# Who is the most famous homosexual? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009 "2009-07-14T18:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/81 "2009-07-15T19:25:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Antipas was not reputed to be gay either (his major controversy was divorcing his first wife to marry his niece – something the Gospels claim John the Baptist was critical of, and that his criticism was the reason for his death), but Mel Gobson portrayed him as somewhat effeminate in _The Passion of the Christ_, so maybe that’s where you got the idea. That’s probably it. I could swear there was discussion of that as well. Maybe it was in a thread about that movie. Thanks for the info. Very interesting! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/82 "2009-07-15T19:47:31Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I didn’t know that Graham Norton was gay, though. :dubious: You have \*seen \*his show, yes? ---
**Author:** ![Other\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Other\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Other_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/83 "2009-07-17T06:55:40Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > [Gay Book Of Lists: Rutledge, Leigh W.: 9781555831202: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Gay-Book-Lists-Leigh-Rutledge/dp/1555831206) > > This board is about fighting ignorance… you might want to Google before making a prat of yourself. I was actually using that smiley to convey my reaction to the book _title_. I thought it was amusing. Did I use the wrong smiley? Next time I will just use words, to avoid reactions like this. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/84 "2009-07-17T14:11:22Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > :dubious: You have \*seen \*his show, yes? I thought he was just really, really…uh, fey? Plus, I guess I was just used his his role as Father Noel Furlong. Father Noel isn’t gay! ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/85 "2009-07-17T16:09:42Z")
> [@Other\_Dreams](#): > > I was actually using that smiley to convey my reaction to the book _title_. I thought it was amusing. Did I use the wrong smiley? Next time I will just use words, to avoid reactions like this. My bad. You used the “skeptical” smiley, which suggested that you didn’t believe the book existed or was called _The Gay Book of Lists_. Knives withdrawn. 🙂 Smilies are dangerous things. Except for the happy ones! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/86 "2009-07-17T16:31:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Antipas was not reputed to be gay either (his major controversy was divorcing his first wife to marry his niece – something the Gospels claim John the Baptist was critical of, and that his criticism was the reason for his death), but Mel Gobson portrayed him as somewhat effeminate in _The Passion of the Christ_, so maybe that’s where you got the idea. He probably got the idea from Jesus Christ Superstar, where Herod is usually depicted as flamboyantly effeminate. See, for instance, the [1973 movie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb_9uH-ELJE), or even moreso, [Ric Mayall’s 2000 portrayal](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGfyGydodgo&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![Other\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Other\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Other_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/87 "2009-07-17T21:05:30Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > My bad. You used the “skeptical” smiley, which suggested that you didn’t believe the book existed or was called _The Gay Book of Lists_. Knives withdrawn. 🙂 > > Smilies are dangerous things. Except for the happy ones! It is all my fault, really. I am not very clear sometimes. 🙂 This smiley works! ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/88 "2009-07-18T02:40:31Z")
> [@Other\_Dreams](#): > > It is all my fault, really. I am not very clear sometimes. 🙂 This smiley works! Now you’re being nice, and I’m looking at your join date, and I feel like a jerk for going off on someone new to the boards. I was getting grief in another thread and feeling punchy, so I was a little ruder than normal. Sorry to have forgotten my manners. Welcome to the boards, hope to see you around! 🙂 🙂 I just thought to myself, “Are people from Lesbos referred to as Lesbians?” I suppose they are. There’s an interesting visual. Old Greek guy gets up and says, “Speaking as a proud Lesbian…” And I just learned from Wikipedia that there is Lesbian wine, from that region. I’m locking my choices now. Of all time: Alexander the Great Of the modern era: Elton John, Martina Navratilova ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/89 "2009-07-18T03:12:29Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Hitler. No! We don’t want him on our team! My vote goes with Michelangelo. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/90 "2009-07-18T04:28:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > And sorry, but many of the people named in this thread aren’t household names outside of a few countries (Liberace, for example). I’m not sure there are any famous people who are household names in every country. But most household names in the US are also well known in other western countries. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/91 "2009-07-18T04:56:20Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > James Buchanan, so it is said. As far as presidents go, our best bets are Buchanan and Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/92 "2009-07-18T05:56:35Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Aside from that whole Lincoln sleeping in the same bed as a guy supposedly? [The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2502/was-abraham-lincoln-gay). There’s nothing supposedly about it. Sharing beds between men was pretty darn common then, and in many places since. The question of Lincoln’s sexuality is not determinable on the basis of his having shared a bed with a man. For most famous gay person, we have to exclude anyone before the 20th C., because we’d never be able to ascertain for certain. However, for a dead person I’d nominate Paul the Apostle. For someone living, I gotta go with Elton John. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009.md?page=4)