Big Gay Closet

He’s not trying to keep it a secret, he said it on Chelsea Lately and allowed Ryan to big him up for it at the GLAAD awards thing etc, but he does not actively volunteer the discussion without being prompted by the interviewer and even then, he doesn’t expand much on it nor does he invite further questioning. He does tend to keep those discussions steered towards his character rather than himself. Now this doesn’t bother me one bit and I actually quite respect him for it because I understand he would want to focus on his new career he’s been dreaming about his whole life rather than becoming a poster child for a cause. He’s still very young and very green and it’s not his responsibility to represent every member of a very diverse community, but that has not stopped some people from complaining about it and interpreting it as a lack of pride or a failure of his responsibility to the gay community.

by Esme via Glee – How important is sexuality? – Glee Forum. The Fansite and Forum for FOX’s Glee.*

While the initial question was very on-topic, the discussion has gone to interesting places, discussing Mika, Michael Urie, Neil Patrick Harris, T.R. Knight.

Is it every famous gay’s responsibility to represent us loud and proud? I’d say no, but when some of them (and I’m talking the older, settled, comfortable queers here) dismiss their influence and ability to motivate the community, I’m saddened by how little they want to be seen as a representative of the community. And I always burst with admiration for those who do decide to step forward.

*I found the discussion because they linked to the post about Mika. Thanks guys!

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Happy Chocolate Day to you all!

As many of you know, I’ve been in London for the past week, and if things seem like they’ve been a bit slow around here, it’s because I’ve been very very busy seeing amazing people and having more fun than is probably legal.

But, this week should be back to more regular posts, and saying that, we’ve had some really fun stuff happen last week.

To recap!

I started the week explaining that coming out is never boring, and therefore your story is definitely interesting. So, write your story and send it to me

We all sat around and remembered Neil Patrick Harris coming out. I called him Doogie, yes I did.

Then, all Hell broke loose when Ricky Martin — yes, that Ricky Martin — blogged his way out of the closet. It was a big deal. And yeah, I know Twitter was full of “water = wet” comments, but coming out is always a big deal, and in Latin America it still can be a bit of a scandal. So, well done, Ricky.

And then, a real little You Tube find, was Lt. Dan Choi’s personal coming out story. I just thought that was neat.

This was followed up by an original coming out story called “Moms Say the Darndest Things”, which was really popular, and well read. My favourite part of this blog is the original coming out stories. I’m going to do my best to increase the number of those that we publish.

Right, and after that, I wrote a completely outlandish April Fools’ Day post about the adorkable Rachel Maddow that made no sense whatsoever and a bunch of you believed it. Not only that but some people thought it was a bit too much, so it went in the bin, and I explained it all here.

I am theorising that all of you who believed it lost your ability to think critically when Dr. Maddow became the subject of discussion. Um, discuss.

And finally, Anna Paquin, who plays sweet but fierce Sookie Stackhouse in the TV vampire drama, True Blood, came out as bisexual and came out fighting for the rest of us. Need more reasons to love her? Really?

Looking forward to bringing some great stories to you next week, but we need stories too! I know loads of you out there have had fantastic journeys to get where you are right now, and all I ask is a snippet of that to share with the world.

Thank you all for hanging around in the Big Gay Closet, it’s been neat and fun (and stuff).

I remember my shock — delight — on finding out that Doogie Howser grew up to be gay. Not much cooler than that.

In telling the story to Ellen, he says he noticed a bit of interest about his life and felt like coming out was the best option.

In reality, he was outed in the press. An article in late October 2006 on Canada.com linked him with Broadway actor, David Burtka (they’ve been together since 2004), and Harris’ publicist subsequently released a statement outright denying that he is gay.

Not a week after his publicist’s statement, Neil Patrick Harris came out officially in People magazine.

The public eye has always been kind to me, and until recently I have been able to live a pretty normal life. Now it seems there is speculation and interest in my private life and relationships. So, rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love a lot.