Celebrating people for "coming out"

[iamwhatiseem]

As most of you probably saw this week Robin Roberts, longtime anchor of Good Morning America, came out of the closet and said she was gay and happy with a long term relationship.
You would have thought she saved the lives of a hospital wing of infants. Even other networks were quick to praise her and fall all over themselves to congratulate her.
Even though all of them had personally known for years.
You will also remember when Anderson Cooper came out - again you would have thought he was a Medal of Honor recipient. Same goes for any celebrity.
Why is this?
It is their sexuality. So what?
What if Anderson Cooper was bisexual and announced he is now "hetro-only" - would he have received any praise?
I can understand making a big deal of it 20 years ago. Coming out took a lot of nerve back then and PLENTY of celebrities suffered after doing so. Today..who cares? Why still act like they did something special?

 

[blastoff]

Can't speak for the babes but I can imagine how excited the guys are when they make the big announcement, probably even got a new outfit for the occasion complete with matching shoes and purse and whatnot, so a little fawning over is the least we should accord them IMO.

 

[Unkotare]

What is this doing in the Race Relations forum?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

What is this doing in the Race Relations forum?

Whoops...I read "relations/racism"...I didn't see the word "race" before relations.

 

[Unkotare]

Ah, a different sort of 'relations.' Got it.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

As most of you probably saw this week Robin Roberts, longtime anchor of Good Morning America, came out of the closet and said she was gay and happy with a long term relationship.
You would have thought she saved the lives of a hospital wing of infants. Even other networks were quick to praise her and fall all over themselves to congratulate her.
Even though all of them had personally known for years.
You will also remember when Anderson Cooper came out - again you would have thought he was a Medal of Honor recipient. Same goes for any celebrity.
Why is this?
It is their sexuality. So what?
What if Anderson Cooper was bisexual and announced he is now "hetro-only" - would he have received any praise?
I can understand making a big deal of it 20 years ago. Coming out took a lot of nerve back then and PLENTY of celebrities suffered after doing so. Today..who cares? Why still act like they did something special?

Anderson Cooper's gay? Huh.

Reason coming out is so important is often the perception of gays in purely academic with no personal association between gay people and the one who may be against gay equal rights. Whereas if everyone LGB came out, chances are everyone'd know someone who was and suddenly their purely academic objections are now being rethought in the sense that "hey, my good buddy's gay."

 

[Unkotare]

As most of you probably saw this week Robin Roberts, longtime anchor of Good Morning America, came out of the closet and said she was gay and happy with a long term relationship.
You would have thought she saved the lives of a hospital wing of infants. Even other networks were quick to praise her and fall all over themselves to congratulate her.
Even though all of them had personally known for years.
You will also remember when Anderson Cooper came out - again you would have thought he was a Medal of Honor recipient. Same goes for any celebrity.
Why is this?
It is their sexuality. So what?
What if Anderson Cooper was bisexual and announced he is now "hetro-only" - would he have received any praise?
I can understand making a big deal of it 20 years ago. Coming out took a lot of nerve back then and PLENTY of celebrities suffered after doing so. Today..who cares? Why still act like they did something special?

Anderson Cooper's gay? Huh.

Reason coming out is so important is often the perception of gays in purely academic with no personal association between gay people and the one who may be against gay equal rights. Whereas if everyone LGB came out, chances are everyone'd know someone who was and suddenly their purely academic objections are now being rethought in the sense that "hey, my good buddy's gay."

Ok, then why don't they?

 

[Huey]

What is this doing in the Race Relations forum?

Whoops...I read "relations/racism"...I didn't see the word "race" before relations.

it figures you coming from Ind and all

 

[iamwhatiseem]

What is this doing in the Race Relations forum?

Whoops...I read "relations/racism"...I didn't see the word "race" before relations.

it figures you coming from Ind and all

eh?
What does Indiana got to do with anything?

 

[AquaAthena]

As most of you probably saw this week Robin Roberts, longtime anchor of Good Morning America, came out of the closet and said she was gay and happy with a long term relationship.
You would have thought she saved the lives of a hospital wing of infants. Even other networks were quick to praise her and fall all over themselves to congratulate her.
Even though all of them had personally known for years.
You will also remember when Anderson Cooper came out - again you would have thought he was a Medal of Honor recipient. Same goes for any celebrity.
Why is this?
It is their sexuality. So what?
What if Anderson Cooper was bisexual and announced he is now "hetro-only" - would he have received any praise?
I can understand making a big deal of it 20 years ago. Coming out took a lot of nerve back then and PLENTY of celebrities suffered after doing so. Today..who cares? Why still act like they did something special?

Ratings???

I agree on keeping ones sexual proclivities to themselves, but I can't speak for others.

Who knows the degree of damage, hiding and pretending, can do to another. Especially if one is in the spotlight, being a fake. I think they feel a great relief, for their own reasons, to come out the way they do and it doesn't offend me one bit. I feel good for them, actually. They are good people who, through truth, now feel less like the fraud they may have felt, and now feel cleansed.

For the record here, and newbies as well, I just want to say, as I have before, that I am a heterosexual, and have no family members or friends, who are gay, to my knowledge.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

As most of you probably saw this week Robin Roberts, longtime anchor of Good Morning America, came out of the closet and said she was gay and happy with a long term relationship.
You would have thought she saved the lives of a hospital wing of infants. Even other networks were quick to praise her and fall all over themselves to congratulate her.
Even though all of them had personally known for years.
You will also remember when Anderson Cooper came out - again you would have thought he was a Medal of Honor recipient. Same goes for any celebrity.
Why is this?
It is their sexuality. So what?
What if Anderson Cooper was bisexual and announced he is now "hetro-only" - would he have received any praise?
I can understand making a big deal of it 20 years ago. Coming out took a lot of nerve back then and PLENTY of celebrities suffered after doing so. Today..who cares? Why still act like they did something special?

