Big Gay Closet

Quinto seems to see himself in transition. He asks if he can record our conversation, for, he explains, “archival purposes … I just find that there’s something about looking back on interviews, whether for purposes of remembering what I said about something or if it’s for posterity when I’m 75 … I find that communication as an actor and person is an important part of who I am … and I’m really drawn into the psychology of those dynamics.

For one thing, he’s willing to unambiguously talk about his sexual orientation. His eight-month role in Angels was both “the most challenging thing I’ve ever done as an actor and the most rewarding” he says. Having to inhabit that terrible lost world, if only in his mind, took a toll. “And at the same time, as a gay man, it made me feel like there’s still so much work to be done, and there’s still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed.”

via Zachary Quinto on His Latest Film, ‘Margin Call’ — New York Magazine.

And from his own blog:

when i found out that jamey rodemeyer killed himself – i felt deeply troubled.  but when i found out that jamey rodemeyer had made an it gets better video only months before taking his own life – i felt indescribable despair.  i also made an it gets better video last year – in the wake of the senseless and tragic gay teen suicides that were sweeping the nation at the time.  but in light of jamey’s death – it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it – is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality.  our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered citizen of this country.  gay kids need to stop killing themselves because they are made to feel worthless by cruel and relentless bullying.  parents need to teach their children principles of respect and acceptance.  we are witnessing an enormous shift of collective consciousness throughout the world.  we are at the precipice of great transformation within our culture and government.  i believe in the power of intention to change the landscape of our society – and it is my intention to live an authentic life of compassion and integrity and action.  jamey rodemeyer’s life changed mine.  and while his death only makes me wish that i had done this sooner – i am eternally grateful to him for being the catalyst for change within me.  now i can only hope to serve as the same catalyst for even one other person in this world.  that – i believe – is all that we can ask of ourselves and of each other.

By 14, Matranga, didn’t want to pretend anymore. So she handed a note to a classmate at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School in Kenner, scrawled with the words, “Pass it on.”

Inside, she wrote: “My name is Jeannette Matranga. I am gay and I’m proud of it. If you have any questions or comments, meet me at the second tree during second lunch.”

via Gay people are coming out younger | NOLA.com.

So Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is history. This is what that means:
The second video is considerably harder to watch than the first. His mom starts quoting the Bible.

Telling his Dad

Telling his Mom

“I have these beautiful children and this extraordinary family and to think in any way shape or form that that’s wrong or that there’s shame in that or that there’s something to hide actually turns my stomach.”

“What would [my daughter] think if I said, ‘Oh honey, you can’t come with me to work because they don’t know I have an adopted daughter and they don’t know that I’m gay.’ My children and our family, I’ve really never been as proud of anything in my life. I couldn’t be happier at this point in my life, and I feel like we’ve created this pretty extraordinary family.”

via ‘Firefly,’ ‘Playboy Club’ actor Sean Maher reveals he’s gay | Inside TV | EW.com.

John Barrowman

There was a period before I was in the public eye when I wasn’t out because I was still coming to terms with things. I think a lot of people are in the closet for personal reasons and that’s fine. But if they’re in the closet for a career reason, that’s just stupid. It’s 2011 – get out!

via Torchwoods John Barrowman: I love that Tom Jones sings from his crotch | Metro.co.uk.

Things really are changing. I think John Barrowman’s answer here really represents a lot of sentiment out there about people who stay closeted for their careers.

This story was submitted to us online by Jesse.

Most people are born with none to very little baggage; I was born with a sack of it. I came out of the womb covered in red tape.  June 4th 1992 is the day I like to call the “Red tape Day”, But you can just call it my Birthday. But this story starts before that, nine months to be exact.

