# Are you sitting down? Barry Manilow MIGHT BE GAY. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217 "2015-04-09T15:47:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/101 "2017-04-05T17:14:22Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I’ve always enjoyed his music, as well. Yeah, it is nice that he can be honest about his sexuality, now. Oh, and I had no idea he was gay, either, until he came out. No gaydar! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/102 "2017-04-05T17:19:32Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > [http://vistriai.com/gaydartest/](http://vistriai.com/gaydartest/) Your score was 40%. It was rigged, rigged, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/103 "2017-04-05T17:24:07Z")
I got 58.5% - slightly above average. It’d be nice to know how many questions remained; towards the end I thought it might be a gag website and it would just keep going forever. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/104 "2017-04-05T17:24:51Z")
Is the Pope Catholic? Is Manilow Gay? Yep. Heck Barry worked side by side with Bette Midler in the NY bath houses. She was known as Bathhouse Betty and Barry was her pianist. Not that it matters. Manilow is an amazing song writer and performer. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/105 "2017-04-05T17:25:50Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > He never indicated he was gay before, and he actually never pinged my (albeit flawed) gaydar. Writing easy listening songs isn’t necessarily an indicator that a man loves the tender embrace of another man, fyi. > > Richard Simmons’ short pastel shorts and smooth tanned legs, on the other hand, \*are \*a fine indicator of a man loving the tender embrace of another man. He pegged my gaydar. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > [http://vistriai.com/gaydartest/](http://vistriai.com/gaydartest/) Hah! 82%! ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/106 "2017-04-05T17:45:06Z")
My score was 58.5 %. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/107 "2017-04-05T18:26:32Z")
46.7%. My gaydar is worse than random luck. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/108 "2017-04-05T18:28:09Z")
I got 53%. I had a very difficult time with the women and the guys who were not white. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/109 "2017-04-05T18:47:16Z")
57%, slightly below average. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/110 "2017-04-05T19:18:00Z")
So what if he may be gay and why should we need to be sitting down for this ??? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/111 "2017-04-05T19:33:08Z")
Your score was 61.7%. The average score is 58.5%. I’m average. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/112 "2017-04-05T19:42:32Z")
I definitely believe in “gaydar” and that I have it. I’m straight, BTW. I’ve definitely been right about almost every celebrity that comes out, as well as closeted family members, classmates,etc. No, I don’t go around outing people or anything. I just find it interesting, especially since so many people say things like “I never even thought about so and so’s sexuality or cared about whom he sleeps with.” Well, neither do I. I don’t really think about what color hair you have or whether you wearing glass or have a cleft palate or walk with a limp or have a cowlick. I don’t obsess over it. It just seems like it’s there and it is what it is. People will say gaydar doesn’t exist and I’m surely not going spend any time or effort arguing otherwise. I doesn’t matter to me. I just think it’s something I can observe. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/113 "2017-04-05T20:13:27Z")
I would have said I have no gaydar at all, but I got 60%. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/114 "2017-04-05T20:58:56Z")
I got 55%, which is below average, yet still better than chance. But I went into it assuming they were trying to trick me. “Ah, this guy’s wearing Elton John sunglasses and a feather boa. It must be the _other_ guy that’s not straight!” ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/115 "2017-04-05T21:54:03Z")
FWIW, Manilow DID marry his high-school sweetheart, as noted in the linked article. However, it didn’t last. Also, I have zero gaydar. I scored 53% which is just about as well as if I had picked blindly. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/116 "2017-04-05T23:08:02Z")
I got 58.3%. That test helps show that Gaydar exists to some degree. The averages are statistically significant and that is just based on a single picture. It would probably be even stronger with short videos and higher still for interpersonal interactions. That isn’t to say you can always tell but there are usually lots of subtle and not so subtle clues. Oddly enough, I didn’t think Barry Manilow was gay because he had a strong gay stage persona. I just thought that was a part of his act. > **[Does “Gaydar” Really Exist? Here’s What the Science Says - Sex and Psychology](https://www.sexandpsychology.com/blog/2016/9/16/does-gaydar-really-exist-heres-what-the-science-says/)** > > The intuitive ability to determine whether or not someone is gay is known colloquially as “gaydar.” When people use their gaydar, they attempt to make inferences about someone else’s sexual interests based upon minimal information, such as the way a... ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/117 "2017-04-05T23:53:11Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Same thing with me when I found out that Elton John and the Village People were gay. It just never occurred to me to consider it. There were plenty of flamboyant people, right? It was just their personality. > > In retrospect, of course, it becomes obvious that I should have picked up on it. But I didn’t. And that’s hindsight bias in action. I felt the same way when I watched the second episode of _"Feud_ (the dramatic series based on Joan Crawford & Bette Davis feuding and making the film _“Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”_) and when they introduced Victor Buono (who co-stared in WHTBJ) and he said he was gay. Now I’d seen Victor Buono in movies, TV shows (King Tut on BatMan) and I’d never thought of him as gay. Course I never thought of him as straight. I guess his sexuality never came to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/118 "2017-04-06T01:40:26Z")
67%, and I got bored and just started clicking around at the end. No idea if that helped or hurt though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/119 "2017-04-06T05:43:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 67%, and I got bored and just started clicking around at the end. No idea if that helped or hurt though. 🙂 I got 61%. Like some other people here I also became a bit dismayed not knowing how long the test would go on so I sort of stopped trying after a while. I went back and re-did it clicking on the first photo every time. I scored exactly 50%. I wish at the end of the test they had shown the “correct answers”. I’m curious who was what. Maybe they think that’s some kind of privacy issue. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217/120 "2017-04-06T06:26:36Z")
I didn’t not know that he wasn’t gay. I hadn’t really thought about it. Sometimes I wonder these things and mostly I don’t. When facts subsequently emerge on my own suspicion, I’d say I am right 70% of the time or thereabouts. Though when I’m wrong, I’m secretly convinced they are still closeted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sitting-down-barry-manilow-might-be-gay/717217.md?page=7)