# James Randi comes out... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278 "2010-03-21T23:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pythonzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pythonzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pythonzzz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/1 "2010-03-21T23:03:07Z")
…and why didn’t Sylvia Brown or Uri Geller (or any ‘psychic’) say anything over the years?? 😕 😉 > **[How To Say It?](http://archive.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/914-how-to-say-it.html)** > > James Randi Educational Foundation ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/2 "2010-03-21T23:07:35Z")
Wow. Interesting. I wouldn’t have thought there was still that much pressure in mainstream America for a guy like Randi to remain closeted. I’m surprised he didn’t come out much earlier. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/3 "2010-03-21T23:07:55Z")
> [@pythonzzz](#): > > …and why didn’t Sylvia Brown or Uri Geller (or any ‘psychic’) say anything over the years?? 😕 😉 > > [How To Say It?](http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/914-how-to-say-it.html) Is “gay-dar” a recognized psychic power? Congratulations to Randi on coming out. I do have to say, I’m shocked it’s taken him this long to have seen _Milk_. ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/4 "2010-03-21T23:11:02Z")
> [@pythonzzz](#): > > …and why didn’t Sylvia Brown or Uri Geller (or any ‘psychic’) say anything over the years?? 😕 😉 > > [How To Say It?](http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/914-how-to-say-it.html) I thought this had been well known for years? Sorta like Ellen DeGeneris coming out, everyone knew so the big announcement wasn’t really necessary. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/5 "2010-03-21T23:13:06Z")
Ah, well, no big shocker there. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/6 "2010-03-21T23:22:32Z")
I had no idea, but I hadn’t really given it any thought. It’s something of a surprise, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/7 "2010-03-22T00:51:27Z")
Who would’ve thought Santa was gay? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/8 "2010-03-22T00:53:36Z")
I thought there was gonna be a twist to this & he admits to some religious or paranormal beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/9 "2010-03-22T00:57:40Z")
I’m surprised, but I usually am. I would have picked him as life-long asexual. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/10 "2010-03-22T00:59:53Z")
He’s gay — that’s it??? I always assumed he was gay. I thought it was going to be something cool like he was admitting to being an actual warlock. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/11 "2010-03-22T01:08:01Z")
I never woulda guessed in a million years. And now that I know my reaction is… meh. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/12 "2010-03-22T01:57:02Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > He’s gay — that’s it??? > > I always assumed he was gay. > > I thought it was going to be something cool like he was admitting to being an actual warlock. Can he prove it? Did he win his own prize? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/13 "2010-03-22T02:10:23Z")
You see?! You see?! Rational skepticism is **totally gay!** ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/14 "2010-03-22T02:22:35Z")
I always assumed he was gay too, but now that I think of it, I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/15 "2010-03-22T02:38:12Z")
It totally passed me by, and I’ve seen the guy _live._ (Disclaimer: str8 dood.) ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/16 "2010-03-22T02:47:12Z")
Yup, my gaydar didn’t ping. Actually, it never does with people I don’t personally meet. Well OK, I might be getting some kind of signal from Richard Simmons, but other than that, I got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/17 "2010-03-22T03:15:57Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Can he prove it? Did he win his own prize? He’s established a new prize. Any guy who can prove the ability to give James Randi supernaturally awesome orgasms gets $10 million. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/18 "2010-03-22T03:27:55Z")
I was surprised, and I have met him on several occasions, listened to him speak/perform often in person or in recordings. I fail to see the wisdom of his coming out; I think it will just give his critics something else to work on. That beard covers a lot, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/19 "2010-03-22T04:05:43Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I fail to see the wisdom of his coming out; I think it will just give his critics something else to work on. I think if I were 81 years old and had been in the public eye for nearly forty years, I might be getting a little tired of not being able to publicly acknowledge an essential fact about my life due to worries about how my critics would react. At this point, it probably ain’t about the wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278/20 "2010-03-22T04:08:18Z")
WOW. This really took me by surprise. Everyone else seems to have known all along- I’ve been watching his videos for years and I’ve had no idea. :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-comes-out/533278.md?page=2)