OMG!!! Zachary Quinto is ...

[Gryffindorian]

Four pages here and countless headlines and comments elsewhere about how people don't care he's gay.

For a lot of people who DON'T care (which I'm not doubting, by the way), this thread has gotten more replies than any I've started in the last six months.

 

[Turtletrekker]

AW COME ON!

I thought this was going to be news of some cool new role for the guy. What a disappointment to see a dispatch from the desk of Captain Obvious instead.

 

[Amaris]

See, I guess I just don't have properly working "gaydar", because I didn't see it. I mean, I kind of hoped, but that's another story entirely.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Four pages here and countless headlines and comments elsewhere about how people don't care he's gay.

I wonder if someone might feel insulted by that. For years you hide it, are afraid, and whatnot, and when you finally come out, everybody says

DUDE, I DON'T CARE!

Except he had good reasons to come out... or more specifically, be public about his private life. The kids who are being bullied for being gay. It gets better... that sort of message.

So, I don't think he was insulted. It wasn't about himself. I'm sure he's thrilled that (straight) people don't care.

 

[Nerd unRage]

I think my gaydar is jammed. First Sean Maher and now ZQ. I'm beginning to doubt all my eye candy now.

Actually, congrats and I really hope this doesn't affect his career (I doubt it but you never know). I just hope people respect his privacy from here on out since ultimately, celebrities private love lives are none of our business. Just like I doubt celebrities care about the private love lives of their fans.

 

[OmahaStar]

I think my gaydar is jammed. First Sean Maher and now ZQ. I'm beginning to doubt all my eye candy now.

Hmm ... Who else is on this list of your eye candy? Tell us, and we'll let you know ...

 

[Nerd unRage]

LOL. Ryan Reynolds, Mark Sanchez, Chris Evans

 

[OmahaStar]

LOL. Ryan Reynolds, Mark Sanchez, Chris Evans

I'm afraid I haven't heard of Mark Sanchez.

Ryan is straight, but gay-friendly. I don't mean he's bi, I mean he's supportive, which is awesome.

Same with Chris. He's straight, but totally gay-friendly, and even fired his manager several years ago after the manager made anti-gay comments. His brother, Scott, is gay and out. He's adorable, too.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Mark Sanchez is a NFL player, and I would be shocked if he's gay. I'm certain his career would be done instantaneously if he came out (that his prospects are that great anyway, but still).

 

[Tom Hendricks]

To the majority of us around here, this news is no big deal. Some may have suspected, some may not even care, some think it was obvious. I agree that someones sexuality should have no impact on how you view this person as a performer. To paraphrase from the movie Philadelphia, "we don't live in this board." Yes, this board maybe a bastion of openness and acceptant but outside these ivory walls, are we any less ridiculed for liking Star Trek and science fiction? I know the acceptance of Geeks and Nerds is moving into the mainstream, however there are plenty of Science Fiction loving people hiding in the closet, for much the same reason. Let be real, while this news is not earth shattering of importance, to be accepted for who or what you are is worthy of any bandwidth it may take up.

 

[Amaris]

To the majority of us around here, this news is no big deal. Some may have suspected, some may not even care, some think it was obvious. I agree that someones sexuality should have no impact on how you view this person as a performer. To paraphrase from the movie Philadelphia, "we don't live in this board." Yes, this board maybe a bastion of openness and acceptant but outside these ivory walls, are we any less ridiculed for liking Star Trek and science fiction? I know the acceptance of Geeks and Nerds is moving into the mainstream, however there are plenty of Science Fiction loving people hiding in the closet, for much the same reason. Let be real, while this news is not earth shattering of importance, to be accepted for who or what you are is worthy of any bandwidth it may take up.

Amen.

 

[WeAreTheBorg]

The only reason this is noteworthy is because heterosexuality is still considered the "default" orientation. I don't know if that will ever change (probably not), but at some point a person needs to declare themselves one or the other in order (or both) to form a lasting relationship.

Exactly, well said. If you're male and you say "I'm in love", the standard reply is "Who's the lucky woman?". I don't see it changing for a long time, either. Though I do believe it will change.

Hold on now... homosexuals are a small minority of the population. Being straight as the default assumption will not change for that reason, and nor should it, unless the population statistics change. To do otherwise is overzealous political correctness.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm not convinced homosexuality is as small a minority as people might like to think it is. Minority, sure, but I have met more than enough gay people to make me think there are a lot more out there than we have been led to believe. And that's just counting the ones who have been comfortable enough to come out about it.

I think the key shouldn't be that heterosexuality is the default because it's the majority orientation. The key should be to not make assumptions about a person's orientation one way or another.

In college, we had two friends named Justin. One was white and gay. The other was black and straight. It would have been so much easier to reference them by their minority traits. However, because we really couldn't care one way or another about those things, we referred to them as "White Justin" and "Straight Justin."

As we progress as a society, I have a feeling sexuality is going to continue to become more and more fluid.

 

[Mr Silver]

Isn't the figure something like every 1 in 10 people are homosexual? If that's the case then it's certainly not a small minority - add to that bisexuals and you're probably talking into the hundreds of millions.

 

[Amaris]

Hold on now... homosexuals are a small minority of the population. Being straight as the default assumption will not change for that reason, and nor should it, unless the population statistics change. To do otherwise is overzealous political correctness.

I'm not being politically correct. I'm being considerate. In our current situation, saying "Who's the lucky woman?" opens up an awkward dialogue. It's presumptive. It's like giving a vegetarian a hot dog and saying "you'll love it!". Granted, it's in an innocent way, and should be met with a level of reason in that same spirit, but that doesn't make it politically correct to encourage changing one's presumptions.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'm not being politically correct. I'm being considerate.

People who repeatedly drum against "politically correctness" usually are just annoyed because they can't be inconsiderate with impunity any more.

 

[JarodRussell]

As we progress as a society, I have a feeling sexuality is going to continue to become more and more fluid.

So it's a social thing? Learned behavior and so on?

 

[Amaris]

I'm not being politically correct. I'm being considerate.

People who repeatedly drum against "politically correctness" usually are just annoyed because they can't be inconsiderate with impunity any more.

Agreed.

As we progress as a society, I have a feeling sexuality is going to continue to become more and more fluid.

So it's a social thing? Learned behavior and so on?

No, but people will be less afraid to voice those feelings than they have been in the past. I mean, it's not like homosexuality has just appeared out of nowhere, but for many centuries, merely professing to be gay was enough to get you killed.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm not being politically correct. I'm being considerate.

People who repeatedly drum against "politically correctness" usually are just annoyed because they can't be inconsiderate with impunity any more.

Agreed.

As we progress as a society, I have a feeling sexuality is going to continue to become more and more fluid.

So it's a social thing? Learned behavior and so on?

No, but people will be less afraid to voice those feelings than they have been in the past. I mean, it's not like homosexuality has just appeared out of nowhere, but for many centuries, merely professing to be gay was enough to get you killed.

Not just that, but I think people may discover that they are more comfortable expressing their sexuality with members of different groups. People who today might delcare themselves heterosexual may find, as society becomes more and more accepting, that they are more willing to experiment and more willing to accept "deviant" urges that they would have otherwise suppressed.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Meh, I think people will continue to have preferences of some kind.

There will definitely be more acceptance of different ones, yes, I do agree on that.

But I don't exactly think we'll all become a planet of Jack Harknesses.