As someone who lives in New York City and is used to the endless gossip I hear about the celebrity world, it doesn’t come as that much of a surprise to me that there are several entertainers who are either allegedly gay, bisexual or fluid and in the closet about it.
These are men who come from all walks of the business: movie legends, sports stars, music icons and so much more. I’ve heard stories about one in particular heading to popular restaurant early in the morning with their significant other where they dress totally incognito, eat, enjoy each other’s company and leave without anybody noticing (or so they think). There’s also a fairly popular one who has been rumored to be gay for most of his music career but hasn’t addressed any of that as of yet.
Yet, all of them stay in the closet (once again, allegedly). I am not one to ever, EVER out someone as it’s the wrong thing to do no matter what the situation is, however it’s very frustrating that gay, bi and fluid men in the entertainment industry still have to deal with this in 2018 given how accepting society has gotten over the past 20-30 years.
Hollywood and its counterparts can be a place that is difficult for anyone to succeed in, let alone people who identify as LGBTQ. It becomes extremely difficult for an openly gay man to find roles that aren’t gay as the public can find it hard to believe that they are playing a heterosexual. Yet straight men, like the late Heath Ledger and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, are lauded for their portrayals of gay men (fictional or non-fictional) and sometimes win major awards for it.
There have been some notable exceptions, however. Neil Patrick Harris played a womanizing type on How I Met Your Mother for several years, and Matt Bomerscored a big role as a male stripper performing for women only in the film Magic Mike. There are also other performers who have broken through the sexuality stereotype like George Michael and Sam Smith to name a few, where people place their talent over the type of person they are sexually attracted to.
Is it career suicide for a man to come out in 2018? Does it meant that the roles they will audition for will become smaller and smaller because of their admission? Or maybe they have built up such a reputation as a Hollywood heartthrob that it would be a complete 180 for them if they were to ever be real about who they actually are.
The fortunate thing about the younger generations (IE millennials) is how much more accepting they are about sexuality compared to previous generations. Certain stars, like Noah Centineo, have openly spoken out about kissing their best male friend and the reception they receive from their fanbase is pretty positive afterwards. You also have shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race that has brought in such a young viewership that isn’t LGBTQ specific… it is all-encompassing. People seem to be more comfortable with who they are more than ever before, so what’s stopping these guys from being their authentic selves as society continues to normalize and love every type of person out there?
Why do you think gay, bi and fluid entertainers continue to stay in the closet all this time later?
This post was created by one of our Contributing Writers and does not reflect the opinion of Instinct Magazine or the other Contributing Writers when it comes to this subject.