Dustin Lance Black: The Controversy

Controversial blogger Perez Hilton (most recently famous for starting the Miss California ruckus by asking the gay marriage question to Carrie Prejean in the Ms. USA pageant) is back at it again. Hilton who has recently tried to use his popular influence to be an advocate for the LGBT community has shifted his popular site away from celebrity gossip and towards addressing issues important to the gay and lesbian cause. At least briefly anyway. He was apparently approached with pictures of gay hot boy of the moment Dustin Lance Black, Oscar winner for the screenplay Milk. The pictures show Black having unsafe sex.

Many have blasted Perez saying it was inappropriate for him to post these pictures. Dustin's Oscar win has garnered him a great deal of popularity also and he has been using his influence to be an advocate for the LGBT community. The photos (which I'll advise are not safe for work) can be seen by scrolling to the bottom of the page here.

(update - when last checked the pictures have been removed from Perez's site).

I'll be first to admit that I'm not a big fan of Perez Hilton. Well I wasn't. When his gears shifted away from celebrity fluff to covering issues more substantial he was starting to win me over. Then this issue came up and suddenly everyone is up in arms and angry at Perez. Well I have to say this - if you clicked on the link above and went and looked at the pictures then shut the hell up. Perez did nothing that most newsrooms and bloggers wouldn't also do if they had the opportunity. These pictures were going to show up with or without Perez but I'm defintely not mad at him for being the first to reveal them.

As for Dustin, he is handling this so eloquently. His response was perfect. "It is unfortunate that individuals and other outside parties are trying to profit from material which is clearly private." He goes on to say, "I have had the privilege to speak to people across the country, both gay and straight, on a number of critical issues including safe sex. More important than the embarrassment of this incident is the misleading message these images send. I apologize and cannot emphasize enough the importance of responsible sexual practices." Put it out there and keep stepping Dustin. Good for you.

I don't think any less of Perez for posting the pics. I don't think any less of Dustin for being in the pics. Being the first to post these pictures does not make Perez sleazy or irresponsible. His site is popular because he is frequently the first to drop big news. This is what Perez does. And I was proud to hear Dustin handle the situation as he did. He continued to endorse his message of safe sex and for this I do NOT think of him as a hypocrit. I would have been more dissappointed if he stopped spreading that message. Both of these men, Perez and Dustin, have a job to do and both of them are doing it.