# Now that Ricky is out, what celebrities "everybody knows" are gay remain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272 "2010-03-29T23:36:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/321 "2011-10-17T23:35:10Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Maybe it’s his love of show-tunes. And the fact he’s good looking and single, but I think he does have a girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/322 "2011-10-18T00:27:09Z")
Part of Anderson’s schtick is that he goes to where the story is and reports in the field whilst wading through hurricane backwash or earthquake rubble or whatever. Very contrived, of course, but that’s his thing. I’d like to think that _someone_ had the sense to think “hey, maybe we don’t want the _openly gay man_ going to openly report from places where they pass ‘let’s kill all the gays’ legislation”. And suggested that Anderson might want to step back into that sheltering closet a bit. It’s _probably_ that the network suits got all nelly over the thought of an OMGay reporter. But I’d like to be charitable here. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/323 "2011-10-18T00:33:21Z")
Fellow CNN anchor Don Lemon came out this year. Why not AC? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/324 "2011-10-18T00:58:35Z")
Well, AC doesn’t really \*have \*to come out, you know. It’s not like he’s the closeted hypocritical leader of the Ex-Gay Ministries or something. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/325 "2011-10-18T12:39:55Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > As a man with virtually NO “Gaydar” whatsoever, and as someone who has only watched Anderson Cooper a very few times on random segments of “60 Minutes”, is there any chance that he is NOT gay and just a very private person? Back in 1996ish, when AC was not famous (at the time he was cohosting the 3AM shift of ABC news I believe), a coworker of mine was dating him. I hadn’t heard of Cooper at the time, not being a nightowl news afficianado, but was suitably impressed when my colleague told me of the Gloria Vanderbilt connection. Anyway, I ended up briefly meeting him when my sister and I ran into my coworker and AC at the Zigfiield Theater opening of _Star Trek: First Contact_. My coworker’s first name was, IIRC, Steve\*. 🙂 So yeah, AC was certainly gay in 1996. And quite possibly a _Star Trek_ fan too! Now _that_ is the shocking part. \*I could be wrong on the first name, it was a long time ago and the guy was only at the job for a year. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/326 "2011-10-18T13:39:17Z")
> [@choie](#): > > So yeah, AC was certainly gay in 1996. And quite possibly a _Star Trek_ fan too! Now _that_ is the shocking part. So, you’re saying he should hook up with Spock? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/327 "2011-10-18T14:12:44Z")
Well, I hope you’re proud of yourself, choie. CNN just announced that they’re firing Anderson Cooper. In their announcement, they said, “We had heard rumors of his tendencies for years, but using the information we read in a post to the Straight Dope Message Board we’ve been able to confirm those rumors. We can’t allow such a person to be a newscaster on CNN. We’re thoroughly disgusted to learn that he’s a Trekkie.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/328 "2011-10-18T17:48:01Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > So, you’re saying he should hook up with Spock? OOOoooooh. Thass hawt. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/329 "2011-10-18T18:36:36Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Well, I hope you’re proud of yourself, choie. CNN just announced that they’re firing Anderson Cooper. In their announcement, they said, “We had heard rumors of his tendencies for years, but using the information we read in a post to the Straight Dope Message Board we’ve been able to confirm those rumors. We can’t allow such a person to be a newscaster on CNN. We’re thoroughly disgusted to learn that he’s a Trekkie.” Cooper has responded with a PSA called “It lives long and prospers”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/330 "2011-10-18T19:58:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > So, you’re saying he should hook up with Spock? Which Spock? The Leonard Nimoy era or the more recent young 'un? ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/331 "2011-10-18T20:02:49Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > One thing I really admire about Zachary Quinto was that he has the STAR TREK franchise so he’s an in demand actor plus he’s been the focus of gay rumors for years but was not in any real danger of being outed, but he willingly came out. but the reason he did was admirable. He said it’s because of James Rodemeyer, the kid who made an _It Gets Better_ video who killed himself- Quinto has also made one but basically couldn’t live with the feeling of cowardice he got from not living openly. (I wonder if his agent tried to get him to take lessons from Cooper, who seems to have no problem with it.) This is a horrible thing to have happened. The reason that the media does not report the suicides of non-famous people is that publicity about suicides has been shown to cause more suicides. When this was found out the media stopped covering suicides and the copycat suicides went away. For the last year of so the media has started covering the suicides of gay teenagers. This publicity is almost certainly going to cause copycat suicides. By referring to this teenager’s suicide in his statement Quinto is giving it more publicity and may lead to more copycats. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/332 "2011-10-19T00:54:40Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > The reason that the media does not report the suicides of non-famous people is that publicity about suicides has been shown to cause more suicides. I was sure that this was mostly a myth, but a quick Goggle seems to confirm it. I guess the only thing to do is to not talk about suicide and hope the the problem goes away. Of course if no one talks about it then we won’t know it’s a problem, so it’s a win-win. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/333 "2011-10-19T01:50:20Z")
You can talk about the problem of teen suicide without widely reporting each suicide. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/334 "2011-10-19T07:19:28Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Which Spock? The Leonard Nimoy era or the more recent young 'un? Have you read the thread? The gay one…(Quinto) Or TOS Sulu, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/335 "2011-10-19T12:36:02Z")
Has Abe Vigoda come out? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/336 "2011-10-19T14:25:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Have you read the thread? The gay one…(Quinto) > > Or TOS Sulu, I suppose. Oh, I was just trying to make a (lame) semi-joke. Everyone knows Nimoy-era Spock is unavailable as he Shatner-era Kirk are a couple in slash- fiction- land. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/337 "2011-10-19T14:26:16Z")
Abe Vigoda has indeed come out . . . as being 55 rather than 90 as he as always claimed before. When Francis Ford Coppola found him in the line in 1971 auditioning to be an extra in _The Godfather_, Coppola said to him, “Hey, you shouldn’t be an extra in this film. You should be one of the leads. I need someone to play Tessio. You look right for the part. You’re about 50, right.” At the time, Vigoda was actually 15, but he wasn’t about tell Coppola the truth and miss out on his big chance for a major movie role. So ever since he’s pretended to be 35 years older than his true age. When he was asked at the press conference where he admitted his real age how he could possibly have looked 50 when he was 15, Vigoda said, “Hey, I’ve always looked old. When I was 15, I looked 50. Now that I’m 55, I look dead. Why do you think that there are periodic mistaken reports of my death? It’s because I look dead.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/338 "2011-10-19T16:23:03Z")
Who else just went to look up if Abe Vigoda is still alive? Just me? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/339 "2011-10-19T17:14:42Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Who else just went to look up if Abe Vigoda is still alive? Just me? Thank God we have [this website](http://www.abevigoda.com/). If we can’t talk about teen suicide, can we at least talk about Fight Club now? ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272/340 "2011-10-20T09:23:39Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Thank God we have [this website](http://www.abevigoda.com/). > > If we can’t talk about teen suicide, can we at least talk about Fight Club now? Depends - have the rules been changed since I was last at one? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-ricky-is-out-what-celebrities-everybody-knows-are-gay-remain/534272.md?page=18)