Oh wow, my bad, I didn't mean to come off like that. I don't think being gay should ever be something to be embarrassed about. Lets see if I can rephrase that...
People get unnecessarily excited when a celeb comes out. Magazines will cash in on the news, people will talk, it'll last a week and then it'll be over. Its unfortunate but it happens. Thats Hollywood for ya. I don't think its exactly the kind of attention anyone wants to receive.
Make sense or should I just shut up?
Oh, I didn't mean to come off all self-righteous and judgmental. I agree that there is a good reason why celebrities might not want to come out as gay: 1) too much publicity over their private lives, which some people might want to keep private, 2) the public starts behaving like their sexuality is the main or the only important thing about them, 3) it might limit their choice of roles due to people's narrow-mindedness.
However, I find it funny that celebrities choosing to keep their private lives private and not comment on it even when they're rumored to be gay, is taken as as assumption set in stone that they have to be gay. The philosophy seems to be that a straight person (bisexual people apparently don't exist, as far as most people are concerned) would right away take steps to deny the rumors in every possible way. Which is a very strange assumption. I find that a straight person who's rumored to be gay would have even better reasons to ignore to rumours rather than to address them. At least that's how I'd feel if I was famous and there were rumors I was gay.
1) First of all, it would be, IMO,
incredibly lame to announce to the public that you're straight, especially when nobody has even asked you the question directly in an interview. But even if they do - it all would seem like you're "defending" yourself from an "accusation". In other words,
you'd be implying that being gay is something bad, and that you really need to convince the public that you're not "one of them". Of course, this argument doesn't apply to celebrities who are homophobic themselves. But how about those who believe that there's nothing wrong with being gay?
I've actually known examples of this in my (rather homophobic) country, and whenever a person makes the effort to deny they're gay, this is exactly how it comes off. Several years ago, a certain liberal politician (president of a small political party) was "accused" of being gay by some of the media, just because his party had anti-discrimination policy as a part of its platform, which most of the parties prefer to be silent about, in order not to rock the boat and alienate the voters. He quickly denied he was gay, and he came off very clumsy and defensive, as if he was agreeing to the idea that being gay is a crime or an embarrasment - and my esteem for him dropped several notches. I can't blame him, given the homophobia of the most of the general public here, but I expected better. (It needs to be said that this was several years ago and things are a little better now. A little.)
2) Second - if you actually do address rumors about your sexuality, you are just
giving them more publicity and more weight, and even implying that the gossip columns/websites who are spreading them are credible sources and public forces to be reckoned.
3) Third - chances are that, after rumors have been spreading for a while,
many people won't believe you anyway, and will just see you as a closet gay person who is desperately trying to pretend that they're straight. Because, see, once there is a rumor you're gay, for some people you just have to be gay. You can only come out as gay, stay silent, or be accused of pretending. You'll be the butt of jokes, people will be asking to see your girlfriends (boyfriends if you're a woman, although for some reasons, it seem more popular to spread rumors about male celebrities), and if you actually have a lover of the opposite sex and decide to appear in public with them, there will be many people who will call them 'beards', crack jokes and go on about how much of a sham it is. Would you really want your dignity and the dignity of your partner and your relationship trampled on like that?
4) Fourth - and what if you're
single and have nothing to present to the public, no boyfriend or girlfriend? Does that mean that you have to be tortured with questions like, so why don't you have anyone? How is it possible for such an attractive and popular person?
Is there something wrong with you? I am not a celebrity, but I know that this is the kind of attitude you get from people once they realize that you're single even though you are young, attractive and sociable. And you know what? I'd much prefer if people would start believing that I'm gay and leave me alone, then give me crap like that.
5) Fifth - some people, regardless of their sexual orientation or relationship status, just
want to keep their love life private, period. Why would they have to make it public, just to satisfy some gossip-mongers? Where does that idea come from, that celebrities are obliged to let the public in on every detail of their private lives? Personally, I always felt that going on and on in public and all sorts of magazines about a relationship you're having or have had cheapens it. But if people like to tell the whole world about their life, that's fine, too. However, some people simply
don't.
He should just tell everyone he decided to become a monk.
