# Meredith Baxter is gay? Who gives a fuck??? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2009, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832 "2009-12-03T11:36:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/81 "2009-12-04T16:35:38Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > I like womens feet. Do you give a shit? No, but then the right of guys who like women’s feet to marry women with feet hasn’t been much in the news lately. Twenty years ago it was big news when _Dick Sargent_- the second Darrin on _Bewitched_- came out. He was as much a has been at the time as Meredith is now, but it was so odd for a gay actor to come out _voluntarily_ that it was big news. N.P. Harris is the only actor whose career is going strong and who routinely plays straight guys and horndogs I can think of who came out (in part because he was about to be outed by the tabloids, but the gay rumors had been going around for years so I don’t think solely). There’s a story that I would love to learn whether or not it’s apocryphal: this much I know is true- when Sargent came out he convinced former co-star and good friend Elizabeth Montgomery to co-chair the L.A. Gay Pride Parade with him and they were interviewed. Per the story, when they asked Montgomery why she, a straight woman, was sharing the float she supposedly said- this is the part I’d love to verify- “I’m here for the same reason as most people, to support my buddy, because I love Dick”. (Montgomery always struck me as very intelligent in her rare interviews, so if she said it I’ve no doubt it was an intentional double entendre.) ---
**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:** [December 4, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/82 "2009-12-04T16:54:45Z")
> [@bup](#): > > How do you expect to hear about it? The same way we heard about Meridith Baxter, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/83 "2009-12-04T17:14:07Z")
> [@bup](#): > > How do you expect to hear about it? A song. "You take the good you take the bad you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life There’s a time you gotta go and show You’re growin’ now, You know about the facts of life. and I’m a lesbian! When the world never seems to be living up to your dreams And suddenly you’re finding out, The facts of life are all about you. All about you… and by facts of life I mean that I’m a lesbian too!!!" ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/84 "2009-12-04T17:47:26Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Rupert Everett IS a big actor in England. The reason you’ve heard him before on this subject is because, as an openly gay British actor (and for many years the only one)… Underlining mine… WTF?!? ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/85 "2009-12-04T19:04:16Z")
While traipsing gayly through Google News, I learned that the NY legislature had shot down marriage equality and then two inches lower I learned that Meredith had come out. To all of you who don’t understand either why she did it or why people care, does that illustrate at least one reason? Never blend in. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/86 "2009-12-04T19:19:34Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#): > > While traipsing gayly through Google News, I learned that the NY legislature had shot down marriage equality and then two inches lower I learned that Meredith had come out. > > To all of you who don’t understand either why she did it or why people care, does that illustrate at least one reason? > > Never blend in. But the OP and others here have already indicated that the topic is no longer relevant in their worlds, and besides, it’s booooooring to them. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/87 "2009-12-04T19:22:19Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#): > > While traipsing gayly through Google News, I learned that the NY legislature had shot down marriage equality and then two inches lower I learned that Meredith had come out. > > To all of you who don’t understand either why she did it or why people care, does that illustrate at least one reason? While I’m rather disappointed in my legislature today (OK, everyday), an 80s sitcom mom coming out is not going to tip the balance in any way. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/88 "2009-12-04T19:31:53Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > While I’m rather disappointed in my legislature today (OK, everyday), an 80s sitcom mom coming out is not going to tip the balance in any way. How do you know? A movement is a collection of small moves and their ripple effects. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/89 "2009-12-04T19:55:20Z")
Losing the occasional battle, winning the war. Mine enemy grows old. And his children are on my side. Perseverence furthers. Oh, almost forgot! _Venceremos!_ ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/90 "2009-12-04T19:57:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > While I’m rather disappointed in my legislature today (OK, everyday), an 80s sitcom mom coming out is not going to tip the balance in any way. Bullshit. It wouldn’t change your _mind_, but your mind doesn’t need changing. Americans believe in television. Archie Bunker did more to change peoples’ attitudes about racism than civil rights legislation. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/91 "2009-12-04T20:44:49Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > While I’m rather disappointed in my legislature today (OK, everyday), an 80s sitcom mom coming out is not going to tip the balance in any way. I think you’re wrong. The more gay people a given person knows, the less likely he is to be homophobic. Even a relatively minor celebrity like Baxter is someone who is “known” to millions of people. While no one is going to think, “Meredith Baxter is gay? Guess I’m not going to join Westboro Baptist after all!” seeing more and more visible, recognizable homosexuals in society does have an aggregate positive effect on gay rights. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/92 "2009-12-04T21:05:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I think you’re wrong. The more gay people a given person knows, the less likely he is to be homophobic. Even a relatively minor celebrity like Baxter is someone who is “known” to millions of people. While no one is going to think, “Meredith Baxter is gay? Guess I’m not going to join Westboro Baptist after all!” seeing more and more visible, recognizable homosexuals in society does have an aggregate positive effect on gay rights. OK, I can get behind that. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/93 "2009-12-04T21:19:48Z")
I recommend that every post in this thread now be ended with sha-la-la-laaaaaa. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/94 "2009-12-04T22:01:05Z")
Who is Meredith Baxter? I don’t need an answer, because I don’t care. I sure don’t care if she’s happy or sad. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/95 "2009-12-04T22:05:18Z")
Speaking of public figures, I’m still wondering about the lesbianism rumors around Clinton-era DHHS Secretary Donna Shalalala. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/96 "2009-12-05T02:03:48Z")
