Gay Hollywood

[Gryffindorian]

When an artist/athlete/famous figure reveals he or she is LGBT, the typical response from many people would be either "Who cares?!?" or "Does it matter?"

The latest revelation (or confirmation) comes from White Collar hunk Matt Bomer (Mmm, even his last name is sexy) at a recent event, where he acknowledged his partner (Simon Halls) and their children from a previous marriage.

Does it really matter when a celebrity comes out? My answer is yes and no.

On one hand, coming out asserts one's sexuality and puts an end to all the rumors and speculations. It also seems to give encouragement to other gays or lesbians who have trouble dealing with their own sexual identity. On the other hand, it shouldn't affect a celebrity's status or his or her career (although there are some people who are ignorant enough to have their perceptions change in a negative way because of such a revelation).

So that's my two cents. What say you?

 

[Amaris]

I believe it matters to them, in that by coming out they get what amounts to a lead weight off their chest. So, in a way, it matters to me, too, because I want people to be happy, and if doing this makes them happy, makes them feel free, then I am all for it.

It's also beneficial for gay teens and adults who need a role model, someone to look to and know that being gay isn't evil, it isn't bad, and that it's perfectly natural. These celebrities become the face of hope for these people, whether the celebrity knows it or not. One famous example is Ellen DeGeneres, who has become the face of equality everywhere, and she is a positive force for good for every person, gay or not.

So when a celebrity reveals that they are gay, I see it as a good thing, even if it doesn't affect me directly, because indirectly it may do just that.

 

[ALF]

It shouldn't matter who comes out of the closet (someone you know v.s a celebrity), but people connect with celebrities in a weird way. It was well explored in the documentary Teenage Paparazzo that because people felt a personal connect with famous people they had never met, they could feel encouragement about something as life changing as coming out of the closet to friends, co workers and family.

While I think for me personally the private lives of public faces should have no bearing on any of my life decisions or personal decisions... if someone is inspired by a famous person doing so and that encourages them to do anything positive, all power to them.

 

[DS9Continuing]

The thing about Matt Bomer specifically - and Zachary Quinto and David Hyde Pierce and Neil Patrick Harris and Jodie Foster and Sean Maher and George Takei and a dozen others - is that they were never really in. They'd never pretended to be straight, never gone around with a beard and sued people for claiming they were gay like certain others I could name.

So when they "came out," it was no big deal. There was no scandal or controversy, no traumatic reveals of long-held secrets, no dramatic People magazine cover story. It was just a matter of acknowledging the important people in their lives, who just happened to be of the same sex. Consequently it came across as normal, ordinary, average, even bland.

Those kind of people, I can respect. Because isn't that what we're ultimately working towards? The day when no big announcement is required, it's just another variation in the tapestry of life and nothing worth remarking on? Those who lie and pretend and threaten legal action get no respect from me.

I agree that LGBT children need role models to know that they are okay and healthy, and that the more public figures who come out and provide those role models the better. But I don't need massive dramatic reveals. That gives the impression that it's something remarkable. People living honestly and not lying about who they are is enough, and gives a better example IMO.

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[DS9Continuing]

Also, I agree that Matt Bomer is one seriously spectacular-looking piece of man. One of those guys who's almost too beautiful - like, how can one man possibly be so gorgeous all by himself? I put Luke McFarlane in the same group. Just imagine if they had babies.

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[ares93]

Their private lives are just that, private. I don't give a damn what they do in bed. Sexuality has nothing to do with their careers. I'm not interested, and quite frankly those who are are just nosy and should mind their own business, IMHO.

I have gay friends, both male and female. In fact, my team's junior mechanic is a lesbian. You have no idea how much time we spend together, never bothered me the slightest.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Their private lives are just that, private. I don't give a damn what they do in bed. Sexuality has nothing to do with their careers. I'm not interested, and quite frankly those who are are just nosy and should mind their own business, IMHO.

Used to have a lot to do with their careers though, or to be more precise, lack of career if they were openly gay. Seems like the times are changing even in Hollywood now.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Their private lives are just that, private. I don't give a damn what they do in bed. Sexuality has nothing to do with their careers. I'm not interested, and quite frankly those who are are just nosy and should mind their own business, IMHO.

While that's absolutely true, it's also subject to a definite double standard. Straight celebrities tell you about their personal life all the time - they announce their heterosexuality with every word and deed. I don't think you will find a single straight celebrity who hasn't made reference to a wife or girlfriend or husband or boyfriend at some point. They don't even notice they're doing it. But when a gay celebrity does the exact same thing, suddenly it's a "statement" and they're forcing their private lives on people.

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[ares93]

Their private lives are just that, private. I don't give a damn what they do in bed. Sexuality has nothing to do with their careers. I'm not interested, and quite frankly those who are are just nosy and should mind their own business, IMHO.

While that's absolutely true, it's also subject to a definite double standard. Straight celebrities tell you about their personal life all the time - they announce their heterosexuality with every word and deed. I don't think you will find a single straight celebrity who hasn't made reference to a wife or girlfriend or husband or boyfriend at some point. They don't even notice they're doing it. But when a gay celebrity does the exact same thing, suddenly it's a "statement" and they're forcing their private lives on people.

