Saturday, 27 February 2010

Daniel Radcliffe to Record Ad for LGBT Youth Helpline


There were two things that struck me about Daniel Radcliffe's interview in Attitude magazine last year. The first was obviously that he'd said he would be voting Liberal Democrat in his first general election vote, the second was how tuned in and comfortable he was for such a young, straight star with LGBT issues.

Therefore it isn't really a surprise that Daniel is willing to record an ad for a LGBT youth helpline in the US. Speaking of the project on MTV Radcliffe said:

"The Trevor Project is the only [US] nationwide around-the-clock crisis- and suicide-prevention help line [of its kind]. [It's designed] for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. There will also soon be a 'Trevor' iPhone application."

Summing why he should tie himself to such a cause Daniel said, "You don't have to be gay to be a supporter — you just have to be human."Going on he said:

"Some are gay, some are straight — didn't make any difference to me. When I went to my secondary school, I heard terms like 'poof' and 'homo' getting thrown around. It never occurred to me that some people might have a problem with it."

It is liable to cause some shock that a prominent, young star is so willing to associate himself with a LGBT charity. But I think it is just the kick up the backside that some American's need. In this months Gay Times, American Idol runner up Adam Lambert told how unlike Danyl Johnson he refused to gender sensitive a lyric and hide his sexuality. Speaking of the song Fever by Lady Gaga on his new album For Your Entertainment in which he references a male love interest he says:

"She asked me, ' What shall we do about it?' and I answered 'I think I should say it.' 'So do I,' she said. It was funny because we realised a lot of radio stations out here probably won't play it because of that gender reference, literally because of that one line, they won't play the song.

"The bit that I think is really f***** up is that we as the entertainment community could help if it just said 'Deal with it people.' But instead it is so fearful tat people are going to object, boycott and complain that they cave in."


So well done to Daniel for not being afraid. I'm sure I'll soon see the American Family Association having another reason to complain about the last Harry Potter movies now, but I'm glad that the young Brits can show what it means to be human. Indeed living up to Matthew 25:35 'I was a stranger and you took me in' so much more that certain 'christian' groups seem to want to extend their charity to 'least of men', or rather of course not.

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