Famous Queer Folk - The Gossip/Rumor thread

[urnofosiris]

I see that Sarah was engaged to a man around 2000-01. Wonder when and how she wandered over to our side of the street?

Makes a refreshing change from actresses who run into holy straight matrimony after years of single life as soon as the are they gay rumor ´hits the fan´.

[Culzean]

Well, this is neither gossip nor rumor, but I wasn't sure where to place this post - Melissa Etheridge was nominated for an Oscar for best song.

The song is "I Need to Wake Up" from the movie "An Inconvenient Truth."

She's up against three songs from Dreamgirls so I don't know that she'll win, but still - Way to go Melissa!!!

[urnofosiris]

Feel free to start an Oscar thread and post this there as well, we usually have an Oscar thread every year and this is a good start for a new one.

[Willowlicious]

I suppose this could go in the Grey's Anatomy or How I Met Your Mother threads, too, but it seemed to go best here. It's an AP newspaper article about openly gay actors in Hollywood.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ ... TE=DEFAULT

[xita]

I don't know if you all know how blind items work. The gossip gives clues as to whom the person might be, but it doesn't quite give it away.

The L word

This hot, young (well young-ish) TV and movie princess has always had a string of gullible guys panting for her face, figure, fame and bank account wherever she goes. Although Murg hates to be the one to break the news to this pretty doll, she is way past her adolescent "experimental" phase, so maybe it's finally time for her to face the deeper reasons behind her long, long string of broken romances, her frequent nights out at hip Hollywood female strip clubs, and her tendency to indulge in serious tongue tangoing and groping with her girlfriends whenever they all get a little tooted up. Which is often. Denial is not a happy place girlfriend

Now looking at this old blind item, I wonder if they meant Britney Spears, In Touch magazine this week has some article about all the girls she hooks up with.

[urnofosiris]

Could very well be, I heard about that rumour on Dutch tv this week. The youngish remark makes it sound like it refers to someone older, I mean to me 25 is young, period, but the author of that blurb may have different ideas about when one ceases to be just young. TV and movie princess does not necessarily mean she has to be a particularly gifted actress so it could be her.

[JustSkipIt]

Not a rumor. Did you hear that Suze Orman came out?

[Kieli]

Anyone who's ever been a fan of Are You Being Served? will miss John Inman, that fabulously fey Mr. Humphries. He died of Hepatitis A today:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/08/1173166886017.html?from=top5

He will be sorely missed by his fans.

[Gatito Grande]

I can't believe no one's remarked on the "Carmen Electra and Joan Jett: GAY AND IN LOVE!" tabloid buzz.

GG If true, I hope they work out. Carmen Electra's always seemed to me to be a mere Creature o' the Tabloids, but whatever... Out

[Kieli]

I can't believe no one's remarked on the "Carmen Electra and Joan Jett: GAY AND IN LOVE!" tabloid buzz.

GG If true, I hope they work out. Carmen Electra's always seemed to me to be a mere Creature o' the Tabloids, but whatever... Out

I could probably guess why no one's commented on that. We keep hoping that Joan has better sense

[Gatito Grande]

So I was watching the Tony Awards tonight (aka "the GAYEST night on TV!"). Yes, there was Cynthia Nixon w/ her butch-irrific grrlfriend (and there was Liev Shreiber, unfortunately w/ my girlfriend, Naomi Watts. Sigh. )

And there was the requisite number of guys thanking their boyfriends and partners . . . including David Hyde Pierce! (who won Best Leading Actor in a Musical for "Curtains")

So, did I miss this? I thought for freakin' years, all through the "Frasier" era, DHP did an INSANE lil' song&dance (as it were), about how his sexuality was "private" "nobody's business" and all the other lame-o phrases people say when they're gay, gay, gay, Gay, GAY!!!

GG So did DHP actually COME OUT tonight, or did he finally Get Over Himself some time ago, and I just didn't hear about it? Out

At any rate, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, David!!!

[Shaucker]

So did DHP actually COME OUT tonight, or did he finally Get Over Himself some time ago, and I just didn't hear about it?

I thought that DHP was already out, and just quiet about it. Or maybe I just assumed he was gay.


I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who watched the Tony's (a.k.a. the Gay Superbowl). In my household, it's an event. At some point, I made a catty remark about Jerry Herman, and my father has never looked prouder towards me...we're a very queer family.
I'm going to refrain from bitching about the winners, and say that most of the numbers were well done, almost all of the acceptence speeches were too long, and that now it's going to be impossible to get tickets for Grey Gardens or Company. See, I didn't say anything critical about Spring Awakenings or how overrated and poppy it is.

