm TV”……..
Kim
So the only reason people commit suicide is because they are gay too. This boys friends and roommates have said he wasn’t gay but Roseanne who has never met him knows he’s gay.Hey Roseanne Why did the guy from Growing Pains commit suicide? since you know all
Brian En Guarde
Donny and Marie are not going to be able to dance their way out of this one. Their support of Prop 8, their life-long devotion to this hate religion. No. They can’t come out of their church into the public realm and seek to swing the bat of hatred at us, then crawl back under a rock when the self-esteem of one of their own is crushed beyond repair. http://www.dailymotion.com/vid…..shortfilms
Whoddafunk?
I say HALLELUJAH Roseanne Barr. People hate it when the truth is spoken bluntly but sometimes the pure, unadulterated truth is the best medicine. Though Marie must feel unimaginably horrible about his death, she failed in her mission as a mother to recognize the dangers poised to her son by herself and her church. She failed to reach out to him in positive ways. Her church failed her and she failed her family. And this is true no matter whether her son was gay, straight or hippie. Like usual people on here are arguing over silly issues like timing or whether her son was really gay or not. Those details aren’t important, what’s important is the hypocrisy of Marie in supporting a community that has failed her family in the worst way possible.
Brian En Guarde
No. Hey Donny and Marie, when you echo “Amen” — remember, a child is listening: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9gd55_prayers-for-bobby-19_shortfilms
ewe
@Whoddafunk?: you said it right. Say it again. say it loud.
Lukas P.
@Kim: Kim, please read other posts before spouting off incoherently. Several, much better versions of your “idea” appeared long before your little diatribe showed up.
Yes, I understand, that reading and writing are *so* hard for you. That’s why “special classes” are recommended whenever your name comes up. Good luck! I hope your attempt to pass 7th grade is more successful this year.
kenthomes1
@Brian: I have read all of these posts and I have to say screw you to the assholes standing up for the Mormon church and Marie. I was raised in Hawaii and Utah as a gay Mormon in “Zion” and Roseanne tells it like it is! Please do not act like you know what the hell is going on when you were never raised as a gay person in the Moron church. I will take any of your assholes on! We were told we were an abomination and second only to murder in the wonderful fucking Moron church. My blood is seething! How dare any gay person stick up for that piece of vile shit church which has been the greatest obstacle to our rights over the past 2o years. They have funded every anti-gay initiative and trashed us like used Ho’s!
\
Roseanne speaks the damn truth – sorry you do not want to hear it!Too fucking bad if her she is grieving. It is her fault that she sticks up for and pays 10% of her income to a church that spreads evil against gay people every day. Do you now remember prop 8???? The Mormon church is our NUMBER ONE enemy! When the hell will you get it through your damn heads. Take it from an ex-Mormon gay. Roseanne She was raised in Salt Lake and knows a hell of a lot more than alot of the Mormon apologists here. You go Roseanne!! sPEAK TRUTH TO POWER. I am apalled at the gay people here who dare stand up for the Moron church. You deserve no rights or respect.
Sorry, I am usually not so angry. But I have seen young Mormons kill themselves or I have talked a few out of it – because they were made Wrong BY THE F”:CKING MORON CHURCH. Count me as one who is moving to Europe with my partner of 30 years because of the proto-fascist Christian Theocracy which America has become. Good luck to all of you apologists for your number 1 enemy when they come to kill you. I will be laughing in Europe at your stupidity.
ewe
@Dame Helga von ornstein: Well if she wants to continue promoting her image into a wacky like reflection of Baby Jane Hudson then she becomes a one line slogan. Remember the commercial…. CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS.
ewe
@kenthomes1: Thankyou. I am rolling out the red carpet for you to be visible and confront this evil as a qualified insider. I believe you wholeheartedly.
