You’re seriously asking whether people care about whom attractive young celebrities are having sex with?
It’s not an example at all as he was not out at the time of casting for either. Harold and Kumar was 2004 and How I Met Your Mother debuted in 2005 – he didn’t come out until 2006.
To go a step further, he doesn’t play a romantic lead in either.
A quick Google indicates that the Human Rights Campaign’s Time to THRIVE is a “national conference promoting safety, inclusion and well-being for LGBTQ youth”. They have a conference program up listing a bunch of workshops, special events, and speakers. It doesn’t sound like this is just a press event.
Coming out while attending a gay rights conference seems a lot less odd to me than staying in the closet while attending a gay rights conference.
I’m not pooh-poohing anything, but I am distinguishing featured roles, or roles in independent movies or television with a role as a romantic lead in a big-budget movie. Big budget movies are released in 2,000 theaters on the opening weekend, with a $10+ million marketing campaign. They don’t want to exclude theaters in certain parts of the country that might have a problem with an actor/actress’s sexuality, because the marketing campaign is already paid for.
Just give me a wide-release motion picture that casts an openly gay actor/actress in a romantic role? (Not an independent film, which has a 5th of the budget, and can make money with a 5th of the audience.) I can’t think of one. Anne Heche came out a week AFTER she had been cast with Harrison Ford in 6 Days 7 Nights. Maybe a star at the top of their fame would continue to get a role if he/she came out, like Anne Hathaway, hypothetically speaking, but if the movie failed to make money, I’m sure the producers would lay most of the blame on her sexuality, even if it was an otherwise crappy movie.
And, yes, times are changing rapidly, but you still want to sell tickets in Kansas, Arkansas, Alabama, etc…
I’d be glad to be proven wrong if you have an example; leading romantic role in a wide-release motion picture.
NPH played a straight horndog in the first Harold and Kumar film. And he played a straight horndog pretending to be gay in 2011’s A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
People care about the who, but not about the which gender. As far as actors and actresses go, that ship has sailed. If Ellen Page were a burly linebacker for the Eagles, this would be a story. But she’s an actress that everyone, more or less, already knew was gay.
Like I said, I’m happy for her, but I didn’t realize that “coming out” was still needed for Hollywood actors.
I just watched the video of Page’s speech that’s up on the HRC website, and I can only imagine what a massive hypocrite Page would have felt like if she’d given the first five minutes of this speech and then not come out.
It shouldn’t matter one way or the other. If she’s not bisexual she shouldn’t position herself as bisexual. That wouldn’t be lying by omission, that would be outright lying. Why should she do that?
Her career is not going to be hurt. She already has a lot of projects coming up and that will continue. Just because she does small indie movies like Super and the excellent The East doesn’t mean her career is hurting.
Upcoming:
X-Men: Days of Future Past, the only biggie on the list, but so what?
Freeheld with Julianne Moore, directed by Peter Sollett who directed Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Raising Victor Vargas (I met him at a screening of that).
Into The Forest with Evan Rachel Wood, directed by Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park).
Three others are listed only on IMDB Pro.
Return Of The Ice Kids, which I know will be directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).
**
Queen & Country**, all I know is that it’s based on a comic book.
Miss Stevens - she’s directing that one. Anna Feris is set to star.
I’m not so sure about that… that everyone knew she was gay before the announcement. Those that were cool with it, probably knew, but there are still a significant amount of folks that aren’t comfortable with it, and if they liked her, told themselves she was just a “tomboy.”
I remember years ago, arguing with many older folks that thought gay/lesbians were an abomination, but happened to be big fans of Liberace. I’d tell them Liberace was gay, but they’d get so upset with me and tell me it was just an act and I’d fallen for it. Long time ago, and a different America, but there still exists that element in middle America. And to them Ellen Page just went from being a “tomboy” to a bad, bad woman. Hilarious in one respect, but sad in another.
btw, the only openly gay actress given a lead role (at least semi-lead) in a wide-release picture, was Joey Lauren Adams in Big Daddy, with Adam Sandler. Not exactly a romantic comedy, but she does play the romantic interest to Sandler. So it’s close to my criteria. But her career really didn’t blossom. And I think she’s a better actress than, say, Kate Hudson or Renee Zelwegger, and she’s beautiful. What do you think happened with her career? (and not just rhretorical question, since she had a lot of interests?)
Theron is interesting. Long rumored to be gay. Made the mistake of dating Seth MacFarlane. Which just upped the rumors big time. Now dating Sean Penn who is at the other end of the spectrum. No one would expect him to be involved in a fake relationship.
So all you male Dopers hoping to become Mr. Charlize Theron, just be there when she breaks up with Penn and catch her on the rebound!
Zachary Quinto, as Spock in Into Darkness.
ISTR that the thing that stalled her career for a while was being stark raving nuts, wandering nearly naked in the desert and claiming to be God. That, and breaking up with Ellen.
[QUOTE=Bellhorn;17108364
btw, the only openly gay actress given a lead role (at least semi-lead) in a wide-release picture, was Joey Lauren Adams in Big Daddy, with Adam Sandler. Not exactly a romantic comedy, but she does play the romantic interest to Sandler. So it’s close to my criteria. But her career really didn’t blossom. And I think she’s a better actress than, say, Kate Hudson or Renee Zelwegger, and she’s beautiful. What do you think happened with her career? (and not just rhretorical question, since she had a lot of interests?)[/QUOTE]
Joey Lauren Adams claimed to be bisexual after admitting to being attracted to women while she was in Bali, but I’m not sure if she said that before she was cast in Big Daddy. A lot of people confuse her with her Chasing Amy character, but I could be wrong. I’m not even seeing any indication that she’s openly gay anywhere on the internet, though it’s very possible I’m not looking in the right places.
I don’t know about currently, but at the time she was dating Kevin Smith.
Never mind
Hey, drunk, desperate and depressed. My kind of woman.*
But actually, I think her nutty adventure was a couple of years (2000) after her career went in the dumper.
I have no problem with an actress being a lesbian, but I draw the line at dating Kevin Smith! 
Adding to the irony, Foster met her long-time partner making Sommersby.
If you google Ellen Page and click on “images” it sorts her photos into multiple categories: movies, body, 2013, and boyfriend.
If the world’s largest search engine is sorting people by boyfriend/girlfriend, it’s hard to claim nobody cares anymore.
Wait, a week after she had been cast or a week after the movie was released? Being cast in a role isn’t set in stone. Actors get replaced quite often after they have been cast. Every once in a while, a movie might even be completely re-shot to take out a cast member. Mainstream movies are big business. If they think that a major cast member is going to tank the movie, they won’t just blithely go along after an announcement like that. If they thought that Anne Heche’s sexuality was enough to affect the profitability of the movie, it would have been nothing to drop her from the cast at that early stage.
She was also in a relationship with Vince Vaughn for a while. The current rumor is that she’s in a relationship with a non-celebrity and keeps his or her identity out of the public spotlight.
Wentworth Miller stars in “The Loft” coming out later this summer.
Luke Evans has “Dracula Untold” coming out. But then, he used to be gay and now claims he isn’t.