Elton John comes out in the 1970s - what would be different today?

[Nema98]

@Oakminster

Did anybody really think Elton John was straight?

To add on that did women ever have crushes on him and view him as a sex symbol in the 70’s? I’m sure some did but I’m talking about in general? Like Elton John posters in teen magazines?

Or did people not view him in that way and just saw him as a talented, huge star?

Back to the gay question, I know Elton John was married to a woman from 1984-1988.

[Telemark]

@JohnT

… wait, what? The VP’s public image was all about being openly gay.

And at least two of the guys were straight.

[journeyman_southpaw]

Here’s an NME article from 1974 with Freddie Mercury going on record as stating he’s “gay as a daffodil,” but playing it coy when the reporter pursues that line of questioning further. Queen didn’t do much press after the early years because they were slammed by the media so much and because Freddie was a shy and private person offstage - the few interviews he did give later on were not very revealing at all.

[Jeff_Lichtman]

Elton John coming out earlier than he did wouldn’t have caused the issues surrounding gay rights to be settled decades ago. As has already been pointed out, there were other celebrities who came out in the seventies. There were openly-gay celebrities before then - Cole Porter, for instance. One celebrity’s voice would have made a tiny bit of difference. What did make a big difference over time was large numbers of people coming out - ordinary people, not just the famous.

BTW, Smapti, The Village People were about as gay as you could get. I think they were the first gay-themed pop group. What do you think the song “YMCA” is about?

[up_the_junction]

There has always been a long tradition of pantomime and, for goodness sake, look at Are You Being Served? That began in 1972.

Someone mentions Freddie Mercury - who didn’t exactly try to hide it - and he was part of a very camp group of performers (TV/film/music) who were very open by the mid 70s.

If you’re at all familiar with the ‘Carry On’ series of films you’ll see the camp/gay character back in the early 60s.

I can’t think Elton John would have made any difference either way.

[Novelty_Bobble]

@up_the_junction

If you’re at all familiar with the ‘Carry On’ series of films you’ll see the camp/gay character back in the early 60s.

and taken to double-entendric extremes on the radio program “Round the Horne”. A BBC radio institution in the 1960’s and home to the outrageous characters “Julian and Sandy” (starring one Kenneth Williams). They were basically making anal sex jokes at a time when homosexuality was outlawed in the UK.

[up_the_junction]

It was. I remember my family pottering around in the kitchen on a Sunday listening to it. I was maybe 7. We were all chuckling along to it, I have no idea what I thought I was listening to.

[funky_little_lee]

@Jeff_Lichtman

BTW, Smapti, The Village People were about as gay as you could get. I think they were the first gay-themed pop group. What do you think the song “YMCA” is about?

Not to mention “In the Navy,” where the refrain is:

We want you,
We want you,
We want you as a NEW RECRUIT!

[kopek]

@Oakminster

Did anybody really think Elton John was straight?

You would be surprised. And not just older people like my mother (Oh - he’s just one of those flamboyant British people) but a lot of people my age. In college late 70s. Never understood it much myself but it wasn’t an uncommon belief.

[RealityChuck]

Actually, for a short time in the early 70s, it was cool to be bisexual. Bowie probably broke the ice (though he said later he really wasn’t), but you didn’t get the virulent homophobia in the rock world.

[Kimstu]

@Smapti

I’m not old enough to remember the '70s, but was “coming out” even a thing back then?

Yes, but it was called “coming out of the closet”. Actor Michael Kearns came out in the freewheeling “gay lib” days of the mid-70s, and is widely regarded as the first openly gay actor in Hollywood. It was pretty scandalous, largely because of his accompanying “Happy Hustler” schtick.

Elton John did actually describe himself in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone as “bisexual”.

By the early 1980s, celebrities “coming out” was a recognized concept—Cheers had an episode in 1983 about one of Ted’s former baseball teammates coming out in an autobiography—and although it was still viewed with a lot of suspicion or disparagement, it wasn’t earth-shattering. when it happened.

[up_the_junction]

@RealityChuck

Actually, for a short time in the early 70s, it was cool to be bisexual. Bowie probably broke the ice (though he said later he really wasn’t), but you didn’t get the virulent homophobia in the rock world.

But not actually gay, you’ll notice.

Bowie did it to seem exotic or some such. Who knows what Elton was thinking.

[Sicks_Ate]

@panache45

I came out in 1963, and it was definitely not a *thing. *In fact, being “gay” was not even a *thing. *And being “homosexual” was not something to be open about, because it was considered, at best, a mental illness . . . at worst, a mortal sin. Who would admit such a thing?

Though I came out, being honest about my homosexuality, that’s a far cry from self-acceptance. I didn’t know anyone else who was out. Even in my high school of over 3000 students, there wasn’t one other kid who I knew was gay. And no celebrities.

Even back in the 70s . . . If someone like Elton John had come out, it would have meant a great deal to those of us who were already out, or the people still struggling with their sexuality. But to the general public . . . it may have backfired. Society wasn’t quite ready for that. There was the “Gay Liberation Movement,” but its members were still seen as weirdos and misfits. Society changes slowly, and the 70s were just the bare beginning of gay acceptance. If a major celebrity like Elton John had come out, it would have been very meaningful to *us, *not so much to you. So in that sense, it would have made a slight difference today, indirectly, through some people coming out earlier. You know, the domino effect.

Sorry for quoting the whole post, not quite mastered the mobile version…

But I’d just like to say, from the perspective of a GenX-ish straight man, I’ve really appreciated the insight some of your posts have provided.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@panache45

…Even back in the 70s . . . If someone like Elton John had come out, it would have meant a great deal to those of us who were already out, or the people still struggling with their sexuality. But to the general public . . . it may have backfired. Society wasn’t quite ready for that. There was the “Gay Liberation Movement,” but its members were still seen as weirdos and misfits. Society changes slowly, and the 70s were just the bare beginning of gay acceptance. If a major celebrity like Elton John had come out, it would have been very meaningful to *us, *not so much to you. So in that sense, it would have made a slight difference today, indirectly, through some people coming out earlier. You know, the domino effect.

That’s about how I see it. There were always celebrities, and ordinary people around you, who “everyone knew” were “different” or “confirmed bachelors” or other less-kind words. Even if Elton John had stood atop the Statue of Liberty in the Seventies and proclaimed his gayness through a megaphone to the Big Three networks (we only had three then - now get off my lawn!), I don’t think it would’ve made much difference in the long term.