Dame Elizabeth Taylor, testifying before Congress in 1986. She helped draw media attention to and build public support for the CARE Act
We keep seeing the following all over Facebook and posted on some blogs:
So let me get this straight – Larry King is getting his 8th divorce, Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time, Jesse James and Tiger Woods are screwing EVERYTHING, yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to destroy the institution of marriage??REALLY?? ~ Copy and paste if you agree
Dame Elizabeth Taylor is not getting married for a 9th time. That was a malicious rumor instigated by whoever. Dame Taylor made this very clear in her response to the rumor on Twitter some time ago. We know her personal assistant of a thousand years for Christ sake’s. He even told us the mere notion is laughable. Yet we keep seeing the above being promoted anyway. The latest posting of it, we actually went to the Facebook profile of the offender and posted the following underneath it:
“We wish people would quit spreading this lie about Elizabeth Taylor. It’s not true and she’s done so much for the gay community. Without her HIV/AIDS treatment wouldn’t be what it is today. I really hate that her name is being used this way. It doesn’t show a lot of respect or appreciation for her efforts in standing up for the gay community at a time when everybody else turned their backs on us.”
Do you think that person—oh what the hell, she’s a bi-blogger named Maria “Proudbi Equality” York who apparently blogs at Bi Social Network —acknowledged our concerns or even bothered to take it down or alter it to remove Dame Taylor from that unsavory line up? Nope. She ignored us. That’s our history you’re abusing, cow. As soon as we finish writing this post we’re defriending her.
If you don’t have any respect for our yesterday how the hell can you call yourself standing up for our tomorrow?
Portrait by Sir Richard Avedon, 1964
You know, we can get with the fact that many young LGBT and a good amount of straight allies aren’t well educated in the history of LGBTs in America. But what we can’t get with is when you share that history they ignore it.
Dame Taylor is a significant figure in history of LGBTs in America. She stood up for us long before marriage equality was even a phrase or a movement. Before organizations like the Human Rights Commission, Equality California and the bulk of them even existed. Yeah, she’s been married numerous times—that ain’t no secret. But to use this and her name as part of a disparaging statement against heterosexual marriages and the abuses of it is not cool in our book. Dame Taylor’s done nothing but good by gays. Maybe we’re just too old school. But Dame Taylor had our back as a community when we were down. We just can’t get with ignoring that reality for the sake of a slogan. We’re very saddened that many other LGBTs and their friends don’t see otherwise.
It’s not like the LGBT community has a lot of famous straight allies in the historical sense. Shame on some of these fools who find it necessary to shit on the few we do have. And lyin’ about them at that.
To find out more about Dame Taylor and her continued support of HIV/AIDS research and her role in the fight against AIDS in the LGBT community check out the following links.
Opinion | Derrick Mathis May 7, 2010 
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