Sunday, May 09, 2004

I Will Survive

Tonight the progress and acceptance that gay people have made in mainstream culture was surprisingly and pleasantly highlighted during the live television finale of Survivor: All Stars . Host Jeff Probst was going around talking about love matches various All Star Survivors had made since being on the latest installment of the show that made reality television the phenomenon that it is today.

Some Survivors had connected with other Survivors (Amber and Boston Rob got engaged on the show tonight) and so Jeff was talking about other matches. He then brought up that since being voted off, Richard Hatch, the winner of the first Survivor, had found love during a cruise the show sent him on. Richard said he met a man in Argentina and they had been together ever since. I'm unsure, but it seemed as if the camera tried to pan to this man, but was unable to for some reason.

I was really struck that a gay romance was casually mentioned liked any of the straight romances and somewhat touted and celebrated on a major show on a major network. It was a nice touch and one the producers or Probst could have easily glossed over. I'm glad they had the courage not to do so. I'm glad America is finally becoming a country where we can express our love openly and freely.

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