# Who'da thunk it? I didn't know they were STRAIGHT! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2000, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420 "2000-11-23T05:58:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/1 "2000-11-23T05:58:39Z")
Who’da ever guessed Matthew Broderick was straight? And John Lithgow? And several Chicago TV personalities of whom the rest of you have never heard! Who has surprised you with their conventional lifestyles? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/2 "2000-11-23T07:13:07Z")
Well, to answer this with total “straight” forwardness, from what I have heard it does surprise me somewhat that Ed Wood was straight. But “straight” is such a limiting term. I use it in reference to Wood only to mean that he preferred “sex with girls,” to quote the movie. What was the battle in the Pacific in which he supposedly hit the beach (he was in the Marines) wearing a bra and panties? I guess angora didn’t go with battle fatigues. Sir ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/3 "2000-11-23T15:16:31Z")
Transvestitism does not necessarily = homosexuality. A common misconception. ---
**Author:** ![beakerxf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@beakerxf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beakerxf)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/4 "2000-11-23T15:31:19Z")
I thought for sure that Janeane Garofolo was gay for at least a full year before I heard her mention a boyfriend in an interview. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/5 "2000-11-23T17:09:58Z")
Has Eric McCormack fooled anyone? He plays Will on **Will and Grace** and is straight as an arrow. Married and everything. Seriously, I’d be interested to know what our gay brethren and sisteren (whatever) think of his performance. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/6 "2000-11-23T17:14:10Z")
David Bowie. I’ve never seen Eric McCormack in an interview or anything, but I think he does a convincing job of playing gay on “Will and Grace”. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/7 "2000-11-23T17:14:37Z")
“Matthew Broderick was straight?” Are you sure about this? Im pretty sure he was gay 15 or so years back. Being married & having kids, surprisingly, does NOT indicate a person is straight. A lot of actors marry & have kids (maybe they used a turkey baster) in order to give the impression they are straight so they can get more work. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/8 "2000-11-23T17:16:56Z")
Bowie is bisexual, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/9 "2000-11-23T17:53:41Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by handy \* > [BBeing married & having kids, surprisingly, does NOT indicate a person is straight_\* Of course I do realize that, but having seen an interview, I know he’s straight. At least he says he is. But in the current climate I highly doubt and actor would have to disguise his sexuality to get gigs. As for Bowie, I thought the deal was he’s straight, but he played it gay and camp in the 70’s for the shock value. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/10 "2000-11-23T18:55:49Z")
I thought for sure Mary Tyler Moore was lesbian, until I saw a pick of her and her husband. That Rhoda character from the same series also gave me pause (She’s not). I seem to recall reading that Nathan Lane was hetero. That one shocked me (I could be remembering wrong though). The real surprise for me was Micheal Gellman, the producer of the ‘Live- With Regis and Kathie Lee Bitch’ show. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/11 "2000-11-23T19:17:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jack Batty \* > \*\* > > As for Bowie, I thought the deal was he’s straight, but he played it gay and camp in the 70’s for the shock value. \*\* I think that’s pretty much it. He said he was bisexual back in the 70’s, but he now says that he never had a single sexual experience with another man. I don’t think that could possibly be due to lack of opportunity! I have also seen him quoted as saying that claiming he was bisexual in the first place was a big mistake. I suppose it’s possible that he’s simply retreated back into the closet in recent years, but it seems to me that his bisexuality was probably just a fashion statement. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/12 "2000-11-23T19:36:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*I suppose it’s possible that he’s simply retreated back into the closet in recent years, but it seems to me that his bisexuality was probably just a fashion statement. > \*\* Ok. But I can still fantasize about him and Mick Jagger, right? ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/13 "2000-11-23T20:54:34Z")
Nathan Lane is as gay as the day is long. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/14 "2000-11-23T23:07:32Z")
I would never have thought Anne Heche was straight, but apparently she only recently realized it herself. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2000, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/15 "2000-11-24T00:29:46Z")
Couldn’t Anne just be Bisexual? Or maybe she was just experimenting…or worse-trying to be “trendy”…that’s just wrong. (Having a homosexual relationship with someone because it’s the “in” thing to do-you could really hurt someone that way). ---
**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:** [November 24, 2000, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/16 "2000-11-24T00:47:36Z")
Rikki Rockett, from Poison. He’s so, uh…how do I put it… Fruity? Feminine? What’s the word I’m looking for? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2000, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/17 "2000-11-24T02:20:46Z")
I always assumed Rob Lowe was gay until the video evidence surfaced which proved otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/18 "2000-11-24T05:02:43Z")
By straight I’m going with “primarily heterosexual.” With show people you have to expect SOME experimentation! Saw an interview with Bowie where he claimed the epiphany in the '80s of realizing he was a “closet heterosexual.” So he got married, although I wasn’t too surprised when the woman was named I-Man! _rim shot_ Matthew Broderick has been living with that woman he’s married to (she was on “Square Pegs” and “Sex and the City”–what’s her name–forget it, I don’t really care) for those fifteen years. Ira Glass from “This American Life” told a story once about a relationship with a woman Prominent Gay Guy David Sidaris set him up with. On his show Glass comes across as a gay stereotype, so I was surprised. Okay, I went to the trouble to look it up while checking the spelling of David Sidaris’ name: Sarah Jessica Parker. Pierce Brosnan was always rather well-kempt for a straight guy. I guess he balances Bruce Vilanch! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/19 "2000-11-24T05:17:34Z")
dropzone, where are you getting your spell checking? David _Sedaris_. This now concludes tonight’s episode of Nitpick Theater. 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 24, 2000, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420/20 "2000-11-24T05:49:08Z")
ElvisL1ves writes: \> I would never have thought Anne Heche was straight, but \> apparently she only recently realized it herself. In fact, it appears that all of Heche’s romances before and after Ellen DeGeneres were with men. She dated Steve Martin for two years, for instance. dropzone writes: \> On his show Glass comes across as a gay stereotype, so I \> was surprised. What gay stereotype is that? I keep wondering what people are seeing (or hearing in this case) when they say things like this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-i-didnt-know-they-were-straight/42420.md?page=2)