Bridget Loves Bridget (Meredith Baxter comes out)

[It's Not Rocket Surgery!]

Without comment except for the pun in the title:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091202/...eredith_baxter

[Don Draper]

What would arch-conservative Alex P. Keaton think of his mother and her new general contractor girlfriend? Ha, that'd be a very special episode I'd like to see.

[silenus]

Alex wouldn't mind. He and Skippy have been married for years and happily running a B&B in Vermont.

[panache45]

Good for her. And nice to know her family and friends are so supportive.

[Uosdwis R. Dewoh]

This would be bad news for Chef if he wasn't, you know, dead. Link

[kunilou]

It sounded to me like it was a case of "come out or be outed" and she was none too happy to go public.

[Wile E]

I was more shocked that the Family Ties cast member who came out wasn't Tina Yothers or has she come out at some point and I missed it?

[Kolak of Twilo]

Gotta admit I wouldn't have seen this coming in a million years. Good for her.

[Sitnam]

How do you find out that late in life that you're a lesbian? She says she wasn't 'living a lie', but I have a hard time believing she wasn't in deep denial and to me that's 'living a lie'.

[choie]

Wouldn't "Bridget Loves Bridget" be a tale of masturbation? What, you couldn't go with "Bridget Loves Bernice"?

It's good to hear that she's happy and her family (esp. kids) are glad for her. That's really all that matters.

[twickster]

Originally Posted by Sitnam

How do you find out that late in life that you're a lesbian? She says she wasn't 'living a lie', but I have a hard time believing she wasn't in deep denial and to me that's 'living a lie'.

If you know something and deny it, that's a lie.

If you don't -- or can't let yourself -- know something, that's just sad.

[ZipperJJ]

Most of the time when celebs come out as gay I say "no shit!" but this one was a shocker. Not a shocker in a bad way but a shocker in that I wouldn't have guessed it.

Glad she's got support, tho. And hopefully since she's one of those "well loved" celebs (I think?) the public will support her too.

Side note: I told my brother about it and he said "too bad, NICE boobs!" which is honestly something he's never said to me in the 30 years I've known him. I've never heard him comment on any female sexually, ever. I said "still nice, at 62?" and he said yes. So since he bothered to mention it and bothered to expound, I'd suggest that Merideth has the best boobs ever.

[panache45]

Originally Posted by Sitnam

How do you find out that late in life that you're a lesbian? She says she wasn't 'living a lie', but I have a hard time believing she wasn't in deep denial and to me that's 'living a lie'.

This happens way more often than people think. Most of the gay men I know around my age (50s, 60s) had been married with kids, and had no idea they were gay for many years. Repression can be a powerful thing.

[FriarTed]

Uh, maybe with some people, sexual preference is a lot more fluid than is commonly thought. So perhaps she wasn't gay & then came to a point in life where she was- maybe only with her present partner.

[Trans Fat Og]

Originally Posted by panache45

This happens way more often than people think. Most of the gay men I know around my age (50s, 60s) had been married with kids, and had no idea they were gay for many years. Repression can be a powerful thing.

I just had a thought...

How about a top-ten list of clues that finally make you really wonder whether you have not really been your basic heterosexual all of these years?

Of course, maybe I should just go now and check refdesk.com to see whether letterman has done just that...

[Tom Tildrum]

She said in another article that she deliberately made bad relationship choices with men.

She explained that she deliberately chose to be with men with whom she clashed, so that she could blame them for the end of the relationship. “It never occurred to me to think, oh, [the problem is] me,” she said.

This is sad to read, but at some point, if you know you're making bad choices and you're not examining yourself to find out why, ISTM that you're kind of being a user and a bit of a jerk. Hopefully things are working out better for her now.

[Markxxx]

Originally Posted by FriarTed

Uh, maybe with some people, sexual preference is a lot more fluid than is commonly thought.

I totally agree with this. In the past you were pressured to make a choice AND stick with it.

Now no one cares about labels, especially young people. A lot of young ones have the attitude of "I'm horny and it doesn't matter what sex if all I'm looking to do is get off quickly."

There's less stigma today so it's becoming a matter of "Whoever's available at the moment."

[Markxxx]

Originally Posted by choie

Wouldn't "Bridget Loves Bridget" be a tale of masturbation?

That's actually pretty darn funny

You could make a living writing porn titles

[Icerigger]

So Steven Keaton should have had that affair after all, he even had matching socks.

[Walloon]

Originally Posted by The New and Improved Superman

What would arch-conservative Alex P. Keaton think of his mother and her new general contractor girlfriend? Ha, that'd be a very special episode I'd like to see.

When Chastity Bono came out, her Republican dad was cool and accepting, while her Democrat mom freaked out.

