Friday, October 30, 2009

Thank You, Bea Arthur

I just noticed that the readers of AfterElton voted the late Bea Arthur as this week's Gay of the Week. I was a bit surprised to see this at first, since as much as I loved Bea Arthur and know that she's a gay icon, the voting is usually for someone -fictional or otherwise- who has stood out that week in the gay community.

Then I found out the reason behind the nomination: it was just announced that Bea left $300,000 in her will to the Ali Forney Center, a New York shelter for homeless LGBT youth. With Bea's bequest, the Center will be able to purchase another building and shelter 12 more LGBT youths.

There are a plenty of gay icons out there, but something like this proves that Bea was more than just an icon, she was an ally.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

With all the wonderful things Miss Arthur has done in her life including the Ali Center, wouldn't it be great to see her final interview, in HER OWN WORDS talking about her career etc.

I love your site and interviews and thought you might like it.

We need to contact Merv Griffin Productions and see if entire interview will be aired.

I'd hate for an full interview with Bea or the other legendary ladies in the clip to go unseen.


Cheers,
Phillip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqTi7rsk3GY