Brian En Guarde
Hey Marie: We will forgive you, but you are going to have to bust a little ass like this mother did for her gay son, and for us: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x82xxe_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9film-prayers-for-bobby-2009_shortfilms
Brian En Guarde
@ kenthomes1
You are one kick ass son of a bitch! Once sub gays are going to stand up and make you an America you can believe in once again!
terrwill
@Kim: I slept with Boner from Growing Pains……..He didn’t get one and he had “growing pains” because it didn’t……… : p
kenthomes1
@ewe: EWE:
Thank you for your support. I will be seen as a left wing radical gay because I damn well call it as I see it. Roseanne also calls it as she sees it. The truth hurts those who are living a fantasy. God bless Roseanne. As an ex-gay Mormon (Moron) I can tell you that she was raised in Salt lake and knows the bullshit called the Moron church. How dare any of these other assholes on here tell Rosedanne she is wrong. Hello? Did any of you cocksuckers grow up in “Zion”?. Hell no, so STFU!! If you are too stupid to understand the Moron church is our greatest enemy – you obviously can’t be gay. What Roseanne said was one of the greatest quotes I have ever heard regarding the Moron church and their robotons. Roaseanne is fighting for us – much to the dismay of all of the gays here who hate themselves.
Ewe – you are a truth teller also.
Best regards
ewe
@kenthomes1: I can hear the assaulting and unnecessary pain that has been inflicted on you. I wish you well on your journey with healing. Anyone with half a brain knows the Mormons are evil and if the name Osmond comes up, mormon comes right after it. It is in the psyche of any american over the age of 40. Marie Osmond is ultimately responsible for that and does nothing to object. She is a symbol of hate and i don’t give a shit about her good looking capped teeth.
kenthomes1
Right on Ewe! My hot buttons were pushed when I started to read the bullshit responses here. Roseanne is FIGHTING FOR US! WE NEED ALL THE STRAIGHT ALLIES WE CAN GET!!. Thank you Roseanne for standing up for us against the HATE. Roseanne deserves an Oscar for that speech.
Screw the Moron church and their vile hate disguised as “love”
Like I told my mother – “and this is coming from a church which praticed polygamy? That is TRULY RICH!!
Best regards,
Kent
alicia banks
i love roseanne and i agree!
these buybull toting hypochristians homohaters who torture kids to death need to be called out!
amen!
alicia banks
eloquent fury
Dame Helga von ornstein
@ewe: Knowing what hypocrisy she is associated with (the Mormon church) along with the statements she has given about her family life off camera I would have to associate her more with the real-life personal saga of Joan Crawford than poor Betty.
Remembering how Joan treated poor Christina and her brother (anyone who knows what happened to him please respond) and what Marie is clearly enforcing by who knows what means (church doctrine) Joan is the character she reminds me of.
Wouldn’t that be an interesting remake only this time around do it with a slight plot twist. Lets keep Baby Jane slightly crazed but tilt the story toward Marie Osmand (the Joan Crawford character in Baby Jane) being treated that way because of what she sat back and allowed that church to do to the child. This movie would focus more on the psychological effects it takes on the child. Trust me, I am going to have that child lay it on her as……….
Wow! What a remake that would be. Soory folks but I have to make it to the store before the lottery closes. PLEASE WISH ME LUCK BECAUSE SO HELP ME I WILL DO THE REMAKE MYSELF without outside investors.
I am thinking of casting Mario Lopez as the jerkish Donny Osmond, who will be written into the plot for accuracy. I just checked and I have an hour left before it closes. Someone give me some nbrs to play and quick. This remake must be made.
Christy
FYI, Roseanne has retracted her blog completely regarding Michael. She has confirmed he was NOT gay. And that Marie has supported her lesbian daughter with public statements in favor of gay marriage.
A bit quick to blog on the topic, eh? I’m sure Marie loved being called out as she buried her son, esp for things that were totally bs.
To her credit, Roseanne is completely apologetic and really seems sorry about what happened. I appreciate that. I hope she doesn’t follow through on never blogging again.
strumpetwindsock
@ Kentholmes1
If you agree with her actions that is up to you.