Ratings???

I agree on keeping ones sexual proclivities to themselves, but I can't speak for others.

Who knows the degree of damage, hiding and pretending, can do to another. Especially if one is in the spotlight, being a fake. I think they feel a great relief, for their own reasons, to come out the way they do and it doesn't offend me one bit. I feel good for them, actually. They are good people who, through truth, now feel less like the fraud they may have felt, and now feel cleansed.

For the record here, and newbies as well, I just want to say, as I have before, that I am a heterosexual, and have no family members or friends, who are gay, to my knowledge.

Wait what?

"I agree on keeping ones sexual proclivities to themselves"

"For the record here, and newbies as well, I just want to say, as I have before, that I am a heterosexual"

Wanna try that again?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I don't think ratings have anything to do with it.
I think people's minds are still in the 1980's when coming out was a significant risk...and people admired the courage to do so. There is no reason to admire someone for saying they are gay.
Being gay is not an accomplishment. Despite our entire education system promoting "inner gayness" and discovering your sexuality as if someone needs to.
I can't help but believe there is also a connection with liberals and minorities. And the fact they just "teamed up" with a minority makes them special now.

 

[Truthmatters]

As most of you probably saw this week Robin Roberts, longtime anchor of Good Morning America, came out of the closet and said she was gay and happy with a long term relationship.
You would have thought she saved the lives of a hospital wing of infants. Even other networks were quick to praise her and fall all over themselves to congratulate her.
Even though all of them had personally known for years.
You will also remember when Anderson Cooper came out - again you would have thought he was a Medal of Honor recipient. Same goes for any celebrity.
Why is this?
It is their sexuality. So what?
What if Anderson Cooper was bisexual and announced he is now "hetro-only" - would he have received any praise?
I can understand making a big deal of it 20 years ago. Coming out took a lot of nerve back then and PLENTY of celebrities suffered after doing so. Today..who cares? Why still act like they did something special?

because some in this country will treat them badly now that they know it.


you gonna pretend there is no prejudice against gay people in this country?

Hell most states still don't let them marry.

 

[Truthmatters]

I don't think ratings have anything to do with it.
I think people's minds are still in the 1980's when coming out was a significant risk...and people admired the courage to do so. There is no reason to admire someone for saying they are gay.
Being gay is not an accomplishment. Despite our entire education system promoting "inner gayness" and discovering your sexuality as if someone needs to.
I can't help but believe there is also a connection with liberals and minorities. And the fact they just "teamed up" with a minority makes them special now.

see your one of them

 

[R.D.]

Robin Roberts was clearly out for years, making it public had to be for ratings and a push for the "acceptance" they pretend they are fighting for. As if her ten year relationship had somehow cost her a something.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Robin Roberts was clearly out for years, making it public had to be for ratings and a push for the "acceptance" they pretend they are fighting for. As if her ten year relationship had somehow cost her a something.

Exactly.
Why do these people think a gay person is something special?
Their not.
Equal opportunity/treatment - you bet.
Special treatment - no.
Like I said - being gay is not an accomplishment.

 

[katsteve2012]

As most of you probably saw this week Robin Roberts, longtime anchor of Good Morning America, came out of the closet and said she was gay and happy with a long term relationship.
You would have thought she saved the lives of a hospital wing of infants. Even other networks were quick to praise her and fall all over themselves to congratulate her.
Even though all of them had personally known for years.
You will also remember when Anderson Cooper came out - again you would have thought he was a Medal of Honor recipient. Same goes for any celebrity.
Why is this?
It is their sexuality. So what?
What if Anderson Cooper was bisexual and announced he is now "hetro-only" - would he have received any praise?
I can understand making a big deal of it 20 years ago. Coming out took a lot of nerve back then and PLENTY of celebrities suffered after doing so. Today..who cares? Why still act like they did something special?

Anderson Cooper's gay? Huh.

Reason coming out is so important is often the perception of gays in purely academic with no personal association between gay people and the one who may be against gay equal rights. Whereas if everyone LGB came out, chances are everyone'd know someone who was and suddenly their purely academic objections are now being rethought in the sense that "hey, my good buddy's gay."

Ok, then why don't they?

From my own experience as an outsider looking in, years ago I worked on a special assignment in San Francisco, realigning an existing technology marketing division, and merging another operations division with another. I was there for almost two years, and during that time I learned quite a few things that I did not know.

First was that San Francisco is a hub that attracts many gay people due it's liberal politics, secondly, inspite of that fact, there are quite a few people who live there that are still homophobic even though they live in a city that is known for being progressive.

There were incidents in the Castro district of gays being mugged and severely beaten. A local politician Harvey Milk was even assassinated for what some think was his sexual orientation and lobbying for gay rights in the city.

When I arrived there, I had a half a day meeting with one of the other division vice presidents that was going to work with me in the divisional transition process, and although he was a nice guy, and we had known each other via phone conversations over the years, and saw each other at quarterly meetings, I saw a side of him that was absolutely hostile as it related to part of the workforce that was gay.

He was actually proud of the fact that he had quietly railroaded a number of gays ( who he referred to in a derogatory way), in addition, being very religious, he actually believed that those who were gay were in fact "sick".

This was in the early 90's, and while attitudes have relaxed some, there is still a lot of opportunity for acceptance.

Just my opinion Unk.