One of the weekly movie mags (think it was Entertainment Weekly) did a whole gay issue recently, and included was a list of who’s out in celebrityville. Most I knew, some I wasn’t too surprised about (Bruce Vilanch - get out of here), others made me think.
Who were you most surprised to find out they were gay?
Me, it was probably Bob Mould of Husker Du. <insert obligatory “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” disclaimer here> I’m not sure why it surprised me, but it made me think. I still love his music, but now I find myself looking for hidden clues in the lyrics (“The Biggest Lie”).
I heard about Aaron Copland (my spelling is the correct one, nyah, nyah!) on NPR yesterday. The quote was “Congress asked him if he was a Communist, but not if he was homosexual.”
Same article, my surprise lesbian was Barbara Gaines, one of Letterman’s assistants.
Slight hijack here, but that’s been known for some time now. I’m not sure when it became public knowledge, but I think it may have been by the release of his second solo album, which would have been 1991(?).
At least by 1992 there was some speculation over whether the real reason Hüsker Dü broke up was due to a failed relationship between Mould and Grant Hart. Neither of them are talking (and if they don’t want to say anything about it, the speculation should end there).
Actually, Bob pretty much came out in a Spin magazine article around '94, the time that Sugar’s “FU:EL” was released. They even asked him about Husker Du breaking up because of a relationship between him and Grant, to which Bob replied, laughing, “Grant wishes!” I saw Bob play out here in San Francisco in February, and between songs he was commenting on how he liked the song “Beautiful Stranger”, to which he added, “Is Madonna getting better or am I just getting more gay?” I taped the show, and that line cracks me up every time I hear it. If you look back at his Husker Du (and solo and with Sugar) relationship songs, though, the gender of the person addressed is always ambiguous, unlike Grant’s songs, which are usually referencing a woman (exception: on Bob’s solo “Next Time That You Leave”, he sings:“You are just a bastard…” Sorry to go on and on, but I’m a HUGE Husker/Bob fan/geek, and it’s hard to find anybody who’s heard of him, much less heard his music. I’ll shut up now.
That is, I’ll shut up after one more thing: I don’t remember the exact issue of Spin it appeared in (I’ve got it lying around somewhere) but I’m pretty sure it was '94 and it had Tori Amos on the cover.
Thanks, woodstockybird, I must have gotten the dates wrong. I thought he came out after his second solo album (Black Sheets of Rain), not his second album with Sugar.
Myself, I wasn’t the least surprised to hear it, although I have to say I’m not usually that perceptive.
I’m just not interested anymore…probably due to prepubescent emotional damage inflicted by trying to imagine Jim Nabors and Rock Hudson going at it (“Shazam!”). Or Danny Kaye and Lawrence Olivier; I’m sure even the most ardently gay man out there would say EEEEWWWWW!!!
I seem to recall reading that Bob only came out in that issue of Spin because the magazine basically told him they were going to out him whether he liked it or not. Anybody else remember this?
I don’t remember that specifically, but I do remember Bob stating in the article that he was under pressure from certain groups to publicly declare his sexual preference. Given the current state of journalism, though, I wouldn’t put it past Spin to use such tactics.
Kind of a shame, really. When the gay press started outing, the mainstream press picked it up and thought it acceptable. Among the gay press now, however, outing is generally considered acceptable only when hypocracy is present- that is, an antigay closeted politician would get outed where a gay friendly person would.
I’m against outing, period. That’s just me, though.
Bowser from “Sha-na-na”. I guess I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the people on that show actually had some sort of life off camera. Plus the fact that I probably could have died (happily) without thinking of Bowser ever again.
I think I heard him mention a Missus Cecil…
I was surprised to hear about Danny Kaye…I didn’t even know that! (Although, I was more surprised when I heard he died.)
BTW, I think someone said Janet Reno is gay? I didn’t know that!
I learned not too long ago that John Mahoney, Martin, and the actor who plays Bulldog (I can’t think of his name right now) on Frasier are both gay. I would have never thought it, Niles was always the one I would have thought.
Dan Butler, who plays “Bulldog”, is one of the more outspoken gay celebrities in Hollywood. David Hyde Pierce (Niles), while inspiring a lot of gossip as to his orientation, has never declared himself gay. And I think you may have gotten a little confused with Mr. Mahoney…while he isn’t gay in real life he will be playing a rather flamboyant gay man in the upcoming movie “The Broken Hearts Club.”
I knew that he was going to be in the above mentioned movie but that is not why I thought he was gay. I have searched but I cannot find any links to back me up at this time but I know I have read somewhere that Mr. Mahoney is indeed gay.
Has anyone else heard or read this somewhere?