Unfortunately there are many homophobic people in the world. Their intolerance is based in ignorance. As these people aren’t going to sit through classes on why they shouldn’t hate people, the only effective way is to be expose them to homosexuals that do not justify their bigotry. Homosexuals can not be identified by sight. To fight bigotry homosexuals need to tell people they are gay. I propose all us gay people including celebrities just start wearing pink triangles or rainbow flags so we don’t need to mention in interviews and such we are gay. It might avoid the attitude expressed in the OP. I know you may not give a fuck that I’m gay but I give a fuck people know I’m gay and a functioning member of society that does not deserve to be discriminated against. If gays were treated fairly and equally we wouldn’t have to bother mentioning our sexuality. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/97 "2009-12-05T04:31:12Z")
Sorry. I just don’t care. It’s funny the way those of us that don’t give a shit are being treated here. As though there is something wrong with us not pumping our fists and shouting “YAY FOR GAY!” or something. You want to be treated equally, or indifferently, but when those of us, who just don’t give a shit about other people sex lives , straight or gay, say that we just don’t give a shit that you or someone else is gay it’s like we just “don’t understand the fight” or something. We do. You’re winning because less people give a shit. People are coming in here and saying “We don’t give a shit that she’s gay. Shut up about it” and that’s not a positive thing for you??? ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/98 "2009-12-05T04:41:16Z")
Feel free to go back to not giving a shit. There is also a “And why does anybody give a shit?” facet of this thread that seems to be interrupting your not giving a shit. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/99 "2009-12-05T05:49:40Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > It’s funny the way those of us that don’t give a shit are being treated here. As though there is something wrong with us not pumping our fists and shouting “YAY FOR GAY!” or something. Cry me a river, you whiny bitch. You’re the one who took the time to start a thread specifically for the purpose of telling the world how much you don’t care about something. All everyone else in this thread has been doing is pointing out that (a) no, it’s not the most earth-shattering or important news in the world, and (b) Baxter’s career history and the controversial nature of homosexuality in (sections of) America means that there might, in fact, be some fairly good reasons why some people might give a shit. You don’t have to care, but that doesn’t mean that no-one else has to care. As i noted earlier, you posted in a thread about Tiger Woods’ car crash in a manner that suggested that you give a shit about it. I don’t. People are free to give a shit about what they want to give a shit about. And, contrary to our OP’s claim that Baxter’s coming out was “front page news,” as far as i’ve been able to tell, most news outlets have it tucked away in the “entertainment” or “gossip” sections of their websites (e.g., [Detroit Free Press](http://www.freep.com/article/20091203/ENT07/912030375/1038/ent03/Meredith-Baxter-says-shes-a-lesbian), [Los Angeles Times](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2009/12/meredith-baxter-lesbian.html), [New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/12/02/2009-12-02_family_ties_meredith_baxter_comes_out_on_today_i_am_a_lesbian_dating_girlfriend_.html), [Boston Globe](http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/blog/2009/12/meredith_baxter.html)). That’s more than you can say for Tiger Woods’ car crash or his philandering. You say that you “don’t give a shit about other people’s sex lives,” and yet in your own OP you claim that this might have been a valid news story if the celebrity in question were some hot, sexy big name like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. How many threads have you started asking “Who gives a fuck?” about Pitt and Jolie’s relationship? How many threads have you started asking “Who gives a fuck?” about Tiger Woods’ infidelity? How many threads have you started asking “Who gives a fuck?” about the romantic encounters of starlets like Britney Spears or Miley Cyrus? We are bombarded every single day by stories that really shouldn’t be news at all—stories that appeal to the nosy or the prurient or the plain old envious. The _Today Show_, where Baxter came out, is little more than a gossip rag and mindless talk show for people who can’t muster the effort to listen to NPR in the mornings. And yet, amidst the deluge of stupid and pointless and irrelevant “news” that we are confronted with every day, the one that puts you over the edge is a 62-year-old woman who, after a long career as a well-known television mother, reveals to the host of a crappy morning show that she’s a lesbian. Well, more power to you my friend. If we can just stop the geriatric Hollywood lesbians of the world from coming out during our morning commute, we might well have fixed everything that’s wrong with the American media. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832/100 "2009-12-05T05:55:59Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > His career may or may not > [@](#): > > have suffered for his coming out, as there’s no way to know how he would have done had he not. He came out just 4 years after his break-out role in Another Country and 2 years after _Hearts of Fire_. > [@](#): > > Calling his career “hit-and-miss” is a cheap shot, and exactly why the press publicizing more gay actors is a good thing. Huh? Is it unfair, possibly homophobic, to say that someone’s career has had ups and downs? It is very probable that Everett’s career has suffered. On the other hand, other actors who made names for themselves in the mid-'80s have disappeared, while he’s in the minority who continue to get high-profile roles and extensive media coverage. You say he _is_ a big star, so how can you he’d be better he’d be bigger if he’d stayed closeted? You can’t _assume_ that coming out has hurt an actor’s career and then use that as proof that coming out hurts an actor’s career. You cannot name “dozens” of openly gay screen actors. Stage actors, maybe, and stage-crossovers, but the number of openly gay screen actors is much smaller than you might realize, notwithstanding all the recent Neil Patrick Harris and T.R. Knight publicity. Who else springs to mind? David Hyde Pierce? Richard Chamberlain? Any current leading men? There are gay actors who live their lives in the open without publicly announcing their sexuality, but still not that many, and few, if any, A-listers. Most who have come out are quite old and long past fearing losing leading man roles. Here’s a challenge: Try coming up with 12 self-acknowledged gay current screen actors without searching the web or asking for help. [/QUOTE] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meredith-baxter-is-gay-who-gives-a-fuck/519832.md?page=6)