Noted LGBTQ activist and Hollywood gossip reported Perez Hilton is really hoping his son doesn’t follow in his footsteps.
While many people in America were polishing off the last of their Easter dinner on Sunday, Perez Hilton was worrying about the future of his five-year-old’s sexual orientation.
In a video titled, “We Would Prefer If Our Son Was Not Gay,” posted to his personal website, Hilton explains why it’s just better to be straight.
“I just want to start off by saying that if my son turns out to be gay,” he says, “or if he’s already gay and not able to articulate that because he’s only five, I will love my son unconditionally.”
But he takes a turn later in the video, noting that “If I had my preference, I would prefer my son to be heterosexual. Because that’s easier! As a gay man, I’m not ashamed of being gay. But if I could go back in time, and when I was 18 and could be given a choice: you could choose to be gay and be gay or you could choose to be heterosexual and be heterosexual, I would have chosen, then, to be heterosexual.”
Hilton also mentions that he’s going to do what he can to prevent his son from becoming gay, which is something he hit on last week on his podcast.
“I’m not going to put a number on it, but I would say a good amount — maybe like 50 percent or more — of little boys who take dance class end up being gay,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a homophobic thing to say. Just like I don’t think it’s a homophobic thing to say that a disproportionate amount of male singer/actor/dancers on Broadway are gay. There are more gay men drawn to that profession. That’s not homophobic, that’s just a fact.”
He even grapples with the idea of sending his son to drama camp but backs it up by defending his parenting abilities.
“This is a difficult conversation to have,” he noted. “And I said what I said because I think I’m a good dad. I don’t think I’m a good dad, I know I’m a good dad.”
The video, which was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, has scores of comments criticizing him for viewing heterosexuality as superior, as well as conflating dancing with sexuality. But Perez Hilton is no stranger to controversy and he’s probably aware that his viewpoints upset people — and parents — on both sides of the debate. One thing is for sure, it’s certainly a break in the celebrity mainstream where more celebrities, like P!nk and Angelina Jolie, are encouraging their children to question their sexual identities and push back against gender norms.
Follow Jena on Twitter.