It gets better.

[thefabone]

I recently joined a discussion with friends whether or not gay celebrities should come out of the closet. Some people say it wouldn't matter since "they're still the same person and I'm a fan of them, no matter if they're straight or gay". You can see the same reactions every time someone asks about an actor's sexual preference on IMDb. "It wouldn'

Comments

[shivaluna]

what about jim parson ;) (sheldon in big bang theory) or is he just too gay

[thefabone]

Jim Parsons hasn't officially come out yet.

Und du sprichst genau das an, was ich meine - je mehr Leute sich outen, desto sichtbarer werden wir auch in der Gesellschaft. Ich spreche hier natürlich nur über die Celebs, weil die halt jeder kennt. Aber es gilt natürlich für jeden, auch unbekannte Leute im persönlichen Umfeld - yay for visibility!

[shivaluna]

hat jim parson nicht nen heiratsantrag gemacht bei irgendner verleihung? mir war so...
achso und was ich noch vergass, ich finds sehr großartig wenn gay schauspieler auch straighte rollen spielen, sie quasi nicht durch ihre eigene sexualität in eine rollennische gedrückt werden...es sei denn sie sind einfach von der persönlichkeit her so dass man ihnen das nicht abnehmen würde straight zu spielen, aber dann fehlt ihnen auch etwas an schauspielqualität...
jim parson ist in interviews nicht wirklich von sheldon zu unterscheiden find ich...

[thefabone]

Es gibt Quellen, die von einer Verlobung sprechen, aber ich habe nirgends ein offizielles Statement von Jim Parsons selber gefunden, also würde ich ihn nicht openly gay nennen.

[thefabone]

I can't see why anyone should come out of the closet for the sake of being one such role model alone. At least that is what your posting seemed to imply

I really hope my post did not imply that cause that's not what I wanted to say. Just to make it clear: No one should feel obligated to come out. Like I said, it is a personal decision and everyone should come out on their own terms if they decided to do so (maybe I should have mentioned that). This post was just a response to all the people who said it wouldn't matter at all.

I'm glad you shouted mentioned Kele cause he actually was on my shortlist and one of the last few people I cut off. I think it came down to a decision between him and Lambert and while I don't care for Lambert's music, I really, really hated Kele's solo album. I'm glad he finally decided to come out though (glad for him especially since he always seemed so pained) but, well, this is a personal, short, way incomplete list and that's why I asked you all to add your own favourites here

[mareen]

George Clooney. Jake Gyllenhaal.
Personally, I find it incredibly exhausting to read every other week about their new "girlfriends" and the press speculating about when or if they finally get married.

I honestly wouldn't care either way. It's the pretend that's getting on my last nerve.

You know, when Southland returned last week, I started to wonder how many gay characters there are currently on TV who are not clichés of some sort but the only one I could think of is John Cooper.

[thefabone]

Incidentally I finally started to watch Southland yesterday. Two episodes in and I'm liking it so far.

[mareen]

I absolutely love Southland. I hope you have fun with it. Besides, I just adore John Cooper, gay or not. He's a wonderful character.

[hallowchaser]

ha, well we already did talk about this... and I get it. not that I know what it feels like, but obviously having a good role model helps everyone who is dealing with whatever problem the society might have with their way of living.

I actually laughed at Adam Lambert though. XD just didn't expect him on your list.

Simon Amstell is gay? I didn't even know that... but then I really don't keep up with this.

*cough* yay for Chris Colfer, agreeing 100% with you that he himself is actually a way better role model than his character.

[thefabone]

Simon Amstell is gay?

Yeah, he is, and very open about it in all his work. If you watch his stand-up or any episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, you can't really miss it.

I still don't care for Adam Lambert. I tried to listen to his album but got bored of it after twenty minutes, too bland for my taste. Guess I really could have left him off this list but while it's about my personal faves, I can't deny the impact he makes right now.

[hallowchaser]

I actually missed it... see how much I care. XD no honestly.

you got bored? now that is the first time I heard that someone got bored listening to him. ;)

[long_tianshi]

While I find it somewhat fascinating as well as incredibly annoying how much media coverage most celebrity outings seem to command, not to mention how much time the press, the media, fans and haters seem to spend speculating about/discussing/condemning/joking about other peoples' love lives and/or sexual orientation and in some cases gender identities (Lady Gaga and Bill Kaulitz come to mind here), and I, in general, don't really care who is doing what with who in the bedroom (unless I'm one of those who's), I understand and agree that queer folks, especially those still finding themselves, need visible role models

[long_tianshi]

Enter Thomas Beatie and Balian Buschbaum. It was interesting to see how much controversy ensued over Thomas Beatie within the community itself. Can a transman bear a child after his transition and still (be allowed to) call himself trans? IMO it's very simple. Of course he can. It's his body, therefore it's his decision. And his alone. Honestly, how many men do you know who would, given the ability, bear a baby themselves because their girlfriend/wife couldn't? Probably not that many. So kudos to him. Can I identify with him? Do I feel properly represented to the public eye by him? Somewhat

[thefabone]

Absolutely no need to apologize, I'm really, really thankful for these two comments since I didn't dare to speak for anyone else in my post. I'm sympathetic with other causes, but I'm not part of them and don't really have the insight. I've never even heard of Balian Buschbaum, only of Thomas Beatie.

Lucky for me I don't have to find role models in celebs, partly because I don't really need them anymore and partly because I know some really cool transguys in real life to help me out on that front.

That's great! I'm happy for you. That's the best case scenario.

I just wanna state once again that I've never said celebrities don't have the right to decide about their own coming out just because they're usually living a public life. I'm with you on that point.

And yeah, I often think the public got more accepting and coming outs generate less and less buzz, but then we still have news about teen bullying and gay suicides and violence against all sorts of identities. These are very confusing times we live in.

[long_tianshi]

That's great! I'm happy for you. That's the best case scenario.

It is and thank you :) I also had great luck in the way that testosterone enhanced the "Screw it, I'm doing things the way that feels right to *me*"-attitude I came with factory-set. lol

I just wanna state once again that I've never said celebrities don't have the right to decide about their own coming out just because they're usually living a public life.

I didn't want to imply you did and to be perfectly honest I wasn't too happy with the way I phrased that particular paragraph. But unfortunately, I had already hit post and couldn't edit it any more. :/

These are very confusing times we live in.

Too true. Here's hoping that it will get better indeed, on a grand scale. ;)