LGBT+ activist tells Logan Paul why his 'going gay for a month' comment 'legitimises bullying'

Cast your mind back to a few weeks ago when controversial YouTube star Logan Paul was heavily criticised that he would 'go gay for a month'.

The comment was made by the outspoken 23-year-old in what appeared to be part of a series of challenges that he was going to attempt with his Impaulsive Podcast co-host Mike Mejlak.

Other challenges included going vegan and being sober for a month, but his comment about attempting to be homosexual, as if it was a game, saw him lambasted on social media.

Of those criticising him were the LGBT+ organisation GLAAD, who he invited on his podcast and admitted that he had used a 'very poor choice of words'.

Fast forward just a few weeks later and Paul was joined by the prominent LGBT+ rights activist and former US air force captain Josh Seefried to discuss the issue.

Seefried had also posted a tweet condemning Paul and accused the star of using homosexuality as a 'punchline to a joke'.

During their discussion, which lasted more than 50 minutes, Paul tried to explain that he wasn't trying to offend anyone and was an advocate of the gay community.

Seefried was quick to point out that despite this, he was offended by what Paul had said and that, due to his celebrity status, words of this nature didn't help the people he was claiming to be a proponent of.

Paul asks him:

So if I want to hook up with dudes for a month in March, I can’t do that?

Seefried then responded by telling him why this line of thought wasn't acceptable and 'legitimised bullying'.

Are you making that as a joke, or are you being legitimate? If you want to experiment with men, that’s a different thing than saying, 'Hey, I’m gonna go gay for a month,’ making a joke.

You are a person that sets the tone of what is acceptable to make a joke of, and so when youth watch you and say, ‘Hey, Logan Paul made this joke’ that’s what kind of legitimises bullying in school.

Paul then attempts to clarify what he was trying to communicate.

That is not what I implied by saying that. I think who you are attracted to is innate to who you are, that it’s genetic and that’s that.

Throughout the podcast, Paul appeared to be skirting around Seefried's questioning and was consistently unclear about what the 'experiment' would consist of and whether he would actually go through with it or not.

A particular flashpoint is where he plays a clip from Joe Rogan's podcast where a comment was made about lesbians, which suffered no repercussions. Seefried responded by accusing him of avoiding the issue.

One I'm not the media who is trying to put this on you but two, shame on you for trying to deflect your actions.

Paul doesn't act remorseful in the podcast and tries to play the victim by saying that, because of past controversies, he has become a figure of hate and ridicule by the media.

Although Seefried concluded the podcast by telling Paul "do better", he did thank him for allowing him to come on the show and chatting to him.

If you want to watch the entire episode you can do so in the video below.

HT Complex

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