Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper are gay. To anyone able to read between the lines and recognize a butch haircut, this has been obvious for years.
Although, for those who cannot reconcile the idea of mainstream success with the propensity to sleep with members of the same sex, this unequivocal statement may come as a shock. Therein lies the problem.
On a recent cover of OUT magazine, the predominant mainstream gay publication, new Editor-in-Chief Aaron Hicklin pictured Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper with a headline reading "The Glass Closet: Why The Stars Won't Come Out and Play." This garnered many responding headlines from large news outlets, and a predictable outcome from the two stars' camps: no comment.
To those of us living as out gay individuals, this statement is not only a tacit confirmation of their homosexuality, but paradoxically, a slap in the face to the public that they willingly act, report, and, yes, legislate, before. We may all know they're gay, but their refusal to admit it perpetuates the idea that there is something inherently clandestine and wrong with being openly gay.
Now, I'm not here to prove that Jake Gyllenhaal, Wentworth Miller, Queen Latifah, Tom Cruise and Larry Craig are gay; that much is obvious. What I am here to propose is that each of these public figures (who so willingly expose their private lives in numerous interviews while pretending to live "normal" heterosexual existences) stop actively protesting their sexuality and make the world a far better place for the young gay people composing their fan bases.
When Merv Griffin died in August, The Hollywood Reporter ran an obituary chastising the entertainer for years of silence regarding his sexual orientation. The story outted the man - raking him across the coals amidst a sea of soft-ball postmortem tributes - resulting in a scandal and the pulling of the story amid threats of litigation. This, again, sends the message that homosexuality is legally libelous and fundamentally wrong.
If stars don't have the chutzpah to find a fake date, they pull the old cure-all, "I don't discuss my private life." I'm not asking for these public figures to give dirty details, rather asking them to acknowledge (not admit) what is downright obvious. Jodie Foster, for one, has two kids with her partner of over a decade, and lives fairly openly as a lesbian. She also had the number one movie at the box office, "The Brave One," in September.
A straight star will refuse to name who they are dating, but usually don't try to deny their heterosexuality. We don't NEED to ask Kate Hudson if she's gay, but yeah, Clay Aiken, we need you to say you're a big old homo. You'll find a myriad of pseudo-intellectual defenses from these stars who attempt to confuse readers into thinking they are some sort of asexual recluses (bull) or that they pride themselves on remaining aloof from the dirty world of Hollywood gossip.
The great irony is that by refusing to answer the question outright, they force homosexuality back into the realm of gossip, rumor and innuendo. They create the blind items that are then attached to specific stars (hello Mr. Gyllenhaal) by gay teens and others who are desperate for a role model, someone famous to look up to and say "they are like me, they are normal, and they are successful."
The few out stars we have (Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres) are slim pickings. When a young, good-looking, successful star finally comes out of the closet, I will do a little dance in my heart because I know, however shallow it may seem, that we have won another victory for representation; but I'm not holding my breath.