[Knock yourself out]

David Hyde Piercecame out a couple of weeks ago. I had always assumed he was gay rather like I always assumed Neil Tennant was gay so their coming out was the surprise.

[erith]

Ah yes 'Frasier' where Frasier, Niles and Gil were not exactly the butchest of guys but completely straight.

GG So did DHP actually COME OUT tonight, or did he finally Get Over Himself some time ago, and I just didn't hear about it? Out

What did he need to get over, GG? I hope we're not going to criticise people who don't want to talk about their sexuality or stay in the closet.

[Gatito Grande]

Call me crazy, but if you're a "public persona" (e.g., a regular on a broadcast TV show) asked by a member of the press (NOT in a dark alley w/ a knife to your throat---or other body parts!) "Are you gay?", the correct answer is either "Yes" "No" or possibly even "I don't know".* Not "that's my business": SHOW business is your business, so SHOW already (or else tell! )

I hope we're not going to criticise people who don't want to talk about their sexuality or stay in the closet.

Everybody? No. Celebrities, like DHP in the Frasier-era, Yup.

GG YMMV! Out

*Or if you're GG (not a celebrity!), then the answer is "Sort of."

[Ben Varkentine]

FWIW, I think people should be allowed to keep their sexuality private if that's what they wish to do. Whether they're in show business or not; but the reality is, in show business, being openly gay does affect your career.

Even playing gay does (ask Amber).

This was probably moreso during the years when Frasier was airing, but it's still true even today. Why do you think 97% or something of the women on The L Word are either "openly straight" or coy?

And the people who made Frasier always showed themselves to be pretty progay, with some of the stories they told. That seems to me more important than if Pierce chose to stay in the closet for whatever reasons, personal or professional.

What I criticise is somebody like Jodie Foster, who would not exactly shock any of us if she came out. But instead she chooses to stand with homophobes like Mel Gibson.

It's hypocrisy like that which bothers me, and so far as I know, David Hyde Pierce was never a hypocrite.

[maudmac]

I'm ambivalent about this. I can see both sides of the issue and I think both sides make excellent points. Someone else's sexual orientation really isn't any of my business and I don't think celebrities automatically give up their right to privacy. If things were different and no one cared much about the private lives of celebrities, but we were all really interested in the private lives of, say, chemists or nurses or janitors, would it be true that becoming a chemist, nurse, or janitor means you no longer have any business saying "That's private" when asked about your romantic life?

On the other hand, it is true that the more LGBT people a person knows, the less likely they are to be homophobic. And it's true that LGBT people as a group are oppressed to some extent. It is important for us to come out and make ourselves known to those around us, as this improves our chances of attaining full equality. Especially important would be high-profile people such as celebrities, because their influence spreads much further than yours or mine does - their coming out can change the minds of far more people and I think they ought to feel that they have a social responsibility to do so.

For me, the only clear-cut cases in which I have no ambivalence whatsoever are cases of LGBT celebrities or others in positions of power and influence (be they actors, athletes, politicians, or whatever) who actively work against our interests. In my view, they should be outed whether they like it or not, whether it's any of our business or not. If a celebrity who is LGBT does not work actively against our interest, I think they should come out, but I'm not sure I think we have some right to their openness.

[Ben Varkentine]

it is true that the more LGBT people a person knows, the less likely they are to be homophobic. And it's true that LGBT people as a group are oppressed to some extent. It is important for us to come out and make ourselves known to those around us, as this improves our chances of attaining full equality. Especially important would be high-profile people such as celebrities, because their influence spreads much further than yours or mine does - their coming out can change the minds of far more people and I think they ought to feel that they have a social responsibility to do so.

I can absolutely see the first point-that personal experience lessens homophobia-and I agree. What I'm less convinced of is the idea that celebrities coming out has the same effect.

I'm not saying I know for sure that it doesn't, I'm just not completely convinced. I worry, at least, that it's just as likely a lot of people would see them as some sort of exception.

You know, the "I hate homos, but that (name of gay celebrity) sure is funny, ain't she/he?" thing.

[maudmac]

True, true. I see what you're saying. That's a good point and I'm sure there are some people who would react exactly that way. "Oh, David Hyde Pierce, he's not like those other fags."

[urnofosiris]

I find myself in agreement with Gatito on this one. If every gay/bi actor, singer, politician, althelete etc etc came out of their respective closets tomorrow it would be a day too late. It´s not as if I want to know their favorite sexual position or sex toys or whatever. I just want to know who they are. If they stopped hiding or denying that part of themselves, it might encourage more closeted ´regular folks´ to come out to their families and friends, and maybe that would change some minds. It surely would not be easy whether you are famous or not, nor will it end homophobia, racism has not been erased by ´good publicity´ either, but it will help. Just like it is important to have a fair LGBT representation in fictional TV shows or movies, I believe it is important to have recognizable real life people to identify with as well.