[NDP]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

Most of the time when celebs come out as gay I say "no shit!" but this one was a shocker. Not a shocker in a bad way but a shocker in that I wouldn't have guessed it.

Glad she's got support, tho. And hopefully since she's one of those "well loved" celebs (I think?) the public will support her too.

That's all well and good but (and I know I sound like a cynical asshole for suggesting this) what does Meredith Baxter now have going on career-wise? She doesn't have to fear much of a homophobic backlash since she's at the stage of her career where she's mostly cashing residuals from "Family Ties". If she had done this 20 (or even 15) years ago, that would 've been gutsy.

[Bryan Ekers]

Originally Posted by kunilou

It sounded to me like it was a case of "come out or be outed" and she was none too happy to go public.

It's not fair! It's not fair!




Oh, wait, that was Burgess Meredith.

[Koxinga]

Originally Posted by Markxxx

I totally agree with this. In the past you were pressured to make a choice AND stick with it.

Now no one cares about labels, especially young people. A lot of young ones have the attitude of "I'm horny and it doesn't matter what sex if all I'm looking to do is get off quickly."

There's less stigma today so it's becoming a matter of "Whoever's available at the moment."

And yet I suspect that anyone suggesting that "homosexuality is a choice" will still be quickly tarred and feathered around here.

[jackdavinci]

So she contracted the gay from her contractor? I thought it had something to do with fixing houses.

Originally Posted by Sitnam

How do you find out that late in life that you're a lesbian? She says she wasn't 'living a lie', but I have a hard time believing she wasn't in deep denial and to me that's 'living a lie'.

Living a lie means the denial is very shallow, not deep.

Lots of people come out late in life. Probably she isn't strictly lesbian but somewhere close to bisexual. Or it's possible social conditioning is such that it didn't even occur to her that the idea of gayness could apply to herself, until very late she thought about it and had that 'aha' moment. It's amazing the things that might never occur to you until they are pointed out by someone, and then they suddenly become obvious.

[panache45]

Originally Posted by Koxinga

And yet I suspect that anyone suggesting that "homosexuality is a choice" will still be quickly tarred and feathered around here.

Not the same thing at all.

[tumbleddown]

Originally Posted by FriarTed

Uh, maybe with some people, sexual preference is a lot more fluid than is commonly thought. So perhaps she wasn't gay & then came to a point in life where she was- maybe only with her present partner.

She said that she had an affair with a woman prior to her third and last marriage to a man. So there were clearly inklings, but she wasn't in a place where she could accept her truth. Kelly McGillis tells a similar story, she went through two failed marriages and affairs with both men and women before and after before she was able to look at herself in the mirror and say "I'm a lesbian."

I'm really bothered that this is yet another gossip blog outing. I mean, of all people for Perez Hilton to feel it necessary to push out of a glass closet (Baxter wasn't exactly hiding her relationship, after all) why her and why now? Cheap and tacky, Perez, but then, that's him in a nutshell.

[tim-n-va]

Originally Posted by The New and Improved Superman

What would arch-conservative Alex P. Keaton think of his mother and her new general contractor girlfriend? Ha, that'd be a very special episode I'd like to see.

Not much more than a wag of the finger.

[Cubsfan]

Who gives a shit?? Seriously. Pit thread below.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=542355

[Koxinga]

I think Alex P. Keaton would have gone into spasms over this.

[handsomeharry]

Originally Posted by Cubsfan

Who gives a shit?? Seriously. Pit thread below.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=542355

Well, yeah, I was gonna say...

[corkboard]

I totally don't get the 'Bridget Loves Bridget' thing.

[Sigmagirl]

Early in her career, Meredith Baxter was in a sitcom called Bridget Loves Bernie, with her first husband, David Birney. It was about an uptown Irish-American woman who married a Jewish cab driver. It was based on the 1920s play Abie's Irish Rose.

[Don Draper]

On a whim last night, I plugged Meredith Baxter's name into the youtube search engine, and got this clip. Remember the show "Family" from about ten years before "Family Ties"? Anyway, when taken out of context and in light of recent revelations, the dialogue from this scene seems to have a funny subtext.

Link.

[corkboard]

Originally Posted by Sigmagirl

Early in her career, Meredith Baxter was in a sitcom called Bridget Loves Bernie, with her first husband, David Birney. It was about an uptown Irish-American woman who married a Jewish cab driver. It was based on the 1920s play Abie's Irish Rose.

Gotcha, thanks. I knew everything in your post except the name of the sitcom, which is sort of the keystone to the whole thing.

[Walloon]

Meredith sure was pretty.

[Northern Piper]

Originally Posted by silenus

Alex wouldn't mind. He and Skippy have been married for years and happily running a B&B in Vermont.

