In case you missed it, Dustin Lance Black has issued a statement in response to the leaked photos that surfaced last week:
"It is unfortunate that individuals and other outside parties are trying to profit from material which is clearly private. I have had the privilege to speak to people across the country, both gay and straight, on a number of critical issues including safe sex. More important than the embarrassment of this incident is the misleading message these images send. I apologize and cannot emphasize enough the importance of responsible sexual practices," he told E! Online.
I think it's ridiculous that Starzlife and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named are justifying their actions with a "don't take the pictures if you don't want anyone to see them" stance. Why hurt someone who's doing positive things within the gay community?
On the other hand, one could say that we are part of the problem for republishing the photos. Since they were already out there for consumption, I don't regret providing you a way to satiate your curiosity without visiting Perez's link. In fact, your responses were far more interesting to me than the pictures themselves.
The individual who leaked these pictures appears to have become a bigger villain than he who appeared in them. No one seems to be lashing out at Dustin Lance Black for being "hypocritical", because he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd run around barebacking the entire town.
While I hope that this "scandal" doesn't have a negative effect on his career, I still do worry that it might. Let's just hope that the "embarrassment of this incident" passes just as easily as that time you mistakenly unlocked your photos for your co-worker, classmate or ex-boyfriend on MANHUNT…
– Dewitt
I feel really bad for the guy. It’s true, Dustin has done more positive things for the gay community than that troll Perez. Me thinks someone might be a tad bit jealous.
Unless Black feels that he himself is being irresponsible any time he has bareback sex, he must think that barebacking can be considered responsible under certain circumstances. It would be nice to hear a statement from him about that, but i’m not holding my breath for it: the everyone-should-use-a-condom-every-time dogma is so firmly entrenched in our psyches and in the public discourse that we are all turned into either heretics or hypocrites.
Listen you talk about Perez Hilton, but you are doing the same things as him by posting the nude pictures on here. If you really disliked his methods you wouldn’t post the pictures, let alone even mention them. Kind of funny though how as soon as his stories come up, you have them the same exact day. Maybe be original and look your own up for a change and not steal them from others.
To think the media (yes, even bloggers) are going to get information like this at their “virtual” front door and not report on it is kind of misguided. That’s what all the gossip rags, blogs, etc are about: getting the juiciest information and disseminating it as fast as they can. To expect anything different is silly.
As I wrote before, I totally blame above all the person who leaked this! There are a bunch of piranhas out there ready to bite but this person saw fit to send these private photos. This person wouldn’t have done it say months before Black’s Oscar win. Black had his moment in the spotlight and this person wanted a piece of the $$$ pie. It could very well be the person in the photo with Black. I wouldn’t be surprised!
Again, we can’t expect much different from Perez. He has never professed to be anything but a gossip-queen. I don’t think he wants you to hold him to any standard pass that.
I feel for Black and I hope he can recover from this all. I have seen worse happen to people and they have survived but I feel that the stigma already attached to being gay and a role model will make it difficult for him. Personally, these pictures have no relevance with how great of a writer he is.