her favorite TV shows or her penchant for fatty and carb laden midnight snacks, I swear I don't want to hear it. The poor woman was 48 when she died--damn, to me that is a CHILD, barely getting going in the world, old enough to finally know better about a few things, young enough to still have some fun--and anyone "dishing the dirt" at this point is just wanting one thing, and it's green and has pictures of dead Presidents on it.
Whatever Whitney was, gay, straight or bi, this I know is true--she was always respectful to the GLBT (or whatever the order is--if I got it wrong, I apologize to anyone who is annoyed in advance, I either mix up the letters or don't put enough of them in) community, she was always supportive of the community, and the community--to my knowledge, anyway--never had a beef with her. I sure as hell cannot speak for gay people, but I can offer anecdotal evidence, courtesy of my neighbors, my cousins and Barney Frank--the bottom line, from what I understand, is that if someone is gay or bi and doesn't want to come out, and they aren't doing anything to disparage or insult the community, you leave them be. You don't out people who aren't working against you. I read that Whitney was supposed to film a Public Service Announcement for the Anti-Bullying campaign on the day she died. That suggests to me that her heart was always in the right place, on the side of kindness and decency to others.
I understand Whitney's daughter is in rough shape right now. When she gets to a better place, and IF either her daughter or her mother wants to discuss this topic (and we know that if they do, they will do it in a fashion that's respectful to the deceased), I would be much more inclined to listen to them. I just don't see an altruistic motive on the part of this outing guy--I think he's already outlining a salacious book and has dollar signs in his eyes.
I can't speak for onpatrol, but I am gathering that this is the focus of his (her?) complaint -- the profit motive, so soon after her death, the "from afar" psychoanalysis, the "why now?" question -- not any gay-phobia. That's how I took it, anyway.
I've never been a person who worried what people do, who they do it with, or who they care about (unless they are hurting others with hate speech and playing the "Do as I say, not as I do" game like some of these GOP politicians! In those cases, I will note the hypocrisy!). I just think it's sad when folks don't have friends, family or other loved ones around them to offer support and affection as they travel down this all-too-short road called life. I think most of us here share that perspective. I just hope Whitney had "somebody to love" her.
= new reply since forum marked as read