As for me, just because someone claims to support us doesn’t mean I have to automatically agree with everything she does no matter how cruel and off-base it is. I am not that desperate for support or attention from anyone – gay or straight.
Roseanne may have spouted all the right talking points about the evil mormon church, but she knows nothing about the personal lives of the people she is attacking. And I don’t think it was a case of bad timing at all; she timed it perfectly to make herself look big at the expense of a dead man and his grieving family.
You want to get behind that – be my guest. But she doesn’t speak for me one bit.
strumpetwindsock
@ Christy.
Good to hear that she has done that.
Tackle
@Christy:
Thanks for letting us know. At least she’s halfway decent.
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: I beg your pardon. You just don’t realize Rosenne Bar speaks for you. Of course everyone has an opinion and mine is that your reverence for Marie Osmond is misplaced. Marie Osmond is the one who does not, did not and will not ever speak for you if we look at her record. So spare us the ms. manners etiquette routine. The mormons want you in the ground with her son.
ewe
@Christy: and just what in the hell does that have to do with the Mormons beliefs in general? They still want you dead.
ewe
@Christy: What are you anyway? Some sort of mouthpiece for the hateful Mormons? If you go to Roseanne Barr blog, you will also see the filth the brother Donny writes against you too. I don’t know you and how effected you are but you seem to exhibit self sabotage and you are mistaken if you think i am coming on that ride with you.
Kevin
Here’s what Roseanne is now saying:
“Michael’s friends and family say he was not gay. If that is true, then I owe a huge apology to the Osmond family and to Marie Osmond for the words I wrote here. I read several published sources before I said anything, but–I did not know him, and I don’t know his family either. I just reacted and said what I said because I have known so many gay mormon kids who committed suicide, as well as non mormon gay kids too. I am terribly ashamed of myself this time for shooting off my big mouth, and offending or hurting people who already were hurting. I don’t expect anyone to forgive me, but I am so sorry for being wrong and insensitive.”
All of you who shot off your own mouths without knowing the facts and attacked all the posters who said almost exactly what Roseanne is saying now are absolutely hilarious. Talk about knee-jerkers.
ewe
@Kevin: Yeah right, I notice you did not mention her blog posts of all the mormon and non mormon suicides she did post. I think you are not to be taken seriously either since you find everyone who you seem to be judging yourself so “hilarious”. What does that mean? Again, Roseanne Barr is not the enemy here. The mormon religion and their followers which include the Osmonds are your nemesis. They want you dead!!! You may want to recite that previous statement to yourself over and over until you grasp the gravity of it.
ewe
Just because a mother says she accepts her gay child has nothing to do with her accepting other gay people. Take for example even straight people. They have a gay friend perhaps. ONE. It’s chic don’t ya know. You may even be on display for their ego as they parade you around to show how open minded they are but once you multiply to two and/or more in their presence, they feel they might be perceived as gay for hanging around so many gay people. Then the ignorance and intolerance and prejudice really shows its ugly face. Please realize who is running the campaign of hate and discrimination. It is the Mormons and the Osmonds are full fledged members not ever once heard saying anything against the “elders”. They are dangerous and they are a disgrace.
truthteller
TO THE HYPOCRITES IN HERE.
You assert Roseanne does not know the facts about Mike’s sexual orientation…and you know this how?
Just because you don’t know doesn’t mean she doesn’t know. She is an insider in show business and just because YOU aren’t privy to certain information doesn’t know she isn’t. Or when did you talk to Roseanne? You are making the same assumption you’re accusing her of. You do not know if Roseanne knows the sexual orientation of that young man, but you self-righteously affirm she doesn’t. That makes you a hypocrite who is ignorant and lacks self awareness. How can you state as a fact she knows or doesn’t know?
Let it be clear. I don’t know wether he was or wasn’t gay, but I won’t make stupid comments about it either way.
Don’t misunderstand my post. Marie is suffering the loss of a child. She is grieving and she should be loved and supported.
