This post was pre-empted by my two-part young adult librarian panel.  So, not exactly catching the wave of outrage toward Bret Easton Ellis, but something I wanted to post none-the-less.

I’ve had it with Bret Easton Ellis.  I’m disavowing my fanhood, and will no longer buy his books.

I defend free speech, am pretty sympathetic and forgiving of human fallibility, and I don’t expect more intelligence from celebrities than I do from anyone else.

But Ellis went off on a ridiculously irresponsible tear, for which he has been totally unapologetic.

It started with his Twitter observations on the TV series Glee, and continued with his commentary on the It Gets Better campaign.

“why is it that every time I watch an episode I feel like I’ve stepped into a puddle of HIV?”

Then, in response to angry replies…

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll stop riffing on H.I.Glee…”

Later, on It Gets Better…

“I hate that s**t about ‘It Gets Better.’ It doesn’t. Retool it. Say ‘You Get Stronger.’ The narcissism of gays is out of f**king control…”

I rarely watch Glee, though I support the concept and am personally and professionally surrounded by Glee-heads (Gleeks?). And I respect thoughtful debate over It Gets Better.

But Ellis “riffing” on gay people being gross, diseased and selfish–from his platform, to his fans–is wrong. At this point, I don’t care if he has personal issues to work out. He’s not a 13 year old discovering social media for the first time. Talk about those issues in therapy.

Ellis is a brilliant writer, but as a person, he stinks. I wish I knew less about his personal opinions, but I do. There’s no turning back. To lay out money for his books just feels disingenuous.

He’s a complex, seductive kind of villain. I kind of want to root for him, and I do hope he gets his shit together.  Maybe one day he’ll realize that his personal struggle—that squeamish, threatening feeling provoked by two guys kissing, singing showtunes or otherwise being ‘effeminate’—really does get better.

But there are plenty of other authors producing good stuff, while maintaining a professional public persona, doing what they’re supposed to do:  keeping a boundary around their personal issues.