# Predict the next celebrity who'll come out of the closet (and when) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296 "2008-09-26T06:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/81 "2008-10-04T05:23:16Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Hilary Swank. > She’s pinged my radar the first time I saw her. Surely you jest? Maybe because she played a gay character in Boys Don’t Cry, or that she looks like a female Matt Damon? Plus she was married for a while to Chad Lowe, and is now dating her (male) agent, or something. She’s a tomboy, for sure, but I’m not getting gay. In a weird twist, I always thought David Foley was gay, but apparently he’s been married twice and has some kids. But still… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/82 "2008-10-04T06:01:52Z")
I didn’t read the whole thread, so sorry if this is a repeat, but _ **PAUL STANLEY IS QUEER!!!** _ I doubt he will ever come out. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/83 "2008-10-04T06:55:10Z")
> [@Merhouse](#): > > Might it have been [David Kopay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kopay)? He’s the only one that comes to my mind. It’s possible, but my foggy memory is telling me it was a black guy. ---
**Author:** ![Ellef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ellef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellef)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/84 "2008-10-04T10:49:25Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > Are you sure? He has previously sued newspapers for claiming he is gay. Ah, I didn’t know that. Maybe I’ve read a story too quickly and got the wrong end of the stick then. Thanks for fighting my ignorance! ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/85 "2008-10-05T13:15:57Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > I’d _like_ to see Mike Rowe come out, if only because it would make my wife and I laugh a lot. I’ve been telling my wife for years that I think he’s gay (and hot as hell). She doesn’t buy it, but my gaydar is pretty damn good and he sets mine off in a big way. I wish he would come out if for no other reason than to dispel so many stupid stereotypes about what a gay man is supposed to be like. Liberace he ain’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/86 "2008-10-05T14:25:36Z")
> [@Merhouse](#): > > Might it have been [David Kopay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kopay)? He’s the only one that comes to my mind. > > Edited because \*\*He’s \*\*sounds better than \*\*He’s is \*\*🙂 Or Esera Tuaolo [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi\_m1589/is\_2002\_Nov\_26/ai\_95263252](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2002_Nov_26/ai_95263252) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/87 "2008-10-05T15:00:37Z")
Paula Poundstone. Or has that already been announced? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/88 "2008-10-05T16:09:32Z")
Viggo Mortensen? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/89 "2008-10-06T02:44:50Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Viggo Mortensen? I don’t know- he was married to a pretty fierce punk rocker, and they have a son. I don’t get that vibe from him. And speaking of not getting it, WTF was that remark about Dom DeLouise upthread? Again, a guy with like 10 kids… you think so? ---
**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:** [October 6, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/90 "2008-10-06T03:01:52Z")
> [@Atomicktom](#): > > Paula Poundstone. Or has that already been announced? She had some legal difficulty over allegations of impropriety with a foster daughter, but that was settled. I thought during that, it was pretty much acknowledged that - yes, she’s gay, but no, she didn’t mess with that girl. Edit: [Paula Poundstone - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Poundstone) OK, apparently I confused the girl she was accused of molesting with a foster kid. She denied & was cleared of that. She did get in trouble for driving while intoxicated with foster kids in her car. And no mention in Wikipedia one way or another about her being gay. This was all back in 2001. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/91 "2008-10-06T03:11:33Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > She had some legal difficulty over allegations of impropriety with a foster daughter, but that was settled. I thought during that, it was pretty much acknowledged that - yes, she’s gay, but no, she didn’t mess with that girl. > > Edit: [Paula Poundstone - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Poundstone) > > OK, apparently I confused the girl she was accused of molesting with a foster kid. She denied & was cleared of that. She did get in trouble for driving while intoxicated with foster kids in her car. And no mention in Wikipedia one way or another about her being gay. This was all back in 2001. OK, I’m a little too interested in Paula Poundstone’s sexuality (yes, I have thought she was kinda cute over the years). Anyway, google results indicate she may just be asexual. > **[Paula Poundstone Says It All - GO Magazine](https://www.gomag.com/article/paula_poundstone_says_it_/)** > > With her regular NPR gig going strong, and her acclaimed book now out in paperback, outspoken comedian Paula Poundstone definitely says what's on her mind…and then some. