# Has Any Famous Person Who "Came Out" Ever Truly Surprised You? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867 "2010-02-21T13:52:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/201 "2010-02-25T19:22:56Z")
I just read [this interview](http://www.avclub.com/articles/guillermo-diaz,38591/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=avclub_rss_daily), and was very surprised to find out that Guillermo Diaz is gay. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/202 "2010-02-26T15:48:00Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > It’s said, though he never came out, that actor Van Johnson, all-American boy in countless peppy movies, was gay. Surprise! Really? Check him out in old Batman TV episodes and in the movie “Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows”… ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/203 "2010-02-26T15:53:57Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Well I just found out Reginald VelJohnson, who played the dad on Family Matters is gay. That surprised me almost as much as Raymond Burr. You never saw him in “Posse”, did you? He “let his hair down” enough to trigger gaydar! ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/204 "2010-02-26T18:50:24Z")
Ian McKellen and Portia De Rossi both surprised me a little. Rob Halford, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/205 "2010-03-01T04:23:05Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Okay, you’re all going to have to give me a break on this one. So I was slowly getting into the fantasy genre, having read LotR when I was 13, and I think the first movie came out that year. I had never seen Ian McKellan in anything else (I didn’t come from a movie watching family). > > So imagine my surprise when I’m watching the Oscars and it shows a shot of him holding hands with this much longer man. I was like…okay, that’s not the way you hold hands with your son, so…whoa, he’s gay! > > Okay, you can stop laughing at me now. I was surprised too. He’s an old theatre actor and they’re all immensely camp: there’s no mileage in guessing who’s gay and who’s not. The only reason I only realised he was gay was because he became more famous and he lives near me. AFAIC, all those camp actors are so much on the verge that you are surprised they ever open the closet door to come out, and that’s where the surprise lies. > [@AppallingGael](#): > > Samantha Fox (the Page Three girl/recording star, not the porn star, who I don’t know about). I wasn’t surprised by that, though I don’t know why. Perhaps me growing up 5 miles and 5 years away from her, with the same name, and constantly being compared to her, made me think she must be gay too. 😃 [Amanda Barrie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Barrie) was a surprise to me. She was Cleo in Carry on Cleo and was in Corrie, and was just someone of my mother’s generation. Then she came out. It’s made me read more about her, and she seemed like such a lovely woman. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/206 "2010-03-01T06:33:20Z")
> [@davidw](#): > > I just read [this interview](http://www.avclub.com/articles/guillermo-diaz,38591/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds&utm_source=avclub_rss_daily), and was very surprised to find out that Guillermo Diaz is gay. I didn’t know this and it surprises me. I only know him from WEEDS but he certainly never pinged the 'dar on that show as the mid-level drug lord (would that be a prince-pin?) who sexed up and then played sexual cat-mouse games with Nancy Botwin (who is, incidentally, possibly my least favorite TV heroine of all time). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/207 "2010-03-01T08:04:23Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Charlotte Rae is gay? If not, then I am totally confused. I’m referring to that lady that people recently made a Pit thread about, and I could have sworn one of the clips offered showed Ms. Garret on Diff’rent Strokes (or I found it on Google looking up the name.) Turns out it was Meredith Baxter. How in the world? I have a poor memory for people’s real names on TV, but how could I have not known who that was? I’ll be in my little corner now… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/208 "2010-03-01T18:16:09Z")
This thread has surprised the hell out of me repeatedly. Can we sticky it and just keep adding to it? (I loved that Bronson Pinchot interview. Assuming he’s being honest, not being an ass, I loved the dishing! 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![HotSmoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d9b06d/32.png) [@HotSmoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HotSmoke)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/209 "2010-03-01T18:19:44Z")
Very surprising thread. I am still trying to get my mind around the fact that Raymond Burr was gay. Daniel Travanti was kind of shocker as well. I was kind of surprised to find out that the author,Augusten Burroughs,is gay. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/210 "2010-03-01T18:49:11Z")
