Neil Patrick Harris fired back at James Woods

[adamgreer]

Good for you, NPH.

I've never liked James Woods, and his completely homophobic series of tweets about a family that never asked for any attention confirmed why. He's not a great actor, and clearly an awful human being.

 https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/james-woods-fires-back-neil-patrick-harris-diss-003407670.html?#_=_

[artscallion]

Encouraging children to go back into the closet for their own protection is reprehensible, especially when done in the name of acceptance. Woods is deplorable.

[madbrian]

Of course, I agree with everything NPH says, however I wonder if his response only brought attention to Woods' comments. 

[adamgreer]

madbrian said: "Of course, I agree with everything NPH says, however I wonder if his response only brought attention to Woods' comments. 

 

The family apparently began receiving death threats from Woods' twitter followers (most of whom are likely Trump voters) after his initial tweet, prior to NPH's response. 

Woods' response- "I have more gay friends than Liberace"- is in and of itself demeaning. 

[ArtMan]

One wonders now....was Sean Young really the "crazy" one during her relationship with Woods.

[TotallyEffed]

The comment section in the link is absolutely terrifying.

[hork]

TotallyEffed said: "The comment section in the link is absolutely terrifying.

 

The comments section in every Yahoo article is terrifying.

 

[javero]

"The family apparently began receiving death threats from Woods' twitter followers (most of whom are likely Trump voters) after his initial tweet, prior to NPH's response."

This is not likely to be a popular opinion here but I think that fact and the online comments that skew in Woods' favor only strengthen his case that those parents should try to shield the kid from potential abuse for as long as possible.  Whether intentional or accidental, they have arguably sacrificed their child on the altar of public opinion to carry out their own social justice warrior aims.  I applaud their defiance but wonder whether the dad is willing to don makeup and dresses to further their cause.

People are mean as hell out here and Trump's ascent has emboldened them enough to come out in full force against anything they consider unorthodox in their world.  Not to put too fine a point on it nor to digress, the KKK is now boldly showing up for demonstrations in places like Charlottesville, VA "armed". 

[carnzee]

It seems that every vocal conservative celebrity is such a nut. There are some I respect, such as Patricia Heaton, Tom Selleck and others but so many are just obnoxiously odious.

 

[adamgreer]

Patty Heaton is a nut, too. Remember her bizarre comments about the woman suing for access to birth control as part of her healthcare?

[artscallion]

javero said: "...they have arguably sacrificed their child on the altar of public opinion to carry out their own social justice warrior aims.  I applaud their defiance but wonder whether the dad is willing to don makeup and dresses to further their cause..."

What makes you think these parents are social justice warriors with their own aims? Nothing tells me they are anything more than parents who are supporting their child's choice of self expression.

You can keep your child safe while still allowing them to be who they are. Asking them to do anything otherwise is no different than telling black people to behave lest they be thought uppity and need a smack down. We need to move forward, not backward.

[javero]

artscallion wrote: "...Nothing tells me they are anything more than parents who are supporting their child's choice of self expression..."

That's very noble of them but I would hope that the personal safety of children would be everyone's first concern. With context being important, it appears that the child was featured prominently at an OC Pride festival.  Ultimately, his parents are responsible for his well-being which includes his protection.  Not everyone, including this kid at some point, will always have the luxury of being ensconced in an ultra-tolerant safe-space.

And with respect to the struggles and advancement of black people, context (and perspective) are important once more.  In the 60s, parents of black children did not set up their children to be martyrs for the cause.  The deaths of the Kennedy brothers, Dr King, and the four young girls killed in the Birmingham church bombing were reminder enough of just how far haters would go to annihilate anything considered unorthodox in their world.  Sometimes the only thing separating main-streamers from radicalized elements of a society are a few decades.   I am a product of the 60s.  My parents and those of my cohorts protested and at times engaged in acts of civil disobedience, while we kids remained in the care of an adult supervisor, out of harm's way in a controlled environment.

I write all this out of an overarching concern for the welfare of innocent children everywhere. While I suspect that James Woods and I share similar concerns, his point was lost due to his rather poor choice of words.  He's also a product of his generation. 

[A Director]

javero said:
And with respect to the struggles and advancement of black people, context (and perspective) are important once more.  In the 60s, parents of black children did not set up their children to be martyrs for the cause.  The deaths of the Kennedy brothers, Dr King, and the four young girls killed in the Birmingham church bombing were reminder enough of just how far haters would go to annihilate anything considered unorthodox in their world.  

javero - Stop being so f*cking condescending!  I assure you African-American parents knew how just how far haters would go long before the deaths of Dr. King, the four little girls and the deaths of the Kennedy brothers.

Here's the link to the blog written by C.J.'s parents, Please read it before offering more comments. https://raisingmyrainbow.com

You and the has been, Mr. Woods are BULLIES!

[javero]

Thanks for sharing the link to the blog, A Director.  My concern for the kid's safety is somehow mistaken for condescension.  It seems that this thread is reserved for tribal members only so I'm bowing out.  

