http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/03/29/ricky-martin-gay/
When Sean Hayes "came out of the closet" a few weeks ago in an article, falsely claiming he was in, I think we all yawned. Let's start with the obvious, "We" already knew He was a gay actor. If Sean Hayes' physical mannerism didn't point him being a fussy mo', his career pattern did. Post Will and Grace Sean Hayes was relegated to character actor status staring as the villain or whimsical peripheral character in kids flicks. Not that he could do much else but play that... Sean Hayes doesn't really come off as versatile *hey no "pun" intended..i think*. The point is that it was absolutely no secret but he played it as such. I would have rather had him come out as a middle aged Lesbian woman who for 8 years played an annoying gay, Gay-male stereotype, The Theater Queen. The irony would be rich and raw. Yawn.
At some point in the middle of the day I got an message on facebook from a friend who attached an article stating Ricky Martin declared he was a homosexual man. Oh really now?! The world stopped turning for 5 minutes as i caught my breath.... I had just finished running 5 miles. I've been a non-repentant smoker for 6 years.
I find it rather insulting these days that in the day and age of Johnny Weir and Adam Lambert, Big companies funding marketing divisions to to cut campaigns tailored to the gay and lesbian consumer with all that disposable income...and lets not mention the glut of openly gay head honchos a television stations and film studios, that these once A-List stars decide to come out of the closet to a press in amazement, jumping at interviews seemingly on the backs of a much younger generation who are beginning their careers out of the closet and facing both an embrace from a segment of middle America while still being somewhat patronized for their bravery by the GAY PRESS. Johnny has been laughed at by many while still capturing attention...but it's laced with a bit of joke in there somewhere. On the other hand you have Evan Lysecek, clearly homo and clearly closeted is now the American Olympic Hero of the minute and dancing away on one of Americas favorite television events, Dancing with Stars. Is Evan being rewarded for being closeted? Was Ricky Martin right to stay in the closet during the height of his career? Are both missing out on an opportunity that Johnny Weir and Adam Lambert took up without apologies?
See, what i am getting at is that although I do not believe any celebrity should be "forced" out of the closet, Staying in that box perpetuates notions that you can not have a successful career and be out. I DO believe the days of Rupert Everett, who famously declared coming out the worst decision he made in his career. And He was right. But he broke some ground while breaking his career. Hey you gotta Break some eggs....
By staying in the closet, hell yeah the perception that you must keep your orientation a secret for "demographic reasons" is going to be and stay quite true. I look at Lambert and Weir as somewhat products of my generation that caught the first wave of gays and lesbians breaking into the nascent expanding media. Cable allowed more avenues to be explored. MTV gave us the story of Pedro Zamora on the Real world, and Ellen at the Height of the success of her Sitcom, came out as lesbian on and off screen. The next year you had Will& Grace and in 2000 Showtimes Queer as Folk, followed by The L word. I was 17 when Queer As Folk debuted the fall of 2000. I had just came out to my mother and she was prepared, a little frightened of what would come next, but accepting nonetheless. To this day she muses on how Queer As Folk served somehow as window into my life, To get closer to me through these characters and their mothers. That bred tolerance in her and understanding compassion for the process.
I think The new wave of Non-come-out stars are partially due to those steps taken in the later half of the 90's and earlier part of our last decade. I wonder right now, IF Ricky would have come out when Barbara Walters asked him if he was a homo back in 2000, what would have occurred. Walters recently remarked she regretted asking him that question, hinting she might have helped destroy his career..which I don't personally believe. But what would have happened. Fuck George Michael and Elton John came out and actually rode a resurgence in their careers thanks to the "come out". Now the power of coming is lost. We shrug and move on.. because we actually don't care. And because we don't care- that should be sign enough that things HAVE changed. If you come out, you help to further diminish old rusty rules that no longer need to exist in this world. They only continue to live because celebrities are clinging to the closet sighting privacy in a world where now a sex tape can get you a reality show on E television and then a spokesperson gig for Carls Jr. or at least a spot on Celebrity Fit club.
These are just reverberations of a post i posted a few weeks ago in reference to Sean Hayes.
My bottom line is that "coming out" is sooooo 1999. Get over it just BE out. I have much gratitude for the Weir and Lambert... my examples i've been touting this entire entry. I see them now as unsung anti-heroes to the perverted logic that one can not be who they are in order to be an entertainer.
Lysacek could do right NOW, what Ricky Martin didn't do. Come out and show America "Hey, Openly gay men can get medals too." Ah That will never happen.. well not soon. It's a shame, just like Tyler Perry could come out of his closet and possibly shake up Religious African American views on homosexuality existing in their community.
A boat missed.
I guess a part of me understands that who you fuck shouldn't have an impact on who you are in the public eye...but unfortunately it does. If homosexuality weren't a class of people that were subject to discrimination then I could understand it better. The whole "my sexuality is my business" is a very 70s way of thinking. In my opinion it just means the person saying that is chicken shit and I don't have much respect for them.
ReplyDeleteExhibit A = Anderson Cooper makes my skin crawl. Every faggot in NYC knows he's gay. They all know he's fucking some bartender in the East Villaige and he has been for years. Come out already. I realize you're a "journalist" and maybe you don't think that's relevant...but I have fucking NEWS for YOU Anderson. We all know Diane Sawyer is fucking married to a guy. We all know Matt Lauer likes pussy. Get the fuck over it you over-privileged, pseudo-intellectual, disaster chasing piece of shit. You like to have your head banging on your headboard with some hot bartender behind you. Own it.
I think queers in the public eye owe it to the rest of us to be honest. It's not like other minorities that cannot easily hide who they are. Like Wanda Sykes said "I didn't have to come out as black." By not saying something these queens think they're not sending a message. But in reality they are sending a message. By not being honest about who they are they're telling the world that (1) they're ashamed of themselves, and (2) anyone else like them should also be ashamed of who they are.
Ricky, better late than never.
And go fuck yourself Anderson.
You're right on target Gabe. Our times are more media saturated than ever. The world is smaller due to the magnified power of the tabloids microscope to the point where nothing is sacred, certainly your sexuality. Being in the closet was not what it use to be, hence the "glass closet"- so whats the fucking point of being in the closet when in actuality you are not. You now look like a bigger prick because EVERYONE knows you are but you fail to admit it, so you continue the preserved perception that you are marred minority. Your sexuality is not acceptable thus off limits to freely talk about. You end up halting all progress. Then there's the "I don't wannabe a poster boy/girl for a the gay movement"..well if more of you fucking came out, the spot light would be spread and you could hide in the vast sea of celebrities who happen to homosexual..and you can achieve that ideal "It doesn't matter moment".. but they can't seem to see it that way.
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