# 'Tom Cruise is gay': a homophobic statement? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163 "2005-07-26T02:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/21 "2005-07-26T13:16:26Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The latest man linked sexually to Cruise is Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas. Thomas denies it, not because he objects to being linked sexually to a man but because he ojects to being linked sexually to a Scientologist. I wouldn’t have sex with Cruise because he is a Scientologist. Does that make me ahhh…a …homoscientist? FTR, I’m waiting for Cruise to implode. Should be fun. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/22 "2005-07-26T14:00:10Z")
I find it hard to believe that Mr. Mapother has stuck his hardware into either toolbox. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/23 "2005-07-26T16:25:00Z")
Cruise may very well be a complete and utter nut job. But he’s a reasonably good actor. Easy on the eyes. Good gossip fodder and by most measures, fairly harmless. The fact that he sued only for a retraction and not financial compensation (not that he needs the money anyway) shows a bit of class. It really grated on me when he recently came out with those dumbass sweeping statements on the practice of psychiatry but in the end, nobody capable of any critical thought was persuaded by his rant and it did give everyone the opportunity to point and laugh at him while feeling just a little superior. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/24 "2005-07-26T16:25:59Z")
The statement is not homophobic, but can certainly be used in a homophobic way. Lots of people might say… Tom Cruise makes crap films, Tom Cruise is a Scientologist, Tom Cruise is Gay. In the sense that allt hree things reflect negatively uppon Tom Cruise, such would be homophobic. A clearer statement like “Tom Cruise is too cowardly to come out of the closit”, or “Tom Cruise pretends to be straight” would show that the condemnation inherant in the statement are due to his hiding of his sexuality and not due to the nature of his sexuality. Such would not be homophobic, but still falls within the realms of saying someone is somehow bad for not reacting to their own sexuality as you might want them to. All in all Tom Cruise’s sexuality is of no interest to anyone but Tom Cruise and his immediate group of potential sexual partners, and any talk about his sexuality in a condemning fashion is realy a wrong thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/25 "2005-07-26T16:35:56Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I wouldn’t have sex with Cruise because he is a Scientologist. Which is the point the Rob Thomas was making. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/26 "2005-07-26T16:51:09Z")
All I know is, Tom Cruise really really hates it when people say he’s gay. So I take every opportunity that presents itself to say that he is. Gay, I mean. Tom Cruise. Is gay. Totally gay. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/27 "2005-07-26T18:15:08Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > All I know is, Tom Cruise really really hates it when people say he’s gay. So I take every opportunity that presents itself to say that he is. Gay, I mean. Tom Cruise. Is gay. Totally gay. Michael Musto is that you? ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/28 "2005-07-26T18:27:57Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I wouldn’t have sex with Cruise because he is a Scientologist. Does that make me ahhh…a …homoscientist? Scientolophobe? I think it would humanize Tom more if he turned out to be gay. He’s so unreal. And the bizarre way he conducts his personal life leads me to believe he’s got more problems than determining his sexual orientation. Between interviewing young actresses and singers for his next girlfriend and then assigning her a handler once he decided who to date… well. As my dad used to say, “The boy’s not right.” ---
**Author:** ![no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/no_screen_name_for_now)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/29 "2005-07-26T19:59:10Z")
Oh, of course he’s gay. I mean, have you SEEN Nicole Kidman? She’s beautiful! I’m a straight woman and I’d have to think a minute before turning her down. ---
**Author:** ![no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/no_screen_name_for_now)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/30 "2005-07-26T20:04:24Z")
Oh, of course he’s gay. I mean, have you SEEN Nicole Kidman? She’s beautiful! I’m a straight woman and I’d have to think a minute before turning her down. ---
**Author:** ![no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/no_screen_name_for_now)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/31 "2005-07-26T20:11:04Z")
ack, sorry about posting that twice. I must have hit the wrong button. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/32 "2005-07-26T20:22:37Z")
Strange I was talking to a friend about this same thing not long ago. Warning Friend of Friend story coming up There are companies that make a business of covering up the sexual preferences of celebrities. My friend claims to know someone who works for such a company and that Tom Cruise is a client. But again that is entirely a friend of friend story ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/33 "2005-07-26T20:37:59Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > All I know is, Tom Cruise really really hates it when people say he’s gay. So I take every opportunity that presents itself to say that he is. Gay, I mean. Tom Cruise. Is gay. Totally gay. This is where I think the homophopic part comes into play. If you are using the term as an insult, then it is homophobia/gay bashing. Personally, if was dating Katie Holmes, I would be jumping up and down and yelling about it as well. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/34 "2005-07-26T20:51:31Z")
He may not be a homosexual, but he is pretty gay. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/35 "2005-07-26T21:05:00Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Personally, if was dating Katie Holmes, I would be jumping up and down and yelling about it as well. Well, yeah, and if you were 17 or 18, I’d understand that. It’s a little sad and embarrassing at 43, though. Also somewhat contrived looking. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/36 "2005-07-26T22:00:28Z")
I’ve never seen anybody, be they 17, 70, or anywhere in between, so hopped-up on goofballs as Mr. Cruise was whilst baring his soul to Oprah and her viewers. Add to that his psychiatry-bashing asshattery with Matt Lauer, and you’ve got two of the most painfully cringe-inducing bits of TV ever recorded, IMO. I’ve no clue what the relevance to sexual orientation might be, but the words _batshit_ and _crazy_ do spring quite inevitably to my mind when assessing Mr. Cruise’s ucharacteristically public persona of late. It seems his handlers did very well to enforce his erstwhile reticense, but whatever lid they used to keep on him has been flipped and blown clean off, apparently. One wonders if said handlers have truly lost control, or, if not, why on Earth they thought letting Tom tell the world what he really thinks was in any way a good idea. Anyhoo, his nuttyness and putative fruityness are not, and should not be, logically connected, so I can see how some might find the idea of extrapolating anything out of his bizarro antics except that he’s “a little touched” could be offensive in some circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/37 "2005-07-26T22:32:03Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > Scientolophobe? > > I think it would humanize Tom more if he turned out to be gay. He’s so unreal. And the bizarre way he conducts his personal life leads me to believe he’s got more problems than determining his sexual orientation. Between interviewing young actresses and singers for his next girlfriend and then assigning her a handler once he decided who to date… well. As my dad used to say, “The boy’s not right.” I believe the word you’re looking for is “manic.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/38 "2005-07-26T22:33:08Z")
This thread is making me think entirely too much about cruise missiles. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/39 "2005-07-26T22:34:11Z")
Tom Cruise is a Scientologist. Now _that’s_ an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163/40 "2005-07-26T22:45:49Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > A friend of mine was upset by a recent convo she had on another message board. There was a discussion of Tom Cruise going on, and she said she thought he was gay (so do I, for that matter). Nah, when I think of gay, I think of some Bright Young Thing; Cruise is not exuberant and happy enough - he’s far too straight-faced to be gay. Oh, _gay_… 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-is-gay-a-homophobic-statement/314163.md?page=3)