Gays need a drug intervention

[Editor's note] I've always had a problem with prominent celebrities wielding their celebrity for a cause. Whether it's Madonna and Malawi, or George Clooney in Sudan, or Lady Gaga and the gays, something about celebrity endorsements of serious problems just ticks me off.

This being said, imagine my feelings at learning that porn entrepreneur Michael Lucas had some ideas about the recent drug bust aboard the Allure of the Seas. Amid the gross generalizations and inane babble, Mr. Lucas does eek out a few valid points:

I think it’s sad that a bunch of tweakers have turned gay cruises into a punch line. But what’s downright depressing is the fact that we, as a community, treat such self-destructive and illegal behavior as normal and acceptable.

The latest Atlantis embarrassment has caused me to wonder what it is about our community that allows us to accept this behavior as normal? I think it might come down to our obsession with appearances.

We’re all about looks and trying to appear young — many lying about their ages in their online profiles — and spending hours each week at the gym to make our bodies look perfect. On a gay cruise I went on, I noticed how all the massages and facials were booked, the gym was always packed, and how few people ever touched dessert.

But many of these same individuals, so obsessed with how their chests and abs appeared on the outside, were trashing themselves on the inside — going days without sleeping and poisoning their bloodstreams with toxins.

Yes, these people are self-medicating away the pain from childhood scars left by bullying, abuse, and homophobia. Clearly, the only time they feel free is when they’re high on drugs. But enough is enough. We should tell our friends who do drugs that either they have to quit or we’ll have nothing to do with them anymore. We should tell them to get therapy, get sober, and get a life.

(Via the Advocate)