Big Gay Closet

“True Blood” vamp Evan Rachel Wood has let it be known: She’s bisexual.

“I grew up in love with David Bowie,” she told Esquire. “So I was always into very androgynous things. Guys, girls … I’m into androgyny in general,” she said, which is why ex-fiance Marilyn Manson was so appealing.

“I’m more kind of like the guy when it comes to girls. Im the dominant one. Im opening the doors, Im buying dinner. Yeah, Im romantic.”

Wood, 23, stars in HBOs “Mildred Pierce” with Oscar winner Kate Winslet, whom she said she’d marry if she could. She also stars in Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator” and George Clooney’s upcoming flick “The Ides of March.” You might have also seen her in “The Wrestler” or “Thirteen.”

“I’m constantly changing, I’m constantly growing. I think I’m a little controversial?” Wood said. “I just try and keep some mystery, so hopefully people can’t really put their finger on it.”

The actress said she doesn’t do drugs, recently quit smoking and doesn’t drink much. But it was her affinity for tattoos and androgyny that she kept revisiting for the mag.

“I’m up for anything. Meet a nice guy, meet a nice girl,” she teased.

Perhaps she’s following in her costar Anna Paquin’s footsteps, who last April famously announced her sexual preferences in a PSA with Cyndi Lauper and Clay Aiken.

via True Bloods Evan Rachel Wood says shes bisexual, into androgyny in general | Ministry of Gossip | Los Angeles Times.

Obviously in any new situation it’s hard to come out — and harder for some than for others, depending on your temperament. It seems obvious she has no trouble with the world knowing — I’m sure she’s aware the cameras are running — , but it seems to be the immediate reaction of her peers that worries her the most. I think that’s pretty normal too.

H/T to Towleroad

Robert Winn met his wife, Christine, in college. He was a fraternity boy. She was a sorority girl. Early in their relationship, he made a confession, a thorny secret he camouflaged from his closest family and friends.

The truth sputtered out awkwardly.

Sensing his nervousness, she speculated he would announce he was sick — or perhaps dying?

He told her he was bisexual.

via The last person out of the closet? The bisexual male – CNN.com.

Should young gay performers still keep their sexuality a secret?

It’s part of the game. If you’re going to be a romantic idol and try to get every teenage girl to love you, then you’d be an ass to come out and say you’re gay. That’s why Ricky Martin was so smart — he did what he did, he made his millions, and then he said, “Guess what, everybody? I’m gay, I’m having this life, and here are my children.” It didn’t matter anymore because he didn’t have to bring in 16-year-old girls.

Since we’re getting into Newsweek territory here, did you buy Sean Hayes as a romantic lead in Promises, Promises?

I thought he was adorable. What’s there to buy? It’s a musical, for God’s sake. We already know the plot, we know they get together in the end, and there’s singing and dancing. What, we’re looking for reality here? It’s so stupid.

What do you make of the cadre of female comics who have come out as lesbians later in their careers?

Well, with comedians it doesn’t mean a damn thing, because there’s not the same romantic thing involved there. No single guy ever had Ellen DeGeneres’s or Rosie O’Donnell’s picture up on the wall and thought, Maybe one day I’ll meet her and she’ll marry me. No one cares what a comedian is. All you’re thinking about is if they’re going to make you laugh.

It’s not too late in life for you to come out, Joan.

I’ll probably do it right before my new show comes out. You should only come out when you need the publicity.

Read more: Joan Rivers Better Work | Film | Advocate.com.

Cybil Shepherd’s youngest daughter, Ariel Shepherd-Oppenheim, attended the GLAAD awards last week with her girlfriend, Carmen Chambers.

This brings us to a total of two non-straight daughters.

When other daughter, Clementine Ford, came out (kind of) in the March 2009 issue of Diva, she said:

For me, there’s never been a distinction about anything to do with sexuality, so there was no declaration to be made. My siblings and I would bring home men and women, and as long as they were human it wasn’t a big thing.

So I guess we should have known?

Howard Selekman knew he had been attracted to men since he was 8, but in his 20s he still planned to marry a woman and have children with her. When he brought his fiancee to see his psychiatrist, the young woman was optimistic, even though she knew Selekman was gay.

“My wife-to-be said, ‘I think love will overcome the obstacles,’ ” he said. “And I will never forget my psychiatrist saying, ‘No, it will not overcome all of the obstacles.’ ”

The next 36 years would prove his psychiatrist right — Selekman never overcame his feelings that indicated he was gay. This year, at age 61, he finally divulged his sexual identity to his brothers, and “went public” through sharing his story on CNN’s iReport.

from CNN

I’m not someone who endlessly talks about her personal life for no reason, but obviously, as someone who identifies as bisexual, those are issues I really care about — and frankly, I don’t see why everyone doesn’t care about them.

[...]

It wasn’t like it was a big secret. It was just a cause I cared about and privately supported, but not one that I had ever had an opportunity to speak out about in a way that would be useful. Obviously I know that one person’s voice doesn’t necessarily do that much, but I just wanted to do my bit.

from Zap2It

Does it matter more if he comes out, or if you do?

“There’s the assumption among gay people that if only this famous person came out, things would be better — and that’s never been the case,” said Eric Marcus, a chronicler of gay social issues, whose books on the subject include “Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990.”

“The most significant effort any of us can make in moving the ball forward in terms of promoting awareness and acceptance of this issue is for those of us who are gay to come out to those closest to us,” he said. “It isn’t ultimately the celebrity that changes people’s minds, or the politician. It’s the individual, one on one.”

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation conducted a survey in late 2008 that looked at the reasons behind society’s evolving tolerance for gay people. It found that the reason cited most frequently by people who reported having more favorable views — by far — was knowing someone who is gay.

Seventy-nine percent of the survey’s respondents said that knowing someone who is gay contributed to their more positive opinions, compared with 34 percent who said seeing gay characters on television was a factor.
from the New York Times

Crowley has been teaching for 33 years and she decided to come out five years ago. “I felt that I had to come out for the sake of younger teachers. We need to be more public,” she says. “After 33 years in the job, I don’t have a fear now that I’ll lose my job, but younger teachers do. They’re afraid they wouldn’t get promoted. They don’t want to risk anything at the beginning of their teaching career.”

Hugh (32) teaches in a village school in rural Co Cork. He changed careers recently, and is still on a temporary contract while he gains experience. Nobody in his staffroom knows he is gay. He speaks from the privacy of his car before he starts the school day.

“I have to be so careful all the time what I say in the staffroom,” he says. “I can never talk openly about my weekend on Monday; about going to a gay club, for instance. I’m very much aware that, under law, I could be fired.”

from The Irish Times

Normally I dispense with colours in the images used on Big Gay Closet. It’s a conscious decision, in order to keep the attention on the wonderful stories that you all have been so good to share with us.

Today, we have colour and lots of it.

A Facebook friend recently posted these images to her profile. I told her I had to share them and she graciously gave me permission. Thank you Jennifer.