Okay, 24 hours in and I'm getting buried in a landslide. Fair enough.
Let's go back in time. To February 24, 2004. The President of the United States addresses the Nation and says he supports amending the Constitution of the United States to single out gay people for discrimination
If you're gay, and on that day you had a voice that could have brought attention to how awful that is, and you kept quiet. That to me is borderline unforgivable.
In a perfect world no one would have to come out. But we're not there yet. We will be someday. But until then, if you're a person of note, you really should come out.
I think people should for their own well-being, but I genuinely don't feel anyone should be put in a position of being compelled to come out for any other reason that their own feelings and needs.
2004 was a very different space to now, a lot of people with a profile remember the Ellen example where her career turned to crap and it took until 2004/5 for it get back on track. I don't think people who rely on their image to make a living are bad people for not coming out. I mean protestations of straightness are one thing, actively coming out is another. There are LOTS of people in public life who are gay, everyone knows, but because they're not pretending to be straight, or living in a hypocritical way... they're respected and left alone, and I believe they should be.
Outing, as X says, should be reserved for hypocrites.
Poll
