Celebrity Homosexuality: Forced Outings

The dominant sexual ideology for the majority of the 20th century that still continues today is one of heterosexuality. Until fairly recently, coming out as gay in Hollywood was rare. Although many celebrities of the past, such as Rock Hudson, pictured at left, were homosexual, admitting so was uncommon because there was a high risk that it would negatively affect their careers. In fact, it was not uncommon for celebrities to file lawsuits or take out full-page ads in newspapers to deny accusations of homosexuality. Because of this, celebrities tended to conceal their sexualities and fervently deny any homosexual rumors that emerged, oftentimes only choosing to come out after their careers had come to a close, if at all. The same stigma was true for non-celebrities. However, the recent gay power movement has started to change this. Today, homosexuality has become much more widely accepted, and larger numbers of both regular people and celebrities are choosing to stop hiding their sexualities and come out on their own. But, although the movement has given hope and a sense of empowerment to gay individuals, coming out of the closet is still a personal decision. Despite this, the media seems bent on exposing homosexual celebrities, ready or not.

The gay liberation movement has created greater social acceptance of homosexuality and has made being gay almost trendy. Many forms of popular culture such as movies and television shows have jumped on the bandwagon and started incorporating gay themes that challenge dominant heterosexual ideologies. For example, the Academy Award-winning film Brokeback Mountain as well as the popular television show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (at right) have both been able to capitalize on this trend. In addition, companies such as American Express and Target are increasingly using gay spokespeople to sell product. The increased visibility of homosexuality in the media has given many people the strength to come out of the closet without as much fear of rejection as in the past. While this empowerment has been beneficial, it can also place pressure on people who are not prepared to out themselves, especially celebrities who are oftentimes viewed as role models and end up being harassed into the open.

The decision to come out is hugely important, yet recently many celebrities are being forced out of the closet against their will by the media. “The media is more willing to ask the question, because being gay has become a more publicly acknowledged fact of life,” said Larry Gross, director of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California. Perez Hilton, for example, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Media” and creator of Perez-hilton.com has made it his personal goal to out as many closeted celebrities as possible. He takes responsibility for exposing both Lance Bass (pictured below on the cover of People Magazine) and Neil Patrick Harris, and routinely accuses celebrities such as Anderson Cooper, Jodie Foster, Kevin Spacey, Queen Latifah, and Ricky Martin of hiding in the closet. He is widely quoted as saying, “We’ve said it before and we will say it again: the closet no longer exists if you are a celebrity or a politician! ... We are throwing down the gauntlet and issue a challenge to all the closeted celebrities out there ... Come out in droves! ... Society will no longer be able to marginalize us!” This insensitive quest ignores the fact that coming out deserves to be done in one’s own time, not out of harassment.

In addition, many homosexuals (Hilton included) believe that coming out is a celebrity’s responsibility to the gay community. “Most of today's movie stars have shirked their responsibility to come out of the closet. There's no excuse,” says author Norah Vincent in an article from popular gay magazine The Advocate. What these people do not comprehend or choose to ignore, however, is the fact that celebrities have their entire careers hanging in the balance. While some, such as talkshow host Ellen Degeneres are able to transition smoothly, others may not be so lucky: “Politicians…find themselves out of a job. Actors find themselves typecast. Singers lose fans. And athletes are shunned by many of their fellow athletes."

While coming out of the closet is life changing for any gay individual, public figures such as celebrities have their entire careers at stake when choosing to do so. Although being gay has become much more widely acceptable and even culturally popular, it can still have negative effects. The media trend of attempting to out people before (or if) they would like to do so themselves in their own time is insensitive to this fact, despite the opinion some share that it is these public figures’ responsibility to come out for the benefit of the entire gay community. While having more positive role models would be wonderful, gay celebrities should not be shoved into this position.