OPINION
Jillian Michaels, the motivational speaker who came to prominence as a fitness coach of the US version of The Biggest Loser has spoken out against pride celebrations.
Michaels came out as a lesbian in 2012, and has previously encouraged LGBTIQA+ audiences to sign up to her expensive motivational seminars, but her latest call for action is to dump Pride celebrations.
The celebrity published an article in The Daily Mail titled Why I, a gay woman, can’t celebrate Pride Month now that it’s been hijacked by leather daddies, drag shows and corporate stunts.
Michaels says she embraced Pride when she was a teenager in the 90s because in the USA there was significant discrimination against LGBTIQA+ people.
“When I was a teenager in the ’90s, being gay meant living with shame, not pride. It meant keeping your truth under wraps to avoid being bullied, rejected, or worse. Back then, gay rights weren’t just limited, they were almost nonexistent.
“We couldn’t marry. We couldn’t adopt. Most of the country still associated us with AIDS. You were a punchline at best, a pervert at worst.
“Being gay wasn’t cool — it was dangerous.” Michaels wrote.
The motivational coach goes on to say that the Pride movement has gone too far.
” Many LGBTQ individuals are not just tolerated, they are embraced, celebrated, and platformed. In some circles, they are practically untouchable.” Michaels says, before continuing with Pride celebrations need to be more restrained and conservative.
“We’ve all seen the footage. Leather daddies in assless chaps simulating sex acts in public. Drag queens twerking in thongs in front of children. Parades that look more like adult fetish conventions than civil rights celebrations.” she wrote.
She then draws out the common and factually incorrect claim that in the USA Pride is celebrated more than fallen soldiers.
“We honor our fallen soldiers for one day: Memorial Day. Meanwhile, Pride gets a month — filled with parades, corporate takeovers, and media coverage wall-to-wall.”
Michaels rounds off her rant were a call for LGBTIQA+ people to live quietly.
“Real pride doesn’t need a stage, a sponsor, or a spotlight. It doesn’t demand applause. It is lived — quietly, confidently, unapologetically.” she said.
As a motivational speaker who travels the globe you’d think Michaels might have a good idea of the levels of homophobia that still exist in society, from countries that still imprison and have the death penalty for homosexuality, to those where any depiction of a rainbow flag could see you rounded up by authorities.
Maybe Michaels hasn’t seen the stories from around the globe of gay men being targeted by vigilante gangs via dating apps, and maybe she’s never been to a Trans Day of Remembrance and listened to the long list of people killed each year.
Except, she has, because she took to social media platform X to criticise Whoopi Goldberg over her recent comments about Iran, noting that it’s a place where “gay are hanged” and “dissidents vanish”.
One thing is clear, we’ve found The Biggest Loser.
