Cracks in gay 'glass closet'
2008-06-06 12:13
Los Angeles - Hollywood's "glass closet" may not be shattered, but with stars such as Ellen DeGeneres and TR Knight openly out and shows like The L Word proving popular in recent years, insiders say being gay or lesbian is no longer a career breaker for celebrities.
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday gave a final approval for gay marriages in the state, clearing the way for talk show host DeGeneres and her girlfriend of four years, actress Portia de Rossi, to marry as planned.
Last week actress Lindsay Lohan, 21, was the subject of widespread talk in celebrity magazines that she was having a lesbian affair with friend Samantha Ronson, prompting some in Hollywood to encourage her to go public with the relationship.
If she did, it might not hurt her career, as it most definitely would have only a few years ago. In fact, say many gay Hollywood players, it has not hurt theirs.
"After publicly coming out, I haven't noticed a difference," Grey's Anatomy star TR Knight told Reuters at an event to celebrate gay marriage in West Hollywood.
Increasing public acceptance
But Knight, who was forced by a colleague to disclose publicly he was gay, noted he had a steady job, which cannot be said for others.
Actor Rock Hudson kept his homosexuality a secret for decades for fear it would hurt his ability to win leading-man roles. His death to Aids-related illness in 1985 shocked Americans, and when DeGeneres publicly came out in the late 1990s it caused a media sensation.
But by early this decade, TV show Will & Grace, about the lives of a gay man and straight woman, had become an audience hit, a sign of increasing public acceptance.
Still, experts say a "glass closet" exists for some actors,
but because many openly gay celebrities such as Knight, DeGeneres, De Rossi and Rosie O'Donnell are breaking barriers that have stood for years, that closet is cracking.
Ilene Chaiken, creator and executive producer of The L
Word, the popular lesbian-themed show on the cable channel
Showtime, said Hollywood's attitude toward gay content has
improved and that soon any gay "stigma" will be irrelevant.
"Our kids think it's absurd gay people can't get married, and by the time they are the dominant consumer culture, most of
these issues are going to be non-issues," she said.
But some actors, especially men, still fear coming out.
Film and TV fans are more likely to warm to a lesbian actress than a gay actor, the experts said. Women are less likely to feel threatened by a lesbian woman. Some men see them as sexy, and gay men as challenging their own sexuality.
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Cynthia Osterman)