Out On the Limb

Recently it seems like a slew of celebrities have been coming out. Just this year, we’ve welcomed Ricky Martin, Sean Hayes, Chely Wright, Jennifer Knapp, and Anna Paquin (even if it’s just bisexual) to our ranks. However, despite the monumental moment in their lives… according to the New York Times’ Jeremy M. Peters in his article Coming Out: When Love Dares Speak, and Nobody Listen, no one seems to care.

In many ways this revelation is great news – has the American public suddenly accepted the LGBTQI population with open arms? Has being gay become as normal as being African-American or Latino? I’d say that’s hardly the case… but, as a gay lady, I do find it moderately promising that the public has more or less accepted these out celebrities. In this regard, I agree with Peters’ musings, that’s about where it ends.

He goes on to suggest, “The relative indifference Americans have these days about high-profile people coming out appears rooted not only in progressively tolerant views of gay people but in the rather cynical supposition that stars wait to come out until they see a financial benefit, or have little to lose.”

Really? That’s what it’s come down to? Looking back, I hardly see that as the case… Melissa Etheridge announced her gayness in 1993 right around the height of her career. Luckily for her, she is crazy talented and is still putting out music almost 20 years later. On of our favorites, Ellen (she doesn’t even need a last name anymore), came out in 1997. These two women broke the ground for lesbians in the nineties… yes, there were some before and many alleged, but ask any lesbian that’s come in within the past 15 years – these were celebrities that helped make it easier.

When Mr. Peters suggests the notables coming out now have “little to lose”, I beg to differ. Take Chely Wright – a country music star that was at her height in the late nineties and early millennium. Her most famous track being Single White Female where she sings “a single white female is looking for a man like you”. Even more shocking, Jennifer Knapp, a Grammy award winning Contemporary Christian artist. Neither have had an active career within the past five years of so… but who can blame them? Living a lie and hiding a part of you in order to keep a career? Pressure from money hungry label executives to maintain an image suitable for your audience? Being gay would’ve killed their careers in 2001. So they stepped out of the spotlight and tried to regain their life. Now, when they’re ready for the consequences and ready to empower young women to avoid their mis-steps, they’re perceived as coming out to boost album sales. Ouch.

I give them more credit than that. At the climax of their careers, being gay and in the public eye wasn’t that easy yet. Ten years has brought much more acceptance to our nation, but not enough. Nothing to lose you say? Is Knapp’s newest album being sold in Christian music stores? Is Wright’s new single being played on country radio? Nope and Nope. (Check out what FoxNews had to say about their album sales)

However, another point in the NYT article focuses on the lack of affect out celebrities have on the average person’s tolerance of gays. It also emphasizes the importance of queer individuals coming out to those around them in order to truly keep the ball rolling towards complete acceptance. I completely agree that knowing a gay person is the best way to accept them. Surveys have proven this fact, knowing a gay person contributes much more to some one’s positive views than seeing someone out in the limelight.

I think of the 14 year old girl that’s struggling with her sexuality, living in the small-town, and scared to tell her parents or best friend she has a crush on the cute girl in the band… or the boy on the football team that’s just as manly as the rest, but doesn’t want to take a girl to homecoming. These are the one’s that need celebrities to keep coming out. Seeing successful people have good and fulfilling lives while being gay make coming out much easier. So, while the heterosexual world may continue to shrug their shoulders as more an more famous people come out… we gays will applaud and welcome them because we know what it takes to be gay.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.