[ErikJ972]

"I am a product of the 60s.  My parents and those of my cohorts protested and at times engaged in acts of civil disobedience, while we kids remained in the care of an adult supervisor, out of harm's way in a controlled environment."

You should watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT-QkNkMZjk

[SonofRobbieJ]

'My concern for the kid's safety is somehow mistaken for condescension.'

But it IS condescending because it is such a shallow, heterosexist view of how to keep kids safe.  Some of us were born into the world as especially faggy.  It's just who we were.  And our parents, at best, ignored it and, at worst, tried to beat it out of us.  It left us feeling alone in our own homes.  On our own at a very early age, even though we were surrounded by people.  Some of us are crushed by that isolation, to the point where we tried (and sometimes succeeded in) taking our own lives.  Because we didn't feel safe or that we belonged.  In our own home.  Among the people who are supposed to love, support and nurture us.

Yes...there are terrible people in the world who will try to cause us harm.  That is true and will always be true, no matter what.  But your ridiculous assertion that parents who go out of their way to publicly support and love their queer children is the problem deserves to be slapped down.  

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

So the argument in favor of child safety is to make the child cover and conform into this heteronormative, traditional gender conforming culture for as long as possible. Harm comes in all sorts of ways, and true if the parents tried to hide their child's true expression the child may have been spared Internet trolling, but you can't hide everything and in-person bullying from the child's every day life may have still happened (which the onus should be on addressing the behavior of the bullies and the community that encourages it) and there's all sorts of emotional and mental trauma that could happen from such repression and being told who that child is is unacceptable and should thus be hidden from view.

BTW, if James Woods was so concerned for that child's safety, he would not have brought attention to it the way that he did. He knew what he was doing and he was revving up his supporters on social media.

[Kad]

"Tribal members only"? You do realize that nearly everyone who has posted in this thread thus far may have an extremely personal reaction to this due to their own sexuality, right? And may have an entirely different point of view because of the lives they've led, the difficulties they've faced?

[Cat Guy]

javero said: "He's also a product of his generation."

 

Malarkey.  Woods and I are both 70.  We are of the same generation.  His homophobia is no more a result of his being a "product of his generation" than my queerness is a result of my being a "product of my generation".  Why do you defend such a vile person?    

 

[Margo319]

He will never change his mind, back down from any comment, or apologize.  I think he has been that way for years with his comments.  Why anyone is bothering with this bigot is beyond me.  

[LYLS3637]

Margo319 said: "He will never change his mind, back down from any comment, or apologize.  I think he has been that way for years with his comments.  Why anyone is bothering with this bigot is beyond me. "

 

Because bigots like this need to be called out especially when they go after a innocent child.

[darquegk]

What Woods said is horrible. And no doubt this kid deserves to be left alone. But I'll admit, the blog rankles me a bit... the kid is a minor, before puberty even. Does he know that his parents are running a virtue-signaling "look how progressive and tolerant we are" blog? 

I don't know that the kid would want to be the face of a Tumblr-era movement, and I'm always suspicious when parents wave their kids as their own freak flag. The twelve year old boy experimenting with makeup on his finsta? Go for it, it's your life. But I'm not sure it's quite appropriate to make a blog about your own adventure raising a non-binary child, just like I don't get to run a fun "My Lesbian Ex" blog. It's not my story to co-opt.

[qolbinau]

Why have we labeled his behaviour homophobic? The issue here seems to be about breaking gender norms, not an issue with sexuality. 

 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

If the parents are as bad as some are making them out to be, then equality means we get to see stage parents promoting children of all gender identities/expression/presentation. We can judge the parenting of all.

I remember there was a special a few years ago when I was starting college I want to say on TLC or Discovery where they were following parents who were raising their child who was assigned the male gender at birth but identified as female. I actually found it to be very educational and it was nice seeing her parents who were far from the Tumblr activist types starting out figuring out the best way to support their child and were learning from their experience.

ETA: I looked it up and it may have actually been a 20/20 special on Jazz Jennings when she was a child who expressed she was female as soon as she could. It may be the same documentary I caught, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I worked with a lot of transgender or gender non-conforming clients, many of them youth, and after studying more about gender dysphoria and meeting and speaking with the youth, I found that they're more comfortable with their identity. It's when there's push back where they start questioning or feeling shamed about it.

[SonofRobbieJ]

This is the Raising My Rainbow woman, right?  I've followed the blog for a while.  They used to post it on...Queerty?  One of the gay sites.  She was very careful for years to not post too much information about her kids.  Eventually, its seemed the family decided to 'come out', if you will.  The vibe I got was she's a very thoughtful woman who thought sharing her story could help other parents of non-binary kids.  I have great friends who have a non-binary kid.  They don't write a consistent blog, but they do share things on Facebook and both have written about their parenting issues for Slate.  They're a really functional, lovely family.  I don't know ascribing all of these negative terms to this family is on point.