# Liberace really was gay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898 "2006-03-25T23:47:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/41 "2006-03-26T20:53:30Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > I think the more important question is why should we care? Unless someone makes it part of their act/persona I don’t think it is relevant who or what they do. But… but… if we all minded our own business, what would become of all the celebrity gossip magazines? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/42 "2006-03-26T21:46:06Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] So now that that’s settled, can we get an official ruling on whether the following people are, in actuality, gay? [ul] [li]Richard Simmons[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] Simmons denies it. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard\_Simmons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Simmons) And what reason would he have to stay in the closet? ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/43 "2006-03-26T22:02:48Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > > [@Lochdale](#): > > > > I think the more important question is why should we care? Unless someone makes it part of their act/persona I don’t think it is relevant who or what they do. > > But… but… if we all minded our own business, what would become of all the celebrity gossip magazines? There’s no simple answer. But it would be nice for gay kids growing up could actually see Out of the Closet role models (not that any of the folks discussed above are/are not necessarily positive role models) so it wouldn’t seem as if you’re the only one in the world. Second getting to know someone includes getting to know as much about them as they’re willing to share. If we’re acquaintances and you don’t know I’m gay, then you don’t know me very well. Whether someone is gay or not may not be relevant to whether or not their music, movies or other work is good. But it is relevant if you want to understand their motivations, their full meaning, their contradictions and their struggles. It’s the same as knowing John Lee Hooker grew up dirt poor and stuttered. It informs his work and influences his lyrics and feelings. Knowing that Janis Joplin was an outcast in school gives extra emotional weight to her pouring her soul out in _Piece of my Heart_. Knowing Dan Whitney is originally from Nebraska and product of private schools affects the interpretation of his act. I guess it comes down to seeing a completely person or just a flat, two-dimensional persona. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/44 "2006-03-26T22:58:08Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Randy Jones, the original cowboy, is gay. Felipe Rose, the Indian, was the only OUT member of the original group. Jones has since come out of the closet. I don’t think the others were. Glenn Hughes, the leatherman, was straight for sure. The gayest-looking member of the Village People isn’t gay? I’ll have to recalibrate my gaydar. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/45 "2006-03-26T23:13:47Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > The gayest-looking member of the Village People isn’t gay? I’ll have to recalibrate my gaydar. I recall an SNL skit from the early '80s – when it looked like the courts were going to force the military to admit gays. An officer is a guest on a talk show. “Well, we don’t like it, but if we gotta let 'em in, we gotta let 'em in. We feel these people will funcition best in their own units.” So he shows off with a new gay recruit: OFFICER: Are you a homosexual? SOLDIER: Yes, SIR! OFFICER: Have you ever had any heterosexual thoughts! SOLDIER: No, SIR! OFFICER: What was that poster of Cheryl Tiegs doing in your locker? SOLDIER: That was not my locker, SIR! OFFICER: How many of the Village People are really gay? SOLDIER: Three! The others are imposters, SIR! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/46 "2006-03-27T00:55:35Z")
I remember reading on _The Onion_ a Statshot regarding the question, “Does this shirt make me look gay?” where one of the possible responses was, “Rock Hudson gay or Liberace gay?” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/47 "2006-03-27T01:07:15Z")
I might put in a plug here for the film _Good Night, and Good Luck_. Something I didn’t know was that Edward R. Murrow helped pay the bills by conducting frivolous interviews with celebrities. The one featured in the film was with Liberace, which Murrow conducted remotely from his studio, while Liberace was responding live from Vegas, I think. Murrow is obviously portrayed by David Strathairn, but the footage of Liberace is the man himself. I won’t give anything away, but it’s one of those must-see episodes in the evolution of talk show entertaiment. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/48 "2006-03-27T01:44:34Z")
[This](http://www.famousandgay.com/) site from [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251163) thread might be of use. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/49 "2006-03-27T02:25:48Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] [li]that one purple Teletubby[/li][/QUOTE] Tinky Winky no ask, no tell. Uh-oh! But I’m pretty sure he isn’t gay. What about SpongeBob? ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/50 "2006-03-27T02:34:53Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Tinky Winky no ask, no tell. Uh-oh! But I’m pretty sure he isn’t gay. > > What about SpongeBob? Metrosexual. Patrick is the one who is gay… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/51 "2006-03-27T07:05:12Z")
“I can’t believe Liberace was gay. I mean, women loved him!” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/52 "2006-03-27T13:53:20Z")
I have to make my obligatory “I know the Village People cop Ray Simpson and his wife and daughter, and he is not gay” post. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/53 "2006-03-27T16:38:01Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > Metrosexual. Patrick is the one who is gay… 😉 No, no, no! It’s Squidward that’s gay. Obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/54 "2006-03-27T17:41:51Z")
My best friend’s (when I was 14) grandmother grew up across the street from Liberace. She said he was overprotected by his mother and not allowed to play outside or with any of the other children in the neighborhood. We were all from Milwaukee. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898/55 "2006-03-27T19:19:07Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Perhaps _The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste_ , a fanstastic book by Jan and Michael Stearns (or is it Sterns)? The authors are [Jane and Michael Stern.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060164700/102-7764263-5381706?v=glance&n=283155) Incidentally, **Long Time First Time** and I discovered after we became a couple that we had each purchased a copy of this book years ago. Liberace appeared in two episodes of _Batman_ as both the pianist Chandell and his twin brother Harry. Chandell had a plan to [marry Aunt Harriet and thus gain a share of the Wayne fortune.](http://www.bobsliberace.com/decades/1960s/1960s.6.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberace-really-was-gay/349898.md?page=2)