25 Celebs That Shocked Us When They Came Out As Gay

[damnedifIknow]

Eleanor Roosevelt???

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2013/10/09/10-celebs-we-didnt-know-were-gay/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=ContentAD&utm_term=Title1&utm_campaign=4662#slide_23

[ZombieHorde]

1. I don't who many of those people are. nt

[get the red out]

26. Same here

I'm not that up on pop culture.

[PeaceNikki]

3. It's not a 'preference'

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/06/sexual_preference_is_wrong_say_sexual_orientation_instead.html

You may mean well, but it makes you sound ignorant.

This is more than a matter of pedantics, and it’s definitely not one of political correctness. You’re more than entitled to continue using “sexual preference” right alongside “the gay lifestyle” or “avowed homosexual” or whatever term you’d like to broadcast just how dense you really are. Just know that it’s simply flat-out incorrect to refer to a person’s sexual orientation as a “preference.” More than that, it’s dangerous.

Having said that, sexual preference is unlike other terms in this particular social arena in that most people use it without any bad intentions. Naiveté is their only offense, and that’s far easier to fix than willful ignorance. There’s a certain breeziness to sexual preference, and I have no doubt that’s precisely why it’s so often used: People think they won’t offend gays and lesbians because of the lightness of tone. “Well, another person’s sexual preference is none of my business,” we often hear good-hearted people say. “So long as nobody’s getting hurt, to each his own.”

Still, it’s a quietly toxic expression. That’s because the very construct of a preference, or the verb “to prefer,” implies that the individual has a choice, that there are options available and yet, all else being equal and as a matter of taste, really, the person would rather “this one” over “that one.” Think how bizarre it would sound if we were to apply the same language to any other unalterable biological trait. “Suit yourself, and to each his own,” we might reason, “but my preference is to have hands this size, not that size.” Or perhaps, “It’s perfectly fine to go with a darker birthmark on your leg, I just preferred to get mine on my arm, and in this lighter shade of brown, too.” In fact, while we’re on skin color, this flawed logic would, of course, also extend to a person’s opting to be black, white, Asian, or any other race or ethnicity as a preference.

[Chan790]

13. ..and the problem there is...

there are now people who oppose the use of "orientation" because its origins are in the word "Orient" as in "how to get to the Orient" and want to go back to "preference" as even though it's not right, it's also not racist. That's not exactly a new fight; when I worked in student programming for a university, we had to change "student orientation" to "student acclimation weekend" because "orientation" is racist, in response to a student protest.

Any guesses on the new appropriate term?

[Iggo]

15. Yeah, but that's dumb.

[PeaceNikki]

18. I was not aware of that. Interesting, thanks!

Do tell, cuz I certainly am interested and now a bit shy to guess...

[Chan790]

19. It's an argument over the racist origins of non-racist words.

It's argumentation that the word "orientation" like other common-use words with with roots in racist terms are themselves racist even where the racist connotations have been stripped away. I actually thought it was a more common phenomena than it apparently is...I've encountered it personally a few times in the past few years but when I Googled it, I can't find any discussion of it.

So I guess orientation is safe for now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. 'orient' and 'orientate' are not, themselves, racist in any form

'Orient' means the direction where the sun rises - 'orior' is Latin for 'I rise' (and 'occident' comes from 'occido' - 'I fall down, go down, set'). And 'orientation' then comes from using east as a direction from which you then 'orient' yourself. So, even without getting into an argument about whether knowing a region of the world by a direction is 'racist', you have a full argument as to why 'orientation' is not racist.

[Chan790]

29. Sure...

but when people feel vehemently about something (like the racism of certain words (even where they're wrong)) sometimes taking the path of least resistance rather than debating things like Latin and etymology is the better option. You can explain why they're wrong later under less-heated conditions.

It was more of a heads-up that the word "orientation" was on the list of words that are starting to drawing scrutiny now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. But we can't let stupidity win

So we need to point out the argument against stupidity. The path of least resistance is a bad path, in this case. Waiting until later to explain why they're wrong is too late. Do it now, with a simple explanation of what the words mean, and it won't get heated (I don't actually advocate using the word 'stupid' in the argument - just "no, that's not the case" or something).

[damnedifIknow]

4. I had no clue about her

I guess Teddy just wasn't her cup of tea in beddy.

[NuclearDem]

7. Eleanor was FDR's wife

[damnedifIknow]

10. Sorry not up on my Republican history

But Teddy sounds better.

[Journeyman]

14. Uh, yeah. . .

[damnedifIknow]

22. Uh, yeah..

[renie408]

16. You're kidding...Right?

They are kidding. They have to be.

[Iggo]

17. FDR was kind of a big deal.

And a Democrat.

[damnedifIknow]

21. I know this

[Iggo]

31. You do now.

[RebelOne]

9. Teddy was not her husband. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was. n/t

[Glassunion]

5. I was not really shocked at all.

Should I have been?

[earthside]

6. Some misinformation here.

Eleanor Roosevelt?
Cary Grant?

They never came 'out' and there isn't much real evidence that they were gay ... not that it would matter much if they were (to me anyway).

Gillian Anderson? Well read for yourself what she says in her August 13, 2012 post: http://www.gilliananderson.ws/messages/

[tblue37]

25. Cary Grant's daughter said he liked the gay rumors because he

could use them to seduce women, each of whom thought they would be the one to "cure" him.

Those lists are silly, and they just reinforce the idea that there is something odd about being gay.

[KitSileya]

33. Not to mention several them aren't gay,

but bisexual, a group of people that are near invisible.

[NuclearDem]

8. Huh, NewSpock's on that list.

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. Be warned, that is a phishing site. n/t

[hunter]

20. My grandma and her sister were "flapper" Hollywood.

It was "Don't ask, don't tell" then. Our family was a refuge, but nobody talked.

A same-sex couple cuddling on the family sofa watching television was unremarkable.

My kids are fortunate, they live in a world where their peers are "out" or yet undecided. They've known openly homosexual adult couples all their lives.

At their age I had friends who had killed themselves, had tried to kill themselves in various ways, or had died of AIDS.



It's a better world now, at least here in "Left Coast" California.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

24. I'm from Indiana

It's still full of fundies and, recently, teabaggers, but nowhere as bad as things were even about 10-20 years ago. The fundies are trying to pass an anti-same-sex marriage amendment to the state constitution (which they passed once and have to pass again in order to get it on the ballot) but there is an impressive array of organizations and businesses "coming out" against it. To make it a little more personal, my stepdaughter came out about a year but, despite our concerns, she has not reported any problems with her peers at school. She isn't out to everybody but she apparently has a group of supportive friends that she hangs with that are helping make school a safe experience for her, for which my wife and I are thankful.

[LTR]

27. I don't recall Eleanor ever coming out of the closet

It was mostly rumors and innuendo. Kinda like James Buchanan. So whatever the truth may be, they went to the grave with her and the people who knew her.

What is more certain is that FDR did have a long-term mistress. She was allegedly with him when he died. Either way, it didn't seem like there was a lot of romance in their marriage.

[Decaffeinated]

28. What a poorly built and annoying website...

Sheesh.. Ads overlapping ads... bleah

Beyond that more than half of those don't even qualify for the D-list. Who cares?

[Ace Rothstein]

30. What about Liberace?

Austin Powers was shocked that he was gay.