Roseanne’s comments are insensitive and premature. There will be time to bring this up later. But if you’re going to make ignorant comments I’m going to call you on them…HYPOCRITES!
Chapeau
Blunt as always Rosanne.
But she’s dead on.
jason
I always find it amusing when obviously homophobic people deny their homophobia by saying “I’ve got gay friends”. Next time they use this ploy, ask them to give the name and address of the so-called “gay friends”. I bet they don’t exist.
Joey
A couple things..
@kenthomes1: Awesome first post! Though I’m not old enough to have been in a 30 year relationship (barely 25), I too CANT wait to raise enough money for myself to vacate these lame, ass-backward god-fearing States of America. I hate the hypocracy that is this country, on all accounts and regards. This is not the land of the free, there is no separation of church and state, and after white people of all nationalities have immigrated to their hearts content..they decide to close the gates to just about everyone else for an indefinite amount of time (meaning the immigrant “processing”) (and before you all go on some racisit crap on me, Im as white as white can be, pasty actually…it’s been a long winter here).
I don’t know where I’ll go, but I most certainly don’t want to stay in this country. The government is corrupt, run by religious zealots, and cults like these Morons and the xtians and the kiddie-humping catholics, Evangels and baptists have their hands in every anti-gay legistation to hit any of all floors. WHERE THE FUCK IS SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE? Religious organizations who contribute time, money and manpower to political initiative should not be tax exempt. Im sorry, but they just shouldnt. Why do I have to shoulder the taxes they dont pay so their money saved can go towards initiatives aimed at harming me and deeming me less a person as anyone else. No way.
I’m out as soon as I can afford it and learn enough French to get by. Bon Voyage. XO
Anyway (yes, I know she has already apologized and said she shouldn’t have said it..), as much as I feel for Ms. Osmond, I can’t help but praise Roseanne (even if it was preemptive and maybe less informative as we’d like) for her compassion to ALL LGBT people in speaking up and faceing criticism for her comments in defending us from those who would chose to villify us for decades now. If only we had more celebrity or “big name” allies, maybe things like this wouldnt happen. No, we don’t know if he was gay, we don’t know what any of the major cards delt were. We DO know that no one, famous or not, will usually speak out about LGBT youth issues, especially suicide rates which are particularly frightening, until an opportunity arises. It just won’t happen. LGBT topics, let alone LGBT-youth suicide and their causes are still quite a taboo subject in our “straight is best and superior” society.
It is unfortunate that Ms. Osmonds son JUST died, but it is also unfortunate that Ms. Osmond herself has NEVER, in how many years, come out against the anti-gay crap her “church” spews at its members. She may have spouted off some crap about how she supports her daughter, but at the same time she throws her and all of us under a bus going 80mph while maintaining good position with the cult.
I appreciate and respect the desire to let the mother grieve, but I also can appreciate that Roseanne (even though she has, by the time I post this, already retracted her statement and apologized) had an opportunity to be vocal about her “issues” with the Cult and it’s teachings to reach a wider audience. Roseanne was a very much liked sitcom, millions of americans tuned in to watch her for many years, her voice travels far and wide. People will at least hear what she has to say. If you read the rest of what she said originally, as posted by someone else some posts before mine, I think that she was more or less attempting at opening Ms. Osmond up to the possibilities of advocating AGAINST the hatred and bigotry that is her Cult, obviously after she has had a bit of time to heal, but as someone else pointed out, the message gets lost after too too long after the incident to raise it. Ms. Osmond is a “big” name with a pretty face to reach millions of housholds… She could do great advocacy work…in due time. I hope she is able to move forward from this. I know too many mothers who have never fully recovered from the sudden loss of their children…at any age, gay or straight.
Robert, NYC
LukasP, #97, yes isn’t it revealing why there are few Unitarians, Quakers, Episcopalians for that matter having suicidal tendencies based on their religious beliefs. Its always those in the evangelical and ultra right wing cults who seem to have these problems, especially of the Mormon variety and equally revealing is that the majority of them are found in the republican party or vote republican.