As for Jodie Foster, whether she is gay or not, I can better understand her defense of that man if she really feels they are friends than I can understand why anyone who is either LGB or T would vote for a man who would rewrite the constitution of a country if he could to forever deny equal and basic human rights for all.

[Ben Varkentine]

As for Jodie Foster, whether she is gay or not, I can better understand her defense of that man if she really feels they are friends than I can understand why anyone who is either LGB or T would vote for a man who would rewrite the constitution of a country if he could to forever deny equal and basic human rights for all.

I can't understand either of it.

[erith]

I think the guidelines we have at the Kitten Board regarding Amber and Alyson's private lives should apply everywhere. I have no more right to know about the private life of any celebrity than any stranger I would walk past in the street.

Having said that staying in the closet especially when you're in a longterm relationship sounds like far too much work to me and if you have children it must virtually impossible.

[Gatito Grande]

So I downloaded a podcast on the situation of Gay Christians in Nigeria? Very responsible, very serious story, right?

Then as I began to listen to the audio, it started with about 30 seconds of gossip!

Factoid #1: "Jodie Foster and her girlfriend showed up together at the Trevor Project Dinner in New York".

That closet door is swingin' open wider and wider! 'Bout time, Jodie!

(I'm guessing the usual celebrity photo sites might have pictures?)

Factoid #2: [listen close, this is complicated] "Wentworth Miller of Prison Break [we'll remember him around here, as a swimmer who "got fishy" in the ep "Go Fish"] is dating Luke McFarland of Brothers and Sisters, who is the ex of T.R. Knight!" [of Gray's Anatomy]

Geez, I thought only lesbians had circular dramas like this!

GG Did NOT know that about Wentworth Miller Out

[JustSkipIt]

So I bought the new Entertainment Weekly with Jodie Foster on the cover and a "Candid" interview with her. Of course the 2nd or 3rd paragraph started by saying that there was one topic that wasn't going to be discussed. Then mentioned her and Anderson Cooper on the cover of Out (kind of) and her saying she had no response.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, one one hand, she absolutely deserves the right to her privacy. She's an incredibly hard-working and talented woman who went through a major trauma at a young age. That could make anyone very private.

On the other hand, I kind of feel sorry for anyone who is in the closet. I mean I think it hurts your soul if you can't love who you love and tell those around you. And that's another thing: maybe she does say who she loves to those around her. I mean maybe (I hope) her kids and parents and best friends all know her truth. But if not, then I would feel very sorry for her.

I don't know...

[maudmac]

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about it, too. I really wish she'd just come out officially, but it does seem that the way she lives her life, she's about as out as she could be without holding a press conference. Her kids share her partner's last name for goodness sake. On the other hand, it's her life and her business and when people ask me personal questions, I don't always feel that I owe them an answer or a complete answer. I am open about being gay, but I'm not necessarily open about every single thing about myself.

[Culzean]

I like Cynthia Nixon's approach. She freely admits that she is in love with another woman, and will volunteer that she's very happy, but that is all she will say.

She draws a line in the sand between her personal and professional lives. I know some hetero actors do the same. In such an intrusive business they really need to have boundaries.

Jodie Foster should so whatever makes her comfortable, but she would probably have less to deal with if she took the Cynthia Nixon approach.

[Kendahl897]

I think Jodie would have the same approach to her privacy whether gay or straight. I think her experience back in the 80's with Reagan/ Hinkley and that whole mess put up a wall for her and that wall will stay in place til she dies. She makes no active attempt to try and hide what she's doing, ie living with another woman, kids taking the name etc, she just seem to simply not want to talk about her non-professional life.

[emma peel]

Kendahl897, I'm glad you brought up the John Hinkley Jr. connection to Jodie Foster. If I was her, I'd definitely maintain a low profile the rest of my like. Hinkley was obessed with her.He loved Taxi Driver, wrote Jodie love letters, transferred to Yale to be near her, actually spoke to her a couple of times, even wrote to her telling her about his wanting to assassinate Reagan, which he tried to do in 1981.
The guy's a dangerous psycho nutcase, a real whacked out stalker.
It's nice for folks to come out, but in Ms. Foster's case, I'll cut her a whole bunch of slack.

[JustSkipIt]

This one is confirmed and I'm going to say that he counts as a famous (although fictional person):

Albus Dumbledore is Gay.

[xita]

That's interesting though I am not sure why she never said so in the books. Probably cause they are aimed at children.