Community Corner
How Should the Media Handle Celebrities Coming Out?
Two different in-depth articles dealing with how the media cover gay celebrities have appeared in the past week -- one in Entertainment Weekly, one on the New York Observer website.
Maybe it’s because June is Gay Pride month. Or maybe there’s just something in the air. Whichever the case, two different in-depth articles about celebrities publicly coming out of the closet have appeared in the past week.
The cover story of the latest Entertainment Weekly, cover dated June 29, is a special report on “The New Art of Coming Out” analyzing the ever-evolving way celebrities are coming out.
Writer Mark Harris, the husband of Angels in America playwright Tony Kushner, discusses how when Ellen DeGeneres came out in 1997, it was such major news that it was the cover story of Time magazine with the headline “Yep, I’m Gay.” DeGeneres’ coming out tour also included stops on Oprah’s couch and Prime Time Live.
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He then contrasts her coming out to how successive coming outs have been handled in the ensuing 15 years, ending with Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons who came out in a New York Times article last month. But Parsons coming out was such a non-event, the news wasn’t mentioned until two-thirds of the way into the article and didn’t even include a direct quote from Parsons, merely a passing, “Mr. Parsons is gay and in a 10-year-relationship.”
The full text of that article is only available in the print edition at the moment, but an excerpt is on Entertainment Weekly’s website.
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Meanwhile, the New York Observer website also has similarly themed article, titled, “Outward Bound: Celebs Struggle To Keep Sexuality Secret(ish), But Media Make Mischief.”
Writer Daniel D’Addario focuses his article more on the media outlets that report on celebrities and how they handle such gay information. He contrasts how internet gossip sites that don’t adhere to the same standards that mainstream media outlets do.
That article includes commentary from Michelangelo Signorile, who invented the concept of outing in 1990, as well as Howard Bragman, the publicist who helped various celebrities go public with their sexuality including actress Meredith Baxter and country singer Chely Wright.
What is your feeling about celebrities coming out. In the age of the internet, should the media report on gay rumors about celebrities? Or is a formal announcement needed before its fair game? Tell us in the comments section.