Brian NYC
@Ryan: Gee whiz. Are you kidding?
“Supporting Gay Rights” and being a “Mormon” are NOT possible.
A guilt-ridden Marie Osmond can act friendly to LGBT persons, but as a Mormon she is still infected with the belief that homosexuals are wrong, sinful and deviant. That includes two of Her children.
It’s an infection because her FAITH is the most important thing in here life, not her children or anything else. Her FAITH owns here. It controls her. She has no “free will” or “independence.” She is a Mormon.
zenflo
Would anyone realistically expect any of the elder Osmonds to acknowledge the son’s gayness now?
They lost a family member, but in no way will they jeopardize losing their standing as Mormon icons, and the almost-squeaky-clean image that keeps selling the tickets and merch.
Sapphocrat
@Brian En Guarde: “Mormons should feel deeply ashamed, we should feel angered that they let their religious fanaticism result in death.”
Should, but never will. I once confronted the Mormon mayor of my hometown (in public, addressing a city council meeting, no less) about Stuart Matis, the young gay Mormon man so deeply pained by the passage of Prop 22 (CA’s 2000 marriage ban), he blew his brains out on the steps of the local Mormon temple — the mayor’s own temple.
The result? The mayor continued — and continues, to this day — to spout the usual anti-gay talking points of LDS, Inc. (in public, mind you, most recently on a PBS documentary).
His all-Mormon company, by the way, donated a whopping $50,000 to Prop 22, and a total of $7,800 to Prop H8 in 2008, $5,000 of which came from the mayor himself — eight years after Stuart Matis killed himself, and several years after I publicly confronted him.
That mayor is only one anti-gay Mormon with whom I have fought this battle.
My conclusion: Anti-gay Mormons have no shame. Nor can they be reasoned with. In my opinion, the *only* defense we have is to boycott, boycott, boycott.
As far as Marie Osmond goes, I once assumed she was as much a bigot as any other Mormon (such as her brother Donny) — but when push came to shove, she did support her lesbian daughter. I give her props for that, although 1) I wonder if she would have evolved if at least one of her own kids hadn’t been gay; and 2) she won’t earn her cred until she denounces her rotten church and leaves it and its radical anti-gay activism behind. Until she does, she is still enabling the most hateful — and well-funded — bigotry machine this side of the Vatican.
As for Roseanne, it appears a lot of people need to chill out and actually pay attention to what she wrote; she never attacked Marie — only the LDS church — and in fact has followed up with praise for Marie herself.
Also check out the rest of Roseanne’s blog; she goes after the Mormons righteously, and rightfully — and reminds us she suffered the great misfortune of growing up in Salt Lake City, so she’s not, as she says, “an ignorant outsider.”
ewe
@Sapphocrat: And on top of that, we, particulary with one another should not be wasting our time trying to understand why the mormons hate the way they do. Our energies should be directed at shutting them down.
strumpetwindsock
@ewe:
Roseanna speaks for me even if I don’t know it?
I have heard that line before. I didn’t buy it when somebody was trying to sell me Jesus and I am sure not going to be sold on this claptrap.
I’m pretty sure those are just highlights in her hair in that pic… not the glow of a halo.
Sapphocrat
@ewe: “And on top of that, we, particulary with one another should not be wasting our time trying to understand why the mormons hate the way they do.”
You’ve hit on one of my biggest sore spots: being admonished, especially by other LGBTs, that we need to “understand” and “reach out” to our oppressors. (It’s also what I dislike most about Obama — capitulating under the guise of “bipartisanship,” and being played the fool, over and over again, at the expense of the people who put him in the White House. But I digress, as usual.)
As if that’s done us so much good — and as if the bigots would even listen to us, much less care to find common ground with us. Anyone who believes the bigots are merely misguided and can be led gently into the light of truth is sorely delusional. They are *warring* against us, and the capitulators among us turn around, bend over, and *invite* the lube-less screw we’ve *all* been getting.