Gary Goldberg, the producer of "Family Ties" commented last year on "where is Alex now?", when he speculated about who Alex would have voted for:

For what it’s worth Michael J. Fox and I have differing opinions about just where Alex Keaton is today. I believe he does pro bono legal work for the Children’s Defense Fund.

Mike thinks he’s just now getting out of prison.

[muldoonthief]

Originally Posted by Koxinga

I think Alex P. Keaton would have gone into spasms over this.

I see what you did there.

[Don Draper]

Originally Posted by Walloon

When Chastity Bono came out, her Republican dad was cool and accepting, while her Democrat mom freaked out.

FTR, if you re-read my first post, you will notice that I did NOT make any mention of Alex Keaton being a republican, but a conservative. Yes I am well aware that there are as many democratic homophobes as there are gay republicans, but conservatives in general have made a very specific point of demonizing homosexuality.

And also, there were numerous episodes of "Family Ties" built around the premise that Alex believed a woman's place was in the home raising the kids and cooking in the kitchen. One episode in particular had Alex and his mother Elyse (Baxter) taking a small-engine repair class together - Alex became infuriated that his mother excelled at the class,while he floundered. I think the notion that, if Alex's mother had come out as a lesbian (as the RL actress has) and had a g.f. who was a general contractor, the g.f.'s occupation would upset him more than his mother's sexuality. He'd be bothered by a woman doing a manly job that he would likely not be good at.

[panache45]

Originally Posted by corkboard

I totally don't get the 'Bridget Loves Bridget' thing.

Should actually be "Bridget Loves Bernadette."

[Walloon]

Originally Posted by The New and Improved Superman

I think the notion that, if Alex's mother had come out as a lesbian (as the RL actress has) and had a g.f. who was a general contractor, the g.f.'s occupation would upset him more than his mother's sexuality. He'd be bothered by a woman doing a manly job that he would likely not be good at.

Are you talking about the Alex Keaton of the 1980s, or how Alex might think of it today? People's opinions do evolve over time, especially when an issue involves a family member.

[AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet]

Kelly McGillis tells a similar story, she went through two failed marriages and affairs with both men and women before and after before she was able to look at herself in the mirror and say "I'm a lesbian."

Yup. Sexuality is just such a complex confsuing thing. Heck.....even at 30 I'm still not sure if I'm full on lesbian or bi. Even the girl in my high school class who was so screaming gay that everyone in the class knew she was gay back in second grade had a tough time figuring out she was gay. The only person I know who didn't have a problem with same sex attraction, is my current girlfriend......and she was all confused a few years ago when she realized she liked guys too...LOL

[Sage Rat]

Originally Posted by Sitnam

How do you find out that late in life that you're a lesbian? She says she wasn't 'living a lie', but I have a hard time believing she wasn't in deep denial and to me that's 'living a lie'.

Bisexual?

[Susanann]

Originally Posted by Kolak of Twilo

Gotta admit I wouldn't have seen this coming in a million years. Good for her.

On the other hand, I suspected/expected/detected it a long time ago.

[Markxxx]

Originally Posted by Koxinga

And yet I suspect that anyone suggesting that "homosexuality is a choice" will still be quickly tarred and feathered around here.

As a gay man I agree one sexual's orientation is NOT a choice.

But a sex act does not a homosexual make nor does it make a straight man.

I could have sex with women all I want, but I still wouldn't be straight. I would be a gay man having sex with women.

[Markxxx]

Originally Posted by Walloon

Meredith sure was pretty.

Did you notice as each year went by her outward appearence was gettig more and more "butch," simlar to Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneress

[Walloon]

I notice that of a lot of post-menopausal women. (But Ellen DeGeneres does not look "butch" to me.)

[panache45]

Originally Posted by Markxxx

Did you notice as each year went by her outward appearence was gettig more and more "butch," simlar to Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneress

Older people of both sexes tend to be somewhat more androgynous than younger people. Look at some really elderly people, and often you really can't tell who is what.

And this is true of pre-pubescent kids as well. Our biology exaggerates our masculinity/femininity during the years when we need it most. The circle of life.

[Susanann]

Originally Posted by Markxxx

Did you notice as each year went by her outward appearence was gettig more and more "butch," simlar to Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneress

Have you ever seen year-by-year photos of Jamie Lee Curtis??????????????

[aceplace57]

I recall seeing Meredith Baxter in Family Ties. I always thought she was cute, but not all that sexy. Then one night I watched the Breast Cancer movie she made. There's a scene in there that nearly knocked me off the sofa. Who knew Mrs. Keaton was stacked? The way Meredith dresses you'd never suspect she's related to Dolly Parton.