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/92 "2008-10-06T04:31:55Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > And speaking of not getting it, WTF was that remark about Dom DeLouise upthread? Again, a guy with like 10 kids… you think so? He has three children. _People_ magazine, May 9, 1994: > [@](#): > > Actor Dom DeLuise, 60, has been charged with criminal sexual contact by Atlantic City police, based on the complaint of a male employee of Merv Griffin’s Resorts Casino Hotel. The police declined to elaborate on the details of the complaint. DeLuise, married and the father of three grown children, denied the charges to police. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/93 "2008-10-06T08:48:14Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > Are you sure? He has previously sued newspapers for claiming he is gay. This sort of thing makes me more likely to think someone is gay :rolleyes: “Doth protest too much” and all that… My pick is Ricky Shroeder. I know he’s married with kids (his wife was on some design show as a contestant recently!). And on his own merits he doesn’t ping my dar. But you see, he looks like me. And the other two celebrities who looked like me when I was younger have both since come out (NPH and Chad Allen). So I figure it’s only a matter of time.. 😃 And the guy who played Tyr Anasazi on Andromeda. Although maybe just because he looks good in chainmail and likes to walk around barefoot. 🙂 Although since then he has played gay on a tv show (with kissing!), so by the opposite of “doth protest” principle he must be straight… ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/94 "2008-10-06T09:23:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > PS- Celebrities whose bisexuality or homosexuality is not in dispute but who have married or been seriously involved with members of the opposite gender: > Will “Grandpa Walton” Geer (married-divorced, 3 children) > > Alan Cumming > > Robert “Mike Brady” Reed (married-divorced, 1 child) > > Rock Hudson (studio arranged marriage, but consummated) > > Cole Porter (married for 36 years to Linda Lee Thomas, by all accounts the love of his life- no children [but consummated]) > > Elton John (married-divorced, no children) > > Malcolm Forbes (married-divorced, several children, boys on the side) > > Luther Vandross (never married but frequently said to be involved with this or that woman) > > Richard Chamberlain (never married but lots of studio “front” women) > > Peter Allen (one of Liza’s matched set of gay husbands) > > Tony Richardson (director/producer, father with Vanessa Redgrave of Natasha & Joely Richardson) > > Michael Redgrave (father of Vanessa, Lynn & Corin Redgrave and grandfather of Natasha & Joely Richardson [if it _is_ genetic then Liam Neeson may wanna hold off on buying his sons a football just yet]) > > Raymond Burr (married at least once and dated several starlets; faked additional marriages and even a non-existent dead son; lived with lover Robert Benevides for more than 30 years) > > Liberace (had at least one official marriage engagement and dated Sonia Henie) > > Dick Sargent (bka Darrin on _Bewitched_: went on “dates” with Fannie Flagg and [the woman who played Zelda on _Dobie Gillis_] to appease studio bosses [both women are lesbians]) > > Chad Allen (bka star of _Dr. Quinn: Politically Correct Medical Squaw_ and as the autistic kid who imagined St. Eligius; was rumored to be involved with a couple of starlets and to live with one [which he did, as roommates] before being outed by an opportunistic date) > > Many more of course, but that’s enough for the whole “married or involved ain’t neccessarily straight” thing. I don’t know about that. A lot of those men were young in the times when homosexuality was a criminal offence that would get you locked up, so there was more pressure on them to get be seen with women and/or married and live an outwardly straight life than there is now. So that could easily have been why they got married - as a cover. As for them having children, I don’t think that’s completely compelling evidence either. It’s nothing like true that any man who is married **must** be the father of his wife’s children. And it never has been. How many times, even now, do we hear of some shockingly high number of husbands have raised children that weren’t theirs and that the men never knew? And