Gay celebrities: An obligation to come out?

In a country where gays and lesbians are still fighting for equality, said Andrew Sullivan in TheDailyBeast.com, I believe every gay person has a moral obligation to “come out.” It’s the silence and invisibility of gays that have made discrimination and subjugation possible; true equality won’t occur until the closet is finally empty. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who has for years said he wanted to keep his private life private, finally told the world last week what was well-known to his friends, family, and colleagues. “I’m gay,” Cooper said. “Always have been. Always will be.” A few days later, Frank Ocean, an up-and-coming hip-hop star, followed Cooper, telling his fans that his first love was a man, said Carl Swanson in New York magazine. Ocean has “a great deal to lose,” since the hip-hop community is blatantly homophobic. Still, the news from these two public figures was greeted with something of a yawn, which is “an achievement in the long march toward its ‘not mattering.’”

Celebrities should be commended for coming out, said Owen Jones in The Independent (U.K.), but let’s not castigate those of us who’d rather not place our private lives “on public record.” For many young people, coming out is fraught with peril—leading to rejection by parents, and relentless homophobic bullying at school. But the prejudice ordinary people face makes it even more important that gay celebrities like Cooper leave the closet, said Daniel Mendelsohn in The New York Times. It’s too bad he resisted pressure from other gays for so long, on the grounds that his “private life shouldn’t matter.” When you treat being gay like a secret, you’re unconsciously buying into the idea that “there’s something wrong with it.”

Still, Cooper’s public declaration of his sexual orientation is “one more hand in the air,” said Tim Goodman in HollywoodReporter.com. Every time a respected anchor or singer or co-worker comes out, straight people realize that gays are not threatening freaks, but fellow human beings who happen to love someone of the same sex. When I came out as a teen, said Sam Ferrigno in The Hartford Courant, I was sure I’d be ostracized and condemned to a life as a lonely pariah. I didn’t know anyone like Cooper, who is successful, happy, and in love. “This is why Cooper’s coming out matters. This is why everyone’s coming out matters.”

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