Oh, it can be useful to understand “why the mormons hate the way they do,” but only as it serves our needs, and not for any silly notion of sitting around in a Kumbaya fustercluck with them.
The only reason I want to “understand” how the Mormons, or any other bigots, think (if one can call it “thinking”) is to get a grasp on their twisted mindset, in order to 1) recognize their dog whistles and other code when I hear it, and 2) use what I know against them — peacefully and legally, but without any apologies whatsoever. They started this “culture war,” and while they may be many, and are obscenely wealthy, they pissed off the wrong people.
It’s not up to us to try to “win hearts and minds” of the bigot brigades; it’s up to the comparatively socially-conscious members of those institutions to create change from within. Frankly, I am angrier with self-proclaimed “liberal Christians” who pay us lip service, but never actually do anything to try to change the situation in their churches.
I know, liberal Christians are actually trying to live up to the standard of not judging others, but, damn it, they believe Jesus himself — the guy they’re trying so hard to emulate — got royally pissed off and drove the moneychangers out of the temple. Would it kill them to get hold of some that righteous, Jesus-inspired anger themselves, and drive the bigots out of their own temples?
“Our energies should be directed at shutting them down.”
Or at least stripping them of their tax-exempt status; aside from believing tax-free status for religious organizations is a blatant violation of the separation of church and state, those churches that function more like PACs should be the first to get hit. (And we could save the entire U.S. economy with those tax revenues we’re being cheated out of.)
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: thats right. If she puts down Uganda practices, she is speaking in your best interests and for all of us. The same goes for telling it like it is with the hateful mormons. What is it about them wanting you dead that you don’t get?
ewe
@Sapphocrat: You are absolutely correct. I have no reason not to believe that Jesus himself was openly gay and killed for it. I am always hearing all this anti semitic stuff about zionist states etc. but no one even bothers to address the Mormons claiming Utah. What’s the difference? That symbol of religion is smack dead in the center of the SLC public square. These people are dangerous and gay people who are making excuses for them are misinformed. Marie Osmond is our enemy and the only way to change her is to either shut her up or expose her bias for all to see. Come on folks…. we are all gonna eventually die… sympathy does not mean looking the other way. I am reacting to the oppressors not initiating it.
strumpetwindsock
@ewe:
You know, I think I’ll let Amnesty International speak for me on the Ugandan anti-gay laws. I realize they don’t have quite as much pull as Roseanne, but I don’t think they’ve ruined anyone’s funeral lately.
strumpetwindsock
… plus I can count on AI to check their sources before they make accusations.
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: Your dismissiveness may be funny in your own little clique but i am not interested in sarcasm when it comes to killing gay people.
ewe
@strumpetwindsock: More importantly anything you said does not discount the true facts that Roseanne Barr said about the Mormons. And there is nothing wrong with being accused of being gay anymore than there is being accused of being straight. It obviously pushes your button of self sabotage or shame. Either way, i don’t really care. Stop sidestepping the issue of Mormon hate by substituting Roseanne Barr as our enemy. It isn’t true. It doesn’t serve us well and you have lost track of the “agenda”. You know, that pesky little quest for equality.
terrwill
To those who feel the need to bash Roseanne and give quarter to the Moron church and their vile hateful anti-Gay ways. It boggles the mind that Gay persons would admonish her and support a church who has spent millions to deny you your basic rights…
Her message is still 100% accurate. Simply substitute “one of the thousands of Gay teens who commit suicide each year” with “Micharl Blosil” and “fanatical religous parents who value their religion more than their children” for “Marie Osmond” Anyone still want to disagree with her statement???
