# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/21 "2010-02-21T18:28:12Z")
Robert Reed & David Ogden Stiers (I knew him best as the dad from “Better Off Dead”). And Richard Deacon, who I heard about 30 seconds ago. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/22 "2010-02-21T18:48:48Z")
From back in the day, but all the same. I wasn’t too shocked when Rob Halford came out. I was really confused when Pete Townsend made his announcement. Sheesh, really? Rob I can figure. He’s got a pretty hard bod and all that leather. But _Pete_? C’mon, he’s old, right? ---
**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:** [February 21, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/23 "2010-02-21T18:55:02Z")
For years, a complaint trope from the black community was that they were invisible in history books expect for the token appearance of George Washington Carver. To which the gay community could say “you think _you’re_ invisible? Only one black guy acknowledged, but what’s the one thing about him not acknowledged?” ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/24 "2010-02-21T18:57:23Z")
> [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](#): > > I was really confused when Pete Townsend made his announcement. ??? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/25 "2010-02-21T19:11:17Z")
Learning Lily Tomlin was lesbian made me do a double take. People act like Neil Patrick Harris is super obviously gay (ie his inclusion in the OP’s list with Paul Lynde), but I was rather surprised when I heard. There’s nothing stereotypically gay about him that I can see. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/26 "2010-02-21T19:28:37Z")
Townshend said he had 1 gay encounter, that might be what confused the poster above. He got divorced from his long time wife and his current girlfriend is Rachel Fuller who is 36 - younger than his 2 daughters. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/27 "2010-02-21T19:29:51Z")
Raymond Burr was gay? _Raymond Burr?_ Well, I guess that’s my answer… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/28 "2010-02-21T19:35:43Z")
Yeah, Raymond Burr was a bit of a surprise. I’m not the only person I know (and one of those other people is queer as a football bat!) who just thought George Michael was British, you know? ---
**Author:** ![dragoncat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@dragoncat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragoncat)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/29 "2010-02-21T19:40:14Z")
Okay, I’m trying my darnedest to find a cite for this and can’t. But back in the days of Reagan there was a White House aide named Pete Wilson. Yep, same name as the governor of California at the time, but a different person. He was a real conservative homophobe and at the end of Reagan’s time in office, he came out as gay. We were all amazed and laughed about it for a while. Then he disappeared from the radar screens. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/30 "2010-02-21T19:40:35Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I’m not the only person I know (and one of those other people is queer as a football bat!) who just thought George Michael was British, you know? The moment he danced around in short pants in the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video and sang, “You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day”, I knew he was more than British. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/31 "2010-02-21T19:46:59Z")
> [@dragoncat](#): > > Okay, I’m trying my darnedest to find a cite for this and can’t. But back in the days of Reagan there was a White House aide named Pete Wilson. Yep, same name as the governor of California at the time, but a different person. He was a real conservative homophobe and at the end of Reagan’s time in office, he came out as gay. We were all amazed and laughed about it for a while. Then he disappeared from the radar screens. I think you mean Pete Williams? If so he works for NBC news and has for a while. [Pete Williams (journalist) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Williams_%28television_correspondent%29) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/32 "2010-02-21T19:52:19Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I am a gay male, and I have a pretty decent record for knowing (or at least strongly guessing) who is or isn’t gay. Let’s face it I don’t think many of us would be taken by surprise to find out Paul Lynde, or Jim J Bullock or Neil Patrick Harris, or that little kid on “Who’s The Boss,” were gay. Both Neil Patrick Harris and the little boy from Who’s the Boss both surprised me. I’m not quite sure how anyone could look at them or their body of work and say “gay.” > [@](#): > > So my question is has there ever been a famous person who was either outed or came out and it really took you for a surprise. I was surprised by both Merideth Baxter and George Takei. Supposedly Takei’s sexuality had been an open secret in Trekdom forever but I had never ever heard anyone say anything about it one way or the other. On the other hand, I had never had any particular interest in the personal lives of the actors from Star Trek I was just a fan of the series. Odesio ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/33 "2010-02-21T19:54:14Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Raymond Burr was gay? _Raymond Burr?_ > > Well, I guess that’s my answer… The way you presented this makes me think of the episode of “The Sopranos” (written by Michael Imperioli I believe) where the guys are returning from a trip to the Mohonk casino and Tony’s all upset over the crybaby way the guys are going on about the Columbus Day parade and how nobody is the strong, silent type like Gary Cooper anymore and how everybody is all whiny and namby-pamby and gay, and Christopher replies: “He was gay? Gary Cooper?” (if you’d like a better version of the story which I went to to be sure how to spell Mohonk, go [here.](http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2007/04/sopranos-week-what-christopher-tells-us/)) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/34 "2010-02-21T19:55:50Z")