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Hmm... I never really thought about it that way. But you're right. Personally, I don't see it like that, but I suppose other might.

I don't care about straight celebrities private lives either so its a moot point for me. But you still make a good point, I'll give you that.

 

[Lumi]

This post has nothing to do with gay celebrities, really, just the personal lives of celebrities in general.

I've found in the past that finding out certain details about their lives or beliefs can be kind of disturbing to me, such as finding out they're an asshole or they sleep with anything that movies, etc. So I just try to pretend they don't exist and the characters are real.



So yeah, basically... I don't want to know a thing about them as real people. I know a few people who agree with me.

David Duchovny? Gillian Anderson? Who are they? Nobody. Mulder and Scully forever!

 

[Gryffindorian]

The thing about Matt Bomer specifically - and Zachary Quinto and David Hyde Pierce and Neil Patrick Harris and Jodie Foster and Sean Maher and George Takei and a dozen others - is that they were never really in. They'd never pretended to be straight, never gone around with a beard and sued people for claiming they were gay like certain others I could name.


.

That's not what I heard. When asked about his sexual orientation during an interview, Matt Bomer declined to comment (not that it's any of people's business, really).

http://www.details.com/celebrities-...201001/matt-bomer-white-collar-usa-television

He neither confirmed nor denied he was gay.

"I don't care about that at all. I'm completely happy and fulfilled in my personal life."​

So it was a bit of a revelation to others. Again, that shouldn't affect his career or personal life.

Anyway, I also would like to mention Ricky Martin, who seemed like he had been dodging the question forever before he formally announced, "I'm proud to say that I'm a fortunate homosexual man."

Edited for R. Martin's exact words.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I don't care about the sex lives of celebrities, gay or straight.

And that goes triple for anything named Kardashian.

Although it would be entertaining if one turned out to be transsexual. I have my doubts about Khloe...damn! I know which one is Khloe! How do these things happen?

 

[DS9Continuing]

That's not what I heard. When asked about his sexual orientation during an interview, Matt Bomer declined to comment (not that it's any of people's business, really).

http://www.details.com/celebrities-...201001/matt-bomer-white-collar-usa-television

He neither confirmed nor denied he was gay.

"I don't care about that at all. I'm completely happy and fulfilled in my personal life."​

So it was a bit of a revelation to others. Again, that shouldn't affect his career or personal life.

That's not denying it though, is it? If they abstain altogether, it's not ideal but at least it's not lying.

And there are always people who will willfully deny the blatantly obvious. Matt took his husband and children with him to numerous public events, was always seen with them in public, and simply acted as if it was no big deal. Not saying the words "I am gay" to a journalist doesn't mean he was closeted necessarily. And in fact, he still hasn't said those words. But anyone who cared to pay attention would have already known and didn't need an announcement. But as you say, it was a revelation to some, simply because the possibility never even occurs to them unless somebody says those three words outright.

It's the same method by which Anderson Cooper lives a completely openly gay life in New York City, living with his boyfriend and photographed out together all the time, and still have housewives in middle America have not the tiniest idea about him.

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[LOKAI of CHERON]

This post has nothing to do with gay celebrities, really, just the personal lives of celebrities in general.

I've found in the past that finding out certain details about their lives or beliefs can be kind of disturbing to me, such as finding out they're an asshole or they sleep with anything that movies, etc. So I just try to pretend they don't exist and the characters are real.



So yeah, basically... I don't want to know a thing about them as real people. I know a few people who agree with me.

David Duchovny? Gillian Anderson? Who are they? Nobody. Mulder and Scully forever!

This.

 

[Australis]

Mmm, most of you are probably too young to remember Rock Hudson coming out. That was a biggie, as he'd always been seen as a ladies man. At that time, you can't imagine how far underground gay was. As a teen I read was reading a rock magazine and an interview with Allan Ginsberg, and he dropped in he was gay, and I was kind of "Wow! He said that aloud?!"

And to now. Magda Szubanski, who most of you would know from Babe, came out last week. She said it was such a relief to not have to downplay it any more and to live her life in a more open way. I'm fine with that.

My only real problem with all this? 'The love that dare not speak its name' now... won't... bloody... shut.. up. I don't care, live your life how you want, you have no right to tell me how to live, and I have no right to tell you. Live and let live, as long as you don't frighten the horses.

 

[DS9Continuing]

I love reading all the tell-all biographies about who was up to what in the supposed "golden age" of Hollywood. There's one that came out recently called Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars about a guy who ran an same-sex escort service for all the closeted actors and actresses of the day.

In some ways I wish I was living 50 years in the future so I could read the tell-all biographies of today's stars. I want to read about Zac Efron secretly doing the middle Jonas Brother on the tour bus.