jayjay22
Ok…not even from the USA so thought I’d write it how we see it over here.. Maybe her method’s were not exactly tactful but I’m amazed so many American’s find that offensive or even surprising..isn’t the USA a country that so rightly preaches ‘freedom of speech’? Roseanne has always been passsionate in her beliefs & in standing up for the victimised/underdog, and I would have thought she should be applauded for having some back bone & the courage to say what others are thinking…Obviously she feels terrible for Marie O & family as all mothers would, however speaking as someone who has lost an adolescent youth to suicide I’m at a complete loss in understanding how she can return to ‘work’ the day after his funeral..I appreciate that everyone grieve’s differently but I know the shock & pain a mother feels losing a child..only someone that has had the good fortune not to have would see her returning to work so early as a ‘strength’. This was her son, maybe some time out of the spotlight to nuture, hug & support her remaining children should be in order. I do not assume to understand their religion & can only imagine it gives them some kind of acceptance of his death that I can’t get my head around. I’m sure Roseanne’s comment’s come from imagining the pain she would feel (as mother’s do) & the anger & disbelief that we are living in 2010 and children still suffer from religious prejudice…it should be enough to make everyone angry!
PianoBill
This story and many of the follow-up comments that I have read here, make me absolutely sick. If does not take backbone and courage to bash someone who just lost their child! It is called cruelty.
David
Well, for one thing, people committ suicide at this age in alarming numbers. They do so for a variety of reasons, and while identify issues come into play, to jump all over Marie Osmond that quickly, and to make that many assumptions, makes Roseanne look like she is mentally unhinged. And she is crusading against Bigotry? So seething paranoia and hatred to religion is a sign of enlightment? attacking total strangers? blaming a mother for her sons death? Funny thing about people talking about racisms, bigotry, prejudice… they always define it as something that exists OUTSIDE of them… how arrogant….
ewe
@David: so true. It is arrogant for marie osmond fans to think that she should be afforded any sympathy when she and her religion actively oppress homosexual people. I completely agree with you that the mormons have a double standard.
ewe
Marie Osmond has returned to Sin City for her livlihood. Hypocrite continues to use her mormon religion to intentionally oppress gay people, ponitificate on morality and sing the blues alongside the casino crap boards.
Rockfield
For the love of heaven, it’s well known, documented, and hasn’t been denied that the poor kid suffered from depression! Whether he was gay, straight, bi-sexual, asexual, or any other bent is sheer speculation, but the fact that he suffered from depression has been substantiated.
Just as any straight can suffer bouts of depression, one can be openly gay and fully accepted by family and friends, yet still suffer debilitating depression. Whether gay or straight, depression has no preference.
Rug Rescue NY
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craig
Have you people not heard? Mormons are a cult group – they sacrifice their children in the name of their quacky beliefs.
DUM DUM DUM DUM DUUUUUM!
TheTruth
Marie Osmond is yet another example of what Republicans are all about. Lots of glitter on the surface and stinking death inside. What a disgusting bitch she has become! And she was supposed to be the perfect example of “Moral Majority” purity of heart and all their “we are superior” nonsense. No wonder her son committed suicide, I would too with a bitch of a mother like that. She has nothing left inside her but despair and hate and it shows in her face when she speaks, the grotesque expressions that flash over her face coming right from the depths of her soul. I don’t feel sorry for the stupid bitch. You reap what you saw you idiot. You made your bed, now die in it, you hypocrite!
Colin
I am not sorry for Marie. I am sorry for the loss of her son. I do not know of their relationship as mother & child, but how could she praise her religion knowing her son was gay? Did she not see the pain it must have caused him? It’s the 21st century…let go of the religious bullshit your grandparents and those child-molesting, faith-pushers taught you. All her (and most) churches want is money. Keep your cash, be good and love everyone (including your children). I was sick to hear her talking about god (notice it is not capitalized) in the same breath while speaking of her son. Where was his god? Oh, I guess he didn’t have one because he was gay. Is that how it works Marie? People like her make me wish I lived in the 22nd century. We won’t overcome, but “we” won’t be a “we” anymore…we’ll just be us. Fuck off to all the ignorant believers in the bible.