Madonna Spends Thanksgiving With LGBT Youth After Publicly Supporting Son Rocco Ritchie

Madonna is one of the biggest LGBT icons ever. Her work with LGBT rights in the 1980s and 1990s, when most people in the United States were very hostile towards the LGBT community, has been talked about several times in the past couple of years. The popular LGBT site Towleroad listed 26 moments that make Madonna the most pro-gay pop ally of all time.

“What I think to be a big problem in the United States and that’s homophobia – there’s a big section in Truth or Dare devoted to that….These things exist in life. I’m only presenting life to people. I’m not presenting anything that probably they’re not exposed to in everyday life but maybe they don’t want to deal with it. You know, if you keep putting something in somebody’s face eventually maybe they can come to terms with it,” the site quotes Madonna as saying in a 1991 interview promoting her documentary Truth or Dare.

It turns out Madonna was right. Many have pointed out that the mainstreaming of gay acceptance began with the fact that Madonna gave the LGBT community so much exposure at a time during the AIDS crisis and the power of the religious right. She was the first artist to ever include a gay kiss in her work and the first pop star to openly embrace her gay audience, despite the fact that doing so was considered career suicide by most in the industry.

Madonna isn’t as vocal about LGBT rights as she used to be, most likely because the LGBT community has rights. But she is still an ally, and she proved it by spending Thanksgiving at an LGBT homeless shelter.

Madonna usually attracts a lot of trolls who comment on her Instagram account, but the majority of comments were very positive after her recent post.

“You’re too good to be true. This is amazing M, I love you queen,” says Smjlerish.

“Thank you for giving back to our community – you have always shown us your love – and we love you in return!” claims JaybirdNYC.

Besides giving love to the LGBT community on Thanksgiving, Madonna also gave love to her son Rocco Ritchie, who was recently arrested for possession of marijuana. The Sun broke the news.

“MADONNA’S troubled son Rocco Ritchie has been arrested in a cannabis bust. Rocco, 16, was caught with cannabis in his rucksack after neighbours fed up with his bad behaviour reported him to cops. Sources said cops were alerted and saw the 16-year-old sitting on a wall with a male pal.”

The article adds that as the cops approached, Rocco was seen tossing something away. Officers are said to have noticed traces of cannabis on his clothes. Madonna couldn’t stand to see her son bashed by the media, even though Rocco left her so he could live with his father, Guy Ritchie.

“I love my son very much. I will do whatever I can to give him the support that he needs, and I ask that you respect our privacy at this time,” USA Today quotes Madonna, who indicated that this was a “family matter,” as saying.

Madonna will continue her acts of kindness on December 2 when she performs a Miami concert that benefits sick children in Malawi. The cheapest tickets to the show are around $5,000. Judging from the praise (at least from actual music critics) that Madonna receives for her performances, one will have a good time if they have that much money to throw around. Just understand that Madonna rarely begins a show on time.

[Featured Image by Fernando Valdes/AP Images]