Mmm, most of you are probably too young to remember Rock Hudson coming out. That was a biggie, as he'd always been seen as a ladies man. At that time, you can't imagine how far underground gay was. As a teen I read was reading a rock magazine and an interview with Allan Ginsberg, and he dropped in he was gay, and I was kind of "Wow! He said that aloud?!"

This is the dilemma, though, isn't it? We're long past the days when celebrities had to hide all mention of their sexuality to protect their careers, but we're not yet at the day when sexuality is a complete non-issue and nobody is assumed to be straight by default.

We're still in this grey middle area where celebrities - like Matt Bomer - live openly gay lives without having to announce the words, but at the same time they should say the words in order that they existence as openly gay individuals cannot possibly be overlooked and they can serve as the role models LGBT children still so desperately need. While the way these people are living is ultimately the desired goal, we're not at the point yet where they can get away with living that way because people need them to be absolutely unambiguous about it.

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[Robert Maxwell]

I think being gay in Hollywood stopped being such a big deal precisely because so many people have come out. People instinctively fear what's different and unusual, and back when everyone was in the closet, most people probably assumed they didn't know anyone who was gay. So how could being gay be normal if you don't know of even a single gay person??

Now, people are much more open about it, and most people probably have a gay friend or two (or more!) But that didn't happen by accident, it happened because enough people had the courage to stand up and announce to the world, "yep, I'm gay." (I think that particular case is a really good example of how far we come in a relatively short time, because this was a pretty big deal when it happened.)

 

[Gryffindorian]

That's not what I heard. When asked about his sexual orientation during an interview, Matt Bomer declined to comment (not that it's any of people's business, really).

http://www.details.com/celebrities-...201001/matt-bomer-white-collar-usa-television

He neither confirmed nor denied he was gay.

"I don't care about that at all. I'm completely happy and fulfilled in my personal life."​

So it was a bit of a revelation to others. Again, that shouldn't affect his career or personal life.

That's not denying it though, is it? If they abstain altogether, it's not ideal but at least it's not lying.

And there are always people who will willfully deny the blatantly obvious. Matt took his husband and children with him to numerous public events, was always seen with them in public, and simply acted as if it was no big deal. Not saying the words "I am gay" to a journalist doesn't mean he was closeted necessarily. And in fact, he still hasn't said those words. But anyone who cared to pay attention would have already known and didn't need an announcement. But as you say, it was a revelation to some, simply because the possibility never even occurs to them unless somebody says those three words outright.



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Good points. Like Ellen DeGeneres, I sort of dislike the term "in the closet" because it suggests hiding something, which is like being sneaky and deceptive. Then again, others simply aren't comfortable being out and open. My philosophy is that I am what I am. I don't necessarily tell people I'm gay or bi, but I certainly won't deny who I am, not that it's any of people's business. I have a feeling that Matt Bomer and a lot of LGBT celebrities feel the same way, and to them, not saying the words "I am gay" isn't about being in the closet.

There are apparently different stages to acknowledging one's own sexual orientation. Some are closeted. Some are open, and some are totally out. I only meant in terms of Bomer's case that he wasn't totally out because he didn't confirm it to begin with.

In some ways I wish I was living 50 years in the future so I could read the tell-all biographies of today's stars. I want to read about Zac Efron secretly doing the middle Jonas Brother on the tour bus.

I'm sure if you look online, you'll even find photos of Zac Efron and the middle Jonas Brother doing it. I think I may have a copy somewhere.

 

[stj]

Since who heterosexual celebrities date is big news, who gay celebrities date is big news. Everybody knows the personal lives of celebrities are covered in extraordinary detail, to the point of obscenity, the repeated announcements that someone doesn't care almost always come across as homophobic. People get up in arms about Tom Cruise and Scientology and you get very few people complaining that this is irrelevant to his performances.

It is also quite uncertain that coming out isn't going to have a negative effect on someone's career. Will Matt Bomer have a career after his cable series? Anne Heche had a meteoric entrance into the movies, much like Jessica Chastain right now. After her much publicized romance with DeGeneres the best she could do was a TV series, years later. Will Neil Patrick Harris actually get significant roles, or will he do cameos and emcee for the rest of his working career? Will Sean Maher really work again? It really is too soon to tell.

The glass door on the closet defense doesn't count because most people are not even close enough to see the closet door. Being open in your private life isn't the same as being open in your working life.

 

[IndyJones]

Their private lives are just that, private. I don't give a damn what they do in bed. Sexuality has nothing to do with their careers. I'm not interested, and quite frankly those who are are just nosy and should mind their own business, IMHO.

Used to have a lot to do with their careers though, or to be more precise, lack of career if they were openly gay. Seems like the times are changing even in Hollywood now.

It can still be dangerous. In America it's legal in 29 states to fire someone for being gay, and in 34 to fire someone for being transgendered.

There are two simple truths here:

1. We are a celebrity obsessed culture, so finding out someone is gay is often as noteworthy as the story it replaced on the gossip page.

2. The biggest factor in shifting the public's opinion on gay rights is whether or not they know someone who is gay. And as long as we're still fighting, every guy who's brave enough to come out is important.