I Wasn't Raised That Way...

With the series finale of American Idol fresh on the minds of all die-hard fans as well as those of us who stopped watching post Fantasia an'nem, comments from anyone involved with the series have the ability to make headlines.

Especially when it comes to the LGBTQ community.

Since her audition in Little Rock, La'Porsha Renee has garnered a following that has captured people across generations and ethnic backgrounds. The 22-year-old McComb, MS native arrived to her American Idol Audition with her beautiful baby on her hip. After blowing the judges away with her rendition of Creep by Radiohead and enduring a few elimination rounds, we learned that La'Porsha was also a divorcee and survivor of an abusive relationship.

All of that being said, La'Porsha made a comment that made heads roll and drop in disappointment simultaneously. Soon after earning the title of first runner up, she was interviewed and asked about the new law put into place in her home state. A law that would allow businesses to turn down anyone that identifies with being a part of the LGBTQ community. Her response was:

 “This is how I feel about the LGBT community: They are people just like us. They’re not animals as someone stated before. They’re people with feelings. Although all of us may not agree with that particular lifestyle for religious reasons, whatever the reason is, you still treat each other with respect. Everybody is a human being. We should be able to coexist with one another. I am one of the people who don’t really agree with that lifestyle. I wasn’t brought up that way. It wasn’t how I was raised. But I do have a lot of friends and a lot of people that I love dearly who are gay and homosexual and they’re such sweet, nice people. We should just respect each other’s differences and opinions and move on.”

In my opinion, La'Porsha sounds like a young woman, still extremely wet behind the ear and inexperienced overall, but especially with dealing with media. She seems to have meant well, but didn't end up exactly hitting the target. Deeeefinitely missed. At the very least she could have simply stuck with "we should respect each other." And then maybe say nothing else. I don't know, but not much of the other statement seems very necessary. 

Do understand, that one of the last places I can imagine people being understanding of people they don't understand in the deep south. And this is no shade to the south, but being that Mississippi didn't officially abolish slavery until February 2013 after the 13th amendment was adopted in 1865, some things may be slow to come to pass. 

Although she's already a mother and has been married and in the midst of a divorce, she doesn't seem to be very worldly, meaning she doesn't seem to have much experience dealing with people and ideologies outside of her hometown and what she's learned thus far from her mother. I'm not surprised.

This is not to make excuses for her or change anyone's opinions of what she said. I was just raised by a woman who made it a habit to ask me "what the hell are you thinking" whenever I did or said something she couldn't understand; as to help her, help me. So, I'm venturing to do the same thing. La'Porsha has now been thrust into the spotlight and I'm sure she's dreamed of this moment since she recognized she possessed this beautiful gift, but she forgot to dream of the realities that come with it. Though I'm sure she has no malice in her heart and had no intentions of making anyone feel ostracized or less than human, she should realize that it's time to grow up. Not being raised to think a certain way is one thing when you are a child. It's another thing when you are an adult who has the entire world at their fingertips and the opportunity to literally learn something new every day. It's a hard lesson to learn when you're so fresh out of the gate that your signature is still wet on the Motown contract you've just signed, but here we are. 

...dig and be dug...