Reality television stars-Shane and Darrell from MTV’s Campus Crawl, shared their stories of diversity last night in support of Rainbow Dayz, a week of events highlighting homosexual issues.
The Union Ballroom was filled with fans of the show and supporters of Rainbow Dayz.
MTV’s “Road Rules” and “The Real World” have put the diversity facing the country into the living rooms of millions of Americans, especially young Americans. Shane and Darrell preached a positive message of acceptance. The key, they said, was that one had to accept themselves so that they could accept others around them.
Shane, a 22-year-old student at the University of North Carolina, conducted an impromptu survey of those in the audience asking who believed people were born gay, or that being gay was a choice.
“I know I was born gay,” Shane said. “I will always appreciate who I am and the gift of sexual freedom that I have been given.”
“I can remember from the time I was 6 till now that something was wrong with me,” Shane said. He was watching a TV. show featuring a child coming to grips with his homosexuality, and from that moment he knew he was a homosexual, even though he was only 6.
Shane explained how he came out to his family and his battle with his own demons. He told the audience how he had a minor stroke after a two-day binge of mixing ephedera with alcohol in order to hide from what he was. “My father sat me down and told me, ‘You’re killing yourself,'” Shane said. After the incident, Shane began to accept that he could no longer be his own worst enemy and that he had to accept his sexual orientation.
Darrell, a 25-year-old Oakland native said he was beat up constantly as a young child for looking different. Darrell said it goes back to when a young boy took one of his toys, and Darrell did nothing in his defense. His mother then, taught him to fight back if he is ever disrespected. From then on, Darrell said he’s had a “chip on his shoulder.”
Darrell then spent much of his youth acting out his aggression by fighting those around him. It wasn’t until he found his love for boxing that he was able to focus his agression and, as he described it, “get that chip off my shoulder.”
At the beginning of their “Road Rules” experience, Darrell and Shane got off to a rough start. “I didn’t mind gay people, just don’t touch me,” Darrell said about his original beliefs about homosexuals.
A dispute erupted between the two cast members early on as Shane slapped Darrell, but was resolved shortly after. From then on the two have been close and are cast members of MTV’s “Inferno II” – where the “Real World” cast and the “Road Rules” cast face a series of challenges.
Shane went on to talk about the portrayls of gays and lesbians in the media and how it only presents the happy side of the gay experience. “Gays are always happy,” Shane said about the new trend of television shows featuring gay men, citing shows such as “Will ‘ Grace,” “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Queer as Folk.”
Following the speech, the “Road Ruler’s” opened the night for answering questions from their anxious fans about the show with a reception that followed where a line formed around the hall.
Shane and Darrell both agreed that forming friendships and meeting different types of people were the best experiences of the show.
Although the two have come from different backgrounds and have experienced diversity, whether it’s within themselves or through others, they both know that they have achieved the status they have through going through reality- being themselves.
