June is Gay Pride Month and celebrities and politicians want you to know it’s OK to be gay.
From President Barack Obama to singer Idina Menzel, well-known gay supporters are posting videos on YouTube to share what Pride Month means to them. We’ve compiled four of them to ring in this fabulous month.
1) President Obama
You can’t get a bigger endorsement than this. Fresh off announcing his support for same-sex marriage, Obama is riding high on the backing from gay voters. That goodwill should continue with this proclamation. Obama declared this month “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month” and released a corresponding video.
“Let’s take some time to celebrate teachers, students who take a stand against bullying, openly gay and lesbian service members who defend our country with honor and integrity,” said Obama in the two-minute clip. It’s received 17,000 views in three days. The top comment is simple: “Thank you Mr. President!!!”
2) Nancy Pelosi
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi released her video last Friday and, if Pelosi’s forehead could show emotion, she’d probably frown at the view count: 505. Her two-minute video echoed what Pres. Obama had to say and also reinforced that discrimination has to end “in all its forms.”
“We must protect and preserve the rights of all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation,” said Pelosi.
3) Idina Menzel
In her video, the Broadway actress and occasional Glee star says how thankful she is for the support the gay community has given her. She’s so excited in the video that she stumbles over the word “pride” but her heartfelt and unscripted spiel was poignant and personable.
“It’s incredibly exciting for me to be embraced by your community and to be around all of my friends and when you’re experiencing this really exciting time,” she breathlessly says in the thirty second video. “There’s so much positivity out there.”
4) MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts
MSNBC’s openly gay news anchor Thomas Roberts was one of many celebrities to release a video for Boston Pride’s annual festival. He joined other gay men in the media including Bravo’s Andy Cohen and blogger Perez Hilton.
However, Thomas was the first one we noticed who cited gay icon RuPaul in his thirty second video.
“I ask you to think about the powerful words of the American modern-day scholar, RuPaul,” said Roberts. “If you can’t love yourself, how the heck can you love somebody else.” Amen.
Photo via Thomas Roberts/YouTube
