"For Sir Elton John, his An Enduring Vision benefit in New York City on Tuesday night was an opportunity to not only raise money for his AIDS Foundation, but also to celebrate marriage equality.
Wearing a sequined black blazer and sitting down often since he was recovering from knee surgery, John noted the growing acceptance of gay marriage throughout the U.S., and applauded Pope Francis for embracing tolerance and
compassion, as shown when he asked about gay marriage. "'Who am I to judge?' What are we waiting for? Make him a saint now. He did more with those five words than the last five popes," he said on the Cipriani Wall Street stage. "He is my hero."
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| Old School Elton John from 1977 |
The evening was hosted by Anderson Cooper, who initially flirted to get attendees seated, "It's always the cute gay guys who are the last ones standing up!" He was honored to emcee the event for a crowd of "the greatest broadcaster" Matt Lauer
and Neil Patrick Harris, "the greatest host of every event" including the upcoming Oscars: "I will finally be able to watch it all the way through!"
John and David Furnish gave Enduring Vision Awards to friends and longtime foundation supporters: real estate developer and restaurateur Charles Hendon, White Cube art gallery founder Jay Jopling, Nathalie and Pablo Salame of Goldman Sachs, and New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo kicked off his acceptance speech by welcoming out-of-towners and bragged about the state to "fulfill the stereotype of an arrogant New Yorker for you," particularly how it's been the site of multiple historical reform movements. Most recently, he plugged the state's post-Sandy Hook action of passing "the toughest gun control law in the nation" and its early legalization of marriage equality "because it's about the second word, equality," and vowed to rid the state of AIDS by 2020: "Don't worry we'll find another worthy cause [for this organization] because this is just too great of a party to miss."To close the evening, Harris introduced John's performance, which lasted over half an hour, as the performer added generous piano solos to hits like "Tiny Dancer," "Your Song," "Rocket Man," "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" and "Philadelphia Freedom," among others." Yahoo
Get the feeling, this event was as far away from God as one could get? Yet, they were there praising Pope Francis. What does that say about Francis?
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
2 Corinthians 6:17
