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Jennifer Nettles' speech on sexual orientation equality (Carrie mention)

Farawayhills

Well-known member
Jennifer has given a powerful (and, from the viewpoint of the Country Music community, particularly significant) speech, to the Nashville Chapter of the Human Rights Campaign, an organization set up in the 1980s to fight for equal legal and social treatment for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification.

(As this has been a difficult and divisive area for some, I'll try to give some brief context to her remarks:
1. The early careers of the future members of Sugarland were linked to the club scene in Atlanta and Decatur, where there was a significant Gay following for the music, and the group itself was founded in the musical ambit of the Indigo Girls, who have had a long and eloquent association with this cause - so Jennifer's views on equality are long established.
2. Nevertheless, her speech is one of the strongest and most thoughtfully detailed, to gain public notice, from any leading figure in the Country genre so far
3. The organization she is addressing is made up of LBGT activists and their allies - but it aims to be non-partisan, and has endorsed both Republican and Democrat candidates.
4. Jennifer makes the point that the equality she is advocating doesn't have to be Liberal or Conservative, a matter of right or wrong, or of pointing fingers at people's views - but is a matter of the status and treatment of all citizens in society. She uses the phrase "a bridge of grace").

I'm not sure whether the full speech is, or will be, available on line - but clips have been posted, and you can see parts of it in this tweet:

https://twitter.com/amym1972/status/1102223706447843328


(The part where Jennifer calls specifically on the Country community to make their voices heard, and refers briefly to the photo of a Gay couple that Carrie posted on Instagram, comes in Clip 4)
 

Momin

Well-known member
I applaud Jennifer (and Kristian too) for their support of "controversial" causes.

I was recently reading an article on Charley Pride (in light of a recent episode of American Masters about him) and it quoted the incident where Willie Nelson kissed him on the lips on stage. I was shocked to know that that had happened, and how I've never read anything about it before now. Given the nature and time of the incident, it could have been widely quoted whenever conversation regarding the LGBT community and country music sprung up.

But I truly hope that these conversations begin to get traction. Maren Morris spoke at length about gun laws recently. And slowly, but surely, the lid on these topics is being lifted. Since I don't follow a lot of male country artists, I'm not sure how vocal they are about this but to see so many women (mainstream and non-mainstream) talk about what they believe in so openly is something that gives me hope. And we all know how sweet that can be.
 

clh_hilary

New member
Gay rights certainly isn't a left or right issue.

In Mexico, the former right-wing president Enrique Pena Nieto actually campaigned against homophobia and for same-sex marriage, while the current left-wing socialist president never attempted to introduce gay marriage when he was mayor of Mexico City. His left-wing socialist party even recently voted against gay marriage in my city, despite the Supreme Court already ruling that gay marriage has to be recognized throughout the country.

In the UK, you had former prime minister David Cameron from the Conservatives pushing for gay marriage, whilst the former left-wing Labour premier Tony Blair only went as far as civil union.

In Australia, there was former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull from the right-wing Liberal Party being a staunch supporter of gay marriage, so much so he insisted on pushing the referencedum no matter how, despite the leftists voting against it.

In Taiwan, the nationalist president Professor Tsai also supports gay marriage.

In Serbia, you have Ana Brnabić, a lesbian, serving as the prime minister of a conservative and nationalist administration.

In Ireland, their Leo Varadkar (Taoiseach - prime minister) is openly gay and heads a right-wing Christian party.

Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxemburg, is likewise openly gay and the head of a right-wing party.

Transgenderism, on the other hand, has remained mostly a left-wing issue. My opinion is that gay rights and transgenderism are going to part ways in the future. Ideologically-speaking, gay people are saying that to be a real man or woman, you don't have to have all the common attributes, while trans people are saying if you have those masculine attributes, you are a man.
 
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