in the times when homosexuality was illegal and gay men marrried women to give themselves a veneer of respectability, divorcing your wife for adultery could end up giving you more to be concerned about than her - namely a spell in the slammer, if she decided that you being nasty enough to divorce her for infidelity meant she would be nasty right back and get you arrested. Not all women who had babies to men other than their husbands were married to gay men, of course. But if it’s a marriage of convenience for a gay man, the wife should get some perks, too. Having a husband who needs you as a cover for his illegal inclinations could have been a useful trade off for women who were involved with other men; married men, for instance. Or men who just wouldn’t marry them. If you’re in a marriage of convenience with a man who is gay and you’re having a baby with a man who will not or can not marry you, then your gay husband is a ready made daddy to the outside world and he probably thinks this baby will assist in the outward impression of his being not gay at all. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/95 "2008-10-06T09:35:26Z")
> [@Dublin11](#): > > I don’t know about that. > A lot of those men were young in the times when homosexuality was a criminal offence that would get you locked up Almost all of the men listed are/were American. Can anyone name any instance of two adults in 20th century America, engaging privately (e.g., not in some park or restroom) and consensually in non-commercial homosexual activity, being criminally prosecuted for it? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/96 "2008-10-06T10:48:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …went on “dates” with Fannie Flagg and [the woman who played Zelda on _Dobie Gillis_] … That would be Sheila James Kuehl, [IMDB bio](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0473861/), now an attorney and California state senator. [Sheila James Kuehl](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://dist23.casen.govoffice.com/vertical/Sites/%257B6A93A017-DA3B-4A59-866F-E9FDC3D31EAB%257D/uploads/%257BAA04E025-1AF4-4836-9788-322872C4810D%257D.JPG&imgrefurl=http://dist23.casen.govoffice.com/&h=3047&w=2284&sz=1585&hl=en&start=1&usg=__DAwwo0C6Q7EsVHksnwwzae5_lOE=&tbnid=s0B5WdNMZ1Z_AM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Sheila%2BJames%2BKuehl%2522%26as_st%3Dy%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN) [Fannie Flagg](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/fannieflagg/fannie_dvd/art/FannieFlaggDVDcover.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/fannieflagg/fannie_dvd/index.html&h=342&w=342&sz=49&hl=en&start=1&usg=__5kRGz1FOGlYRksBqacV-dBPzW2A=&tbnid=xzCjjP4CythRZM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfannie%2Bflagg%26as_st%3Dy%26hl%3Den) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/97 "2008-10-06T11:44:23Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > In a weird twist, I always thought David Foley was gay, but apparently he’s been married twice and has some kids. But still… I thought the whole of KITH were gay, I thought it was part of their shtick, but it would seem only one of them is actually gay, and they fooled me. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/98 "2008-10-06T12:24:56Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Almost all of the men listed are/were American. Can anyone name any instance of two adults in 20th century America, engaging privately (e.g., not in some park or restroom) and consensually in non-commercial homosexual activity, being criminally prosecuted for it? From [Wikipedia, Lawrence v. Texas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v_Texas): The petitioners, medical technologist John Geddes Lawrence, then 55, and Tyron Garner (1967–2006),[2] then 31, were alleged to have been engaging in consensual anal sex in Lawrence’s apartment in the outskirts of Houston between 10:30 and 11 p.m. on September 17, 1998 when Harris County sheriff’s deputy Joseph Quinn entered the unlocked apartment, with his weapon drawn, arresting the two. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/99 "2008-10-06T16:05:47Z")
I’ve seen a couple of people who seem to believe that Alan Cumming’s marriage was “fake” because he’s gay. I thought that Cumming was openly bisexual, which would mean a relationship with a woman would be as “real” for him as a relationship with a man. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296/100 "2008-10-06T16:36:11Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I didn’t read the whole thread, so sorry if this is a repeat, but > > _ **PAUL STANLEY IS QUEER!!!** _ > > I doubt he will ever come out. Nope, he’s bi. And I doubt he’ll ever come out too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-the-next-celebrity-wholl-come-out-of-the-closet-and-when/465296.md?page=6)