# What celebrities are homosexual, but are often thought not to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927 "2005-03-23T20:00:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [March 24, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/21 "2005-03-24T03:58:36Z")
I was surprised when I heard that Portia de Rossi and Jorja Fox were gay. But if they ever get together and make a video, I’d be willing to review the evidence. And speaking of celebrity sex tapes, I was equally surprised when video evidence came out that Rob Lowe was straight. For some reason, I always thought he was gay. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/22 "2005-03-24T04:05:29Z")
I’m tempted to say Tom Cruise . . . but who really knows? (Whatever might be the truth of it, I’m pretty sure the Cruise-Kidman sex video was leaked on purpose – telling the world, “I do SO have sex with my wife!”) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/23 "2005-03-24T04:25:55Z")
I haven’t any inkling of the truth, but I have come across rumors that the Drudge Report dude\* is gay. This seems to be based on various sightings of him hanging out in obviously gay bars. - I’m not sure what his first name is ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/24 "2005-03-24T04:58:17Z")
After reading a few lists, my surprises are Jorja Fox, Rick Mercer and Ashley MacIsaac. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/25 "2005-03-24T05:00:35Z")
> [@LaurAnge](#): > > Ashley MacIsaac. You’re really surprised at him? His outing was rather public, and included drugs, a teenager, and, uh, watersports. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/26 "2005-03-24T05:15:26Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Considering that Ruth married a male the first chance she got, I’d say interpreting that passage as a sign of lesbianism is a bit of a reach. I agree with astorian; I have never understood why that is taken as emblematic of lesbianism. She’s a widow talking to her mother-in-law for Og’s sake… it’s basically saying you’re my family. Then her mother-in-law helps her get a husband because they’re two single women in a world not set up for self-supporting women- Ruth needs a husband and Naomi needs a son. Anyway, regarding the OP, I find that Will “Grandpa Walton” Geer tends to surprise a lot of people. Robert Reed, Raymond Burr (who lied about ex and deceased wives), Fannie Flagg, Agnes Moorehead, Tom Hulce (imdb reports him as married but he’s not- he did become a father recently), B.D. Wong and sometimes Anne Heche may fit as well. Billy Zane (who is twice divorced) seems to be on the verge of coming out. John Mahoney (FRASIER’s dad) has never come out but doesn’t deny being gay and it’s a pretty open secret and rarely gets mentioned on gay lists. Ben “Dude, you’re gettin’ a Dell” Curtis is sometimes on a “suspected gay” list (perhaps because he’s currently in a play [play](http://www.queerday.com/2005/feb/16/dell_dude_ben_curtis_back_in_gay_play.html) in which his character has a nude gay sex scene) but is apparently not. (His father and his sister IRL are openly gay.) A more interesting and easier to verify thread might be “Actors you assumed were gay but weren’t”, of whom there are several (Eddie Izzard mentioned above, Tony Randall, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/27 "2005-03-24T05:21:25Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > You’re really surprised at him? His outing was rather public, and included drugs, a teenager, and, uh, watersports. I sure as heck never heard any of that when it was happening. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/28 "2005-03-24T05:25:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > A more interesting and easier to verify thread might be “Actors you assumed were gay but weren’t”, of whom there are several (Eddie Izzard mentioned above, Tony Randall, etc.). I’d have bet the farm on Tony Randall, once upon a time. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/29 "2005-03-24T05:48:14Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > I was surprised when I heard that Portia de Rossi and Jorja Fox were gay. What? When did that happen? I know Jorja played a lesbian doctor on ER but I haven’t heard anything more about it. Is this tabloid stuff? I have some male friends who will be very, very disappointed. And a couple of female friends who’ll be pretty happy… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/30 "2005-03-24T06:07:12Z")
I love asking people who are against gay marriage “so, what would you do if Norway’s finance minister came to visit?” I think he isn’t the minister anymore, but yes, the first same-sex wedding in Norway was the minister of finance and his now-husband, a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/31 "2005-03-24T06:14:31Z")
Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/32 "2005-03-24T06:31:07Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > Now, it just might be stereotyping, but “My theory is” that at most of the people who sing YMCA at baseball games doesn’t know what the song (seems to be) is about. Can I politely offer that, yes they do. ---
