Ellen Page reveals she is a lesbian

[tuco99]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

tuco99, what in the orca are you talking about in your second post?

THey need to come out.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by tuco99

THey need to come out.

Only if they want to.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I just already assumed she was gay. I can't explain gaydar, but it's there. I can give you some symptoms, but they wouldn't define her gayness. I can say she always seems to look uncomfortable in girly clothes and seems to have a kind of butch presence about herself. Does that make her gay? No. But it made me assume she is. If she got married, had a baby, or other things that would seem to mean she's straight, I'd have said who knew? But it's no skin off my arse in any case.

I do think that once you are a known entity by people who don't know you, MANY areas of your life are open to retribution. "Come Out" as a Democrat, Republican, Vegetarian, dog lover, gas guzzler or hybrid driver, religious/unreligious, many people will pick sides and choose to love you or hate you as a result. I personally put gay/straight in these same categories. Some people will choose to love or hate you on that simple point of your entire person, but not worse than being a Republican in Hollywood. We can hope that people won't be all militant about it, but assuming that anything you say or do in public won't cause them to boycott you at the drop of a hat - not gonna happen.

Symptoms. Oh.

The only Republican celebrity I recall receiving backlash is Stacy Dash, which is hilarious, because I didnt think anyone cared that much about a celebrity's politics.

Let Ellen Page live. I didnt have any feelings towards who she loves anyway. Still, good for her!

[DrPhil]

DuBaiSis really said "some symptoms." Oh.

/I can ignore tuco99

[SoCalGirl]

Originally Posted by tuco99

Hollywood is actually homophobic. That is why entertainers usually wait until they are millionaires before they come out of the closet.

I wouldn't say "Hollywood" is homophobic. I would say the Hollywood machine is phobic of anything that hurts profits. If America is less likely to see a movie starring a homosexual actor/actress in a straight role then then it benefits everyone to keep it quiet.

The gossip about plenty of actors and actresses has been spinning for years. When they finally come out it's a "shrug" kind of moment.

I'm in the IDGAF camp and wish people would just go on about their lives without making announcements.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

I'm in the IDGAF camp and wish people would just go on about their lives without making announcements.

Normal, everyday people do. Those in the spotlight could, but more attention would be drawn to them if they didn't.

It is what it is. I'm sure most don't want to announce it, but they feel like they have to, or else deal with a media circus and end up on the front page of every magazine with the headline, "Is he/she gay?!?!?!?!"

[maconmagnolia]

Originally Posted by Jen

She isn't coming out for straight people. Her coming out is meant to help both herself and hopefully those still struggling. It doesn't matter if a straight person wants to know or not - it matters that someone struggling with coming out or their own sexuality has people in the public eye to look towards. It matters that people see and know gay people are part of society. Until coming out and being gay is a process with little possibility of retribution from society, it will be necessary.

I couldn't agree more.

However, I am looking forward to the day when it doesn't have to be big news when a celebrity/someone prominent comes out.

[DrPhil]

I don't know the sexual orientation of the GCers in this thread, but along the lines of what Jen said:

Heterocentrism allows heterosexuals to nonchalantly say "I don't care...people need to stop announcing" OR "they need to just 'come out of the closet'...hurry up."

Power groups like heterosexuals always feel the need to weigh-in and "give permission" as though homosexuals are waiting for heterosexuals' seal of approval.

In response to ASTAlumna06's post: Arguably, normal everyday people make an "announcement" every time we use gendered language when talking about dating/relationships and when we do things like go out in public with people we date. That doesn't automatically equate to our sexual orientation(s) but it gives people an idea even if we are being dishonest and not forthcoming. I've told this story before on GC but I've had people get uncomfortable, annoyed, and even angry at me because I didn't announce the gender of my Significant Other (I usually use language like "Significant Other" and "Partner"). There are people who obviously breathed a sigh of relief (and told me they now feel more comfortable) when they met my Significant Other and realize it is a biological-male and gender-man. I wanted to cuss these homophobic people out but these are typically semi-professional environments. Darn.

[33girl]

Hal Holbrook was married to Dixie Carter for years & she doesn't seem like the type to live her life as a beard, so I don't know where trollco is getting that one.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Hal Holbrook was married to Dixie Carter for years & she doesn't seem like the type to live her life as a beard, so I don't know where trollco is getting that one.

Yeah, that one seemed weird to me. I tried to think of someone famous with a similar name and came up with nothing.

[Dionysus]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Can I ask how some of you already knew Ellen Page is a lesbian?

She kept her fingernails short.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

She kept her fingernails short.

LOL. Hush.

I don't like long nails and keep my finger nails short. I once went to the nail salon for a French manicure and she said "bitch, please."

Does that mean...could it mean...possibly....

[sugar and spice]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Can I ask how some of you already knew Ellen Page is a lesbian?

If you follow celebrity gossip sites at all, it was fairly widely speculated. She was outed by a gossip site as being bisexual a while back. She apparently was essentially out already in her hometown--lots of people had stories about seeing her out with women. And I don't think she and Drew Barrymore tried very hard to hide the fact that they'd hooked up during the filming of Whip It. People just chose to see what they wanted to see.

I don't think it really matters if people are surprised by it or not--it's not about that. It takes a great deal of bravery to admit it whether people already knew or not (and certainly most people didn't), and even though Hollywood is more liberal than a lot of America, she's still risking plenty. Openly gay or lesbian actors still don't get leading roles. Hopefully this is one of the things that starts to change that.

[DrPhil]

I was just wondering whether most people would say something like DubaiSis said. Instead, most of you read gossip columns. Those darn gossip columns.

Technically, "hooking up" doesn't reveal sexual orientation just as someone can be married to someone of a different sex and gender and still be homosexual.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Hal Holbrook was married to Dixie Carter for years & she doesn't seem like the type to live her life as a beard, so I don't know where trollco is getting that one.

Where does Max ever get his "facts."

In other news, I didn't know who Ellen Page is. And I saw Juno.