> [@HotSmoke](#): > > I was kind of surprised to find out that the author,Augusten Burroughs,is gay. You must not have read his books. They’re ALL about his gayness. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/211 "2010-03-01T20:08:43Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Seeing **George Nader** on the Wiki list made me think of **Jeff Chandler** (beefy handsome types), so I looked him up. Married with children but per Wiki, Esther Williams broke off an affair with Chandler because (she says) he was a cross-dresser. I’m not sure transvesticism always equals homosexuality ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/212 "2010-03-01T21:15:05Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’ve seen Seth Green on several openly gay lists. While I don’t know if he is or isn’t and wouldn’t be surprised either way (I’ll admit he pings my gaydar and always has), to my knowledge he’s never come out. [Not gay](http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/02/25/seth.green.engaged.ppl/) ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/213 "2010-03-02T21:31:37Z")
Musicians: **Bob Mould**. Don’t know why. The music he played (with Husker Du, anyway) just seemed so stereotypically “straight”. Ashamed to admit this one, but also **Freddie Mercury**. Of course, I was young when Queen was big and not so aware of such things, but it seems to me many (Americans) didn’t get it. Which is really odd, as it couldn’t have been more obvious in hindsight. **Rob Halford** not so much - Creem magazine always used to allude to it in their articles on JP. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/214 "2010-03-09T15:55:14Z")
Just saw that \*\*Sean Hayes \*\*[has come out in the new issue of The Advocate](http://www.ivillage.com/sean-hayes-gay-will-and-grace/1-a-122552), though “coming out” may be the wrong term since he says “I was never IN.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/215 "2010-03-09T15:59:57Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > Just saw that \*\*Sean Hayes \*\*[has come out in the new issue of The Advocate](http://www.ivillage.com/sean-hayes-gay-will-and-grace/1-a-122552), though “coming out” may be the wrong term since he says “I was never IN.” The chest pains… the shortness of breath… is this a heart attack I’m having or just shock… He was always in the “I don’t talk about it one way or the other” crowd, which is Hollywood Latin for “I’m gay” in 99 out of 100 cases. (The 100th case is [Dan Futterman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Futterman), who played so many gay roles he didn’t want to come out as straight.) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/216 "2010-03-09T16:01:08Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > Just saw that \*\*Sean Hayes \*\*[has come out in the new issue of The Advocate](http://www.ivillage.com/sean-hayes-gay-will-and-grace/1-a-122552), though “coming out” may be the wrong term since he says “I was never IN.” Bullshit. He went out of his way to never say the G word unless he was talking about the manic idiot he played on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/217 "2010-03-09T16:38:56Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > He was always in the “I don’t talk about it one way or the other” crowd, which is Hollywood Latin for “I’m gay” in 99 out of 100 cases… I have to laugh at this, 'cause you ask any man you know is straight, “are you gay”? And the first thing he’ll say is “No,” not “I don’t want to talk about it.” From: _All In The Family_ > [@](#): > > Mike) “Rosey” Grier does needlepoint. Would you call him a fruitcake? > Archie) There’s no such thing as a colored fag. > Mike)What? > Archie)You don’t believe me? Walk up to any colored guy and ask him, “Are you a fag?” Your tonsils will be wearing your mustache. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/218 "2010-03-09T16:47:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Bullshit. He went out of his way to never say the G word unless he was talking about the manic idiot he played on TV. What I used to love about that show in its early days was that every article would go out of its way to mention Eric McCormack’s wife, no matter how brief or non-sequitur. I don’t know if this was NBC or McCormack’s publicist, but it was totally obvious. It stopped just short of “The series is a hit in places as diverse as New York City and even Arab, Alabama, where it is believed star Eric McCormack’s wife has distant relatives” or “WILL & GRACE star Eric McCormack, who by his own choice has performed cunnilingus on his wife and possibly other women because he’s straight, is 36 today” type stuff. I didn’t see the TV movie in which Sean Hayes played Jerry Lewis, but I know that Lewis was really pleased with it. I wonder out of curiosity if Lewis, who’s famous for making homophobic comments (misogynist also but Hayes is a homo rather than a miso) knew Hayes was gay. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/219 "2010-03-09T17:28:19Z")
Jerry Lewis’ dog knew that Sean Hayes was gay. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/220 "2010-03-09T17:35:13Z")
Yeah but his dog isn’t a megalomaniacal self absorbed narcissist. Unless he has a poodle. Another actor I was surprised to learn was straight: Jon Lovitz. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867.md?page=12)