> [@dragoncat](#): > > Okay, I’m trying my darnedest to find a cite for this and can’t. But back in the days of Reagan there was a White House aide named Pete Wilson. Yep, same name as the governor of California at the time, but a different person. He was a real conservative homophobe and at the end of Reagan’s time in office, he came out as gay. We were all amazed and laughed about it for a while. Then he disappeared from the radar screens. I think you are confusing two men. [Pete Williams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Williams_(television_correspondent)) was a Defense Department spokesman, 1989–1993, which required him to defend the Pentagon’s position on gays in the military during the early days of the Clinton administration. He is now an NBC News reporter. [Pete Wilson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Wilson_(broadcaster)) (1945–2007) was a broadcaster in San Francisco, criticized for what some said were anti-gay remarks. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/35 "2010-02-21T20:11:57Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The moment he danced around in short pants in the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video and sang, “You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day”, I knew he was more than British. :dubious: We thought British people were just like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/36 "2010-02-21T20:12:25Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I was surprised by both Merideth Baxter and George Takei. Supposedly Takei’s sexuality had been an open secret in Trekdom forever but I had never ever heard anyone say anything about it one way or the other. On the other hand, I had never had any particular interest in the personal lives of the actors from Star Trek I was just a fan of the series. I was a huge Trekkie for about ten years and read everything I could about every aspect of it, and I do not recall ever encountering any indication that Takei is gay. It seems like revisionism to me. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/37 "2010-02-21T20:27:55Z")
> [@](#): > > For years, a complaint trope from the black community was that they were invisible in history books expect for the token appearance of George Washington Carver. > > To which the gay community could say “you think you’re invisible? Only one black guy acknowledged, but what’s the one thing about him not acknowledged?” I’m not sure this really counts since there’s only very circumstanial evidence he was gay. [This article doesn’t sound very convincing.](http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/carver_gw,4.html) Anybody got better evidence that Carver was gay? Back to the main question, I was pretty stunned that [Frankie Howerd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Howerd) was gay. Admittedly, I mainly knew him from “Up Pompeii”, but it seems odd that such a double entendre heavy comedian was more into guys than girls–like finding out Benny Hill was gay. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/38 "2010-02-21T20:30:26Z")
1. I had no idea Raymond Burr was gay, so that is the obvious one. 2. George Takei - I was stunned when this first “came out”. 🙂 3. Neil Patrick Harris - I just assumed he was straight. 4. That guy who played the hyperheterosexual sports DJ on Fraser. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/39 "2010-02-21T20:36:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. That guy who played the hyperheterosexual sports DJ on Fraser. The actor who played Bulldog Briscoe (Dan Butler) did a great job with the character, as did John Mahoney (also gay) who played Fraiser’s police officer father, Martin Crane. ETA—Jim J Bullock?!? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/40 "2010-02-21T20:43:37Z")
> [@](#): > > I was really confused when Pete Townsend made his announcement. Sheesh, really? Rob I can figure. He’s got a pretty hard bod and all that leather. But Pete? C’mon, he’s old, right? I think you’re referring to a interview he did in 1990. [Here’s a typical contemporary account.](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gPkaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mkcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5452,1839851&dq=pete+townshend+woman&hl=en) I’ve never heard him mention being gay since, so I wonder if it was a one time phase or a bout of gender confusion. Actually he didn’t suprise me too much. His lyrics and public persona have a lot of sensitivity and feelings of being an outsider. Now if Daltrey or Moon would have come out, now that would have been stunning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867.md?page=3)