Shouldn’t a person’s sexual orientation be something that is THEIRS to decide what to do with?
How a person deals with it isn’t something anyone else should be allowed to have an opinion on.
If Cooper feels comfortable coming out now, that’s fine. But being private, for however long he wanted to be, is fine too.
This is the exactly how I felt. I WAS actually shocked that he came out this week. Because I thought he came out a long time ago.
To me, it’s not even a personal issue.
“I’m human, white, male, and gay”. All accidents of birth. And I do think that being dodgy about it makes it a bigger deal than it is.
While I do understand, really, why he refused to make an issue out of it for so long, I don’t feel that making the world easier for bigots is a good idea, and I’m glad he finally acknowledged that it’s no bigger of a deal than anything else factual about a person.
Hopefully we’re approaching a time when the response will be “Who cares?”
But in order to get there, the people involved have to view it as a non-issue. Being coy about it intimates that it is a big deal.
Dude, I remember spotting his name on a list of gay, non-closeted public figures ages ago. Did I dream that?
I’m all for celebrities, especially those who try to make their celebrity be about their work and not their fame, getting to be private. But when the public has been speculating about a well-known figure’s sexual orientation for a long time and that figure refuses to say anything about it, it implies that there’s something about being gay that’s not just “private” but shameful. How many straight CNN correspondents would refuse to tell an interviewer that they were heterosexual? How many times do straight celebrities casually mention a wife or a husband in an interview?
A person’s significant other, if he has one, is an important part of his life. The vast majority of the population, famous or otherwise, doesn’t feel the need to hem and haw about their privacy when the subject of a spouse or boy- or girlfriend arises. I’d really like to see the day when the rest of the population doesn’t have to worry about that, either. As more celebrities - hell, more people of any type - are upfront about their sexuality, that day gets more and more likely to occur.
Your move, Sam Shepard
I honestly don’t care if he felt any need or obligation to tell us. Apparently he has always been honest with the people close to him and I’m glad to hear it.
Exactly.
Why it Matters That Anderson Cooper Came Out as Gay- well written and concise article that explains why it is a fairly big deal even though everybody knew, although
1- Cooper’s comments about visibility said it very well also
2- Did she really have to use the word “blowback”?
3- Heyyyyyyyyyy Opal
From that article:
I’m not an especially sentimental person, but while that may sound like glurgey overstatement, I actually think it’s probably true. Few gays would even deny how overexposed gays have become in pop culture, but many straights forget how much prejudice they still face, especially in the provinces.
Does Cooper (or any other person who may still be in the closet) owe anything to the gay community at large?
That’s a lot of responsibilty to place on another person’s shoulders, especially when they didn’t ask for it…
Thing is, that last bit on your list is not immediately obvious to an observer. People tend to consider non-obvious things to be private. I agree with you that sexual orientation is not a big deal, and further that homophobes are assholes. But I see nothing wrong with someone declining to share their sexual orientation with the public, just as I see nothing wrong with declining to share one’s political views, or religious beliefs, or favorite source of delicious, delicious waffles. (I’m hungry - and adulthood means I can have waffles for dinner!)
Sorry - got off-track here. My point is that there was nothing wrong with Cooper making his orientation public or keeping it private - both were perfectly valid and equally moral options. We do have a duty to fight bigotry - but we can do that perfectly well by condemning bigotry directly, which Cooper has done repeatedly and well.
We rarely ask for the burdens we must bear.
(I think he and Tim Gunn would make a nice couple.)
[QUOTE=mlees]
Does Cooper (or any other person who may still be in the closet) owe anything to the gay community at large?
[/QUOTE]
In the sense of should he be legally compelled to out himself, obviously not, and I think anybody who outed him against his will (i.e. provided some kind of proof of his orientation) would be a sorry piece of manure since
1- Cooper has never actually denied being gay
2- Cooper has never spoken or worked against gay rights
(I have no sympathy to the forcible outing of somebody who has denounced gays and worked against gay rights, even if it leads to their professional ruin or their suicide.)
In the sense of does it make him a less likeable person if in spite of being financially independent and with some power he nevertheless “maintains neutrality” during an extremely important and far-from-over struggle, *I personally *would argue that it does, but I understand how others might disagree.
Tim Gunn revealed earlier this year that he hasn’t had sex since the early 1980s. If he started dating Cooper I’m afraid he’d look like Gollum within a few weeks.
I guess Katie Holmes just found her next husband!
My sources tell me she’s currently writing “Mrs. Senator Lindsey Graham” and “President Lindsey Graham 2016” with hearts over the "i"s.
I spend a relatively small amount of time thinking about Anderson Cooper. I had assumed it was widely know he was gay. Still, I’m glad he felt comfortable making his announcement; it says something good about the changing climate in America.
She’s got great comedic timing, but I’m not sure she has that edge that you need to be a pro-gay comedienne type. Unless, of course, you’re saying he needs someone who is not that type of comedienne.
Ms. McCurdy still comes across like a kid’s comedienne, at least, in what I’ve seen of her. I’m sure some of that is her role on iCarly, but still. Ms. Griffin may be a horrible person, but she has that level of bitchiness that works in a comedienne, and I’m not sure Ms. McCurdy is up to that level.
Also, I’m sure her fanbase is still younger than that.