Dustin Lance Black weighs in on the Carson Daly Homophobic Moment

 By Greg Hernandez  

 

Dustin Lance Black has such great perspective on LGBT issues and the fight for equality.

So when I chatted with the screenwriter and activist the other night at the 45th anniversary party for The Advocate, I asked him to weigh in on the Carson Daly episode from earlier in the week.

On his radio show, Daly made jokes about gay people not being able to take down the crazed pilot on this week’s JetBlue flight. He apologized after his remarks were posted online by TMZ.com.

“I always look at these as learning moments,’ Black said. ‘So whenever they say something wrong – and a lot of Americans think it and still leans on these stereotypes, these myths about gay people – and when someone slips and one slips out, it’s probably something they learned early on. Then they apologize and correct the record. I think that’s a learning moment for the country.’

He added: ‘In a way, it’s a terrible thing to have happen but it’s good that the country gets to learn. So much of what’s important in this movement is education and outreach. We don’t always do enough of it. So if someone gets it wrong, if we can reach out and teach them the truth, and they’re willing to learn that truth and apologize for their mistakes, that’s what we’ve got to do more of.’

Black pointed out that homophobic remarks are not limited to high-profile celebrities caught making a gaffe.

‘We’ve got to start reaching out to other communities that do it even more than Carson Daly,’ he said. ‘We have religious communities and racial minority communities that we need to do a lot more of that outreach, education and allow them to catch up.’

To see what other celebs have to say about Daly’s remarks, see my story over at Gay Star News.