My biological mother, “Robin” was a prostitute among many other things. Adopted when she was a baby she never knew her real parents. Her grandfather raped her when she was a child, so she continuously ran away from home. She ran away to a little town in South Carolina called Loris, but I’d prefer to call it Home. She met a boy there by name of Eddie. They started dating, and she became very good friends with his mom, Mary, The woman that I call my mother.  Well she was found a few months later and token back home. Many years later my mother met a man in Boone NC, and he got her pregnant.  The baby was promised to his mother, my biological grandmother. But one day my grandmother came home and caught her drinking while she was pregnant with me, and they got in to a fight and she left.  She called up Mary (my mother) and told her she was pregnant and didn’t have anywhere to go. At this time Eddie was in jail for armed robbery and kidnapping.

Read the rest of this entry »

At age 37, Jared Max came out on his New York sports radio show yesterday. He came out to his mother 16 years ago, and has been out with close friends and family, but not professionally.

You can listen here. It’s 7 and a half minutes worth listening to as he talks about recent sports figures who’ve come out and given him the courage to do so too.

Are we ready to have our sports information delivered by someone who is gay? Well we are gonna find out. Because for the last 16 years, I’ve been living a free life among my close friends and family, and I’ve hidden behind what is a gargantuan sized secret here in the sports world. I am gay. Yeah. Jared Max. The sports guy who is one of the most familiar faces in New York sports isn’t quite like the majority. And while you already knew I was a little different, this might help make sense of it. But more so, I’m taking this courageous jump into the unknown having no idea how I will be perceived…
transcript via Towleroad

I’ve always known that I was gay. Well before I had even heard the word, or knew its full implications. I never believed it to be wrong, how could love be so? But growing up in a small country town in Australia with a combination of conservative Catholic parents and religious schooling, I knew it was a difference I had to keep secret. Back then, there were no openly gay people or role models to be seen. I felt very alone. Sometimes I wanted to tell people close to me what was going on, but I remained absolutely terrified, fearful of being rejected and losing them.

I was a shy kid, not naturally inclined or interested in sport. That was always going to be a problem at school. I was one of those kids who wanted to believe no one knew the truth, meanwhile I was pressed against the glass doors of my self-imposed closet like a big gay butterfly for all the world to see. Sensing that, they quickly closed in. Though I was generally a good student, my school years increasingly became something to be endured rather than enjoyed. Constant homophobic taunts rang in my ears. In the last few years of secondary school, the new AIDS epidemic hit the world. The initial highly homophobic backlash that came with it only pushed me even further into that closet, and raised my fears.

Read the rest of this entry »

He finally admitted to himself that he was gay. It left him lonely and depressed.
“I felt like I would never, ever be in love,” Challender said.

He thought about suicide, and developed a stutter. He felt so awful and fearful in public restrooms, he’d cross the street to use a bathroom.

By his junior year, however, he was able to talk with friends about it, and they were supportive. He started to accept being gay and told his family.

Today as an 18-year-old senior, Challender has taken a bigger step, telling his story publicly in a video posted two weeks ago on YouTube as part of the national “It Gets Better” Project.

Out of the closet, onto YouTube – A gay Bozeman teen shares his struggles – The Bozeman Daily Chronicle: News.

 

Glee star Jane Lynch said that she was unsure when, if ever, gay actors would land romantic leading roles because of the profit imperative in the film industry.

Lynch expressed her doubts in an interview with AfterElton.com that was picked up by outlets including The Hollywood Reporter.

“I don’t know when or if that will ever happen,” said the lesbian actress, according to THR. “…This is a business of projection and desiring people from afar … so there has got to be some truth to it, in terms of, ‘I could see myself with that person.’ Because the leading man and lady are the person we want them to fall in love with, and most of the audience is straight. So for right now, we can only use straight actors.”

Jane Lynch Doubts Lead Roles for Gay Actors | News | The Advocate.

This is kind of weird. I mean, all Jane Lynch has to do is look across the set at two of her openly gay co-stars who are regularly stalked (and one was once held hostage in an elevator by young women) to see that people will still become infatuated with an actor who is not perceived as available to them.

Maybe that’s all new. Bring on the future, and let’s stop letting the stupid past ruin everything.