**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 24, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/33 "2005-03-24T06:33:03Z")
Obligatory **Simpsons** quote: > [@](#): > > Kent Brockman: Now, over the years, a newsman learns a number of things that for one reason or another, he just cannot report. It doesn’t seem to matter now, so…the following people are gay. > > ``` > [a list flashes by hurriedly] > > ``` > > Marge: Turn it off! > Homer: [copying down the list quickly] Just a second… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/34 "2005-03-24T06:38:13Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > What brought this on? The realization of Freddie Mercury or Alan Turing’s homosexuality? I’d have to put Mercury in the flamboyantly bi column. He had a son by his college girlfriend, and spent the last years of his life with another girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/35 "2005-03-24T06:53:20Z")
You know, I always thought Morrissey was gay, or bi. I checked out the list, and it posts him with no explanation, so one would just assume gay. I did a little bit of Googling and ended up finding this quote, which I think makes me respect him more than I respected him before (and I respect the man to pieces as it is): “I refuse to recognize the terms hetero-, bi-, and homo-sexual. Everybody has exactly the same sexual needs. People are just sexual, the prefix is immaterial.” I love this. Sorry if it’s not completely on topic, but I would like to thank the OP for starting this topic, because I otherwise might not have found that quote, and I just love it. 🆒 [/mild hijack] Oh, but after looking at the list, for some reason, Keith Strickland (of the B-52s) being gay completely surprised me. It shouldn’t have, but it did. I had a very teenage schoolgirl crush on him when I was… well… a teenage schoolgirl 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/36 "2005-03-24T07:01:41Z")
I saw a show awhile back that talked about Dan Butler, the guy who played Bulldog on **Frasier** , being gay. This really surprised me. I always thought it was David Hyde Pierce that was gay. I guess my gaydar ain’t what it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/37 "2005-03-24T09:30:51Z")
> [@bclouse](#): > > I saw a show awhile back that talked about Dan Butler, the guy who played Bulldog on **Frasier** , being gay. This really surprised me. I always thought it was David Hyde Pierce that was gay. I guess my gaydar ain’t what it used to be. David Hyde Peirce is openly - albeit quietly - gay, as were the writers of his show. In fact, the only straight male who was in any way involved with the production of _Frasier_ was Kelsey Grammer himself (who perhaps overcompensated by marrying a Playmate.) ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/38 "2005-03-24T11:01:15Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > David Hyde Peirce is openly - albeit quietly - gay, as were the writers of his show. In fact, the only straight male who was in any way involved with the production of _Frasier_ was Kelsey Grammer himself (who perhaps overcompensated by marrying a Playmate.) I’d heard rumors that John Mahoney was gay, but is it a “known” fact? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/39 "2005-03-24T11:28:06Z")
“I’m an actor. Of _course_ I can play a heterosexual!” Sir John Gielgud ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927/40 "2005-03-24T11:40:09Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Well people thought George Michael was straight for the longest time. They **did**? Re: Tony Randall and several others mentioned, the ability to marry a woman and/or father a child is NOT proof of heterosexuality. (I’m not saying Randall is gay, though I have always assumed that he was. Just that one thing has nothing to do with the other.) Re: the biblical Ruth, is it really that hard to see why some people would interpret hers as a lesbian relationship? It is (or sounds like, anyway) an absolutely **lovely** declaration of lesbian devotion. That’s why it was used in **Fried Green Tomatos** (which ALSO involved a woman who married but turned out to be a lesbian). In modern terms, I find it harder NOT to interpret it to refer to lesibianism. (See above re: marriage being no proof of heterosexuality). Also, minorities love to look for evidence of their existence in societies where they are made invisible. (Note, though, that I _do NOT claim that the Ruth WAS gay_, just that it is certainly easy enough to read her that way.) Belatedly regarding the OP, may I mentioned that I was surprised to hear about Raymond Burr? Or was I mistaken in my interpretation of all of the references to his live-in companion of many years in his obituary? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-homosexual-but-are-often-thought-not-to-be/295927.md?page=3)