A mix of news, opinions, arts and culture — about and for today's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer community
  • Coming Out

Sean Hayes comes out: ‘I am who I am’

It’s been four years since Will & Grace ended it’s eight year run on NBC, and now Sean Hayes, who played gay sidekick “Jack McFarland,” finally reveals he is gay, in what the Advocate calls “the interview you’ve waited 12 years to read.”

And while Hayes finally opens up, he never quite gives a “Yes, I’m gay” soundbite.

“I am who I am,” Hayes told the Advocate. “I was never in, as they say. Never.”

But offering a few choice words for the gay press, including The Advocate — which long criticized his silence — Hayes dismisses any notion that he should have come out sooner.

“Nobody owes anything to anybody,” he says. “You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don’t know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life?”

(more…)

Tagged with: AdvocateComing OutSean HayesWill & Grace
 

Meredith Baxter, who recently came out on national television, will soon be writing a memoir about her personal and professional experiences.

The Broadway Books imprint of Crown Publishing Group announced it has acquired a yet-to-be-written, yet-to-titled memoir by Baxter, who “will present a fully realized portrait of her life as an actress, mother of five children and grandmother, and will candidly discuss her fight with breast cancer, her 19 years of sobriety, entrepreneurship and her decision to come out,” the publisher said, according to The New York Times.

Baxter, best known for playing Elyse Keaton in the 1980’s sitcom “Family Ties,” recently made her public admission, “I am a lesbian,” in an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s TODAY show.

Tagged with: BooksComing OutMemoirMeredith Baxter
 

Rugby great Gareth Thomas stunned the sporting world this week, and has publicly come out as gay.

The married 35-year-old Cardiff Blues player, who in 2007 became the first ever Welshman to win 100 caps for his country, admitted he had been suicidal at times as he hid his sexuality from his wife, his team-mates and the macho world of professional rugby as a whole.

In an interview with London’s Daily Mail, Thomas said, “It’s ended my marriage and nearly driven me to suicide. Now it’s time to tell the world the truth — I’m gay.”

Thomas reveals that he told his wife he was gay in the summer 2006, and following a match in Cardiff later that year, he broke into tears in the changing room at the Millennium Stadium. It was at that time he confided to Wales coach Scott Johnson that he was gay, and that keeping his true sexuality a secret was destroying him.

“I was like a ticking bomb. I thought I could suppress it, keep it locked away in some dark corner of myself, but I couldn’t.

“It was who I was, and I just couldn’t ignore it any more.

“I’d been through every emotion under the sun trying to deal with this.

“You wake up one morning thinking: “I can handle it. Everything is fine,” and the next morning you don’t want anyone to see your face, because you think that if people look at you, they will know.

“I’ve been through all sorts of emotions with this, tears, anger and absolute despair.”

Today, Thomas is a supporter of the NSPCC (the UK’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), and told the Mail he doesn’t want desperate young people confused over their sexuality, or worried about any other issue, to suffer in silence, as he did for almost 20 years, too terrified to tell anyone.

More than 3,500 boys call NSPCC’s ChildLine about their sexuality each year.

“I don’t know if my life is going to be easier because I’m out, but if it helps someone else, if it makes one young lad pick up the phone to ChildLine, then it will have been worth it,” said Thomas.

Read the full interview and article at the Mail Online.

Tagged with: Coming OutGareth ThomasSports
 

Meredith-Baxter-comes-out-on-'Today'For seven years, actress Meredith Baxter has been hiding a secret.

Now Baxter, who played the devoted hippie mom constantly butting heads with her conservative kids on “Family Ties,” is making a public admission.

“I am a lesbian and it was a later-in-life recognition,” she told Matt Lauer on the TODAY show.

“Some people would say, well, you’re living a lie and, you know, the truth is — not at all. This has only been for the past seven years.”

Baxter, 62, though anxious, decided to come out on national television after her sexuality became tabloid fodder.

“I’ve always lived a very private life,” said the actress, who’s never even had a publicist. “To come out and disclose stuff is very antithetical to who I am.”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Baxter says that her relationship with men was complicated, and it took her decades to understand why.

She says she has been with her current girlfriend, Nancy Locke, a contractor she met through mutual friends, for the past four years. Because Locke is openly lesbian, their relationship has not been kept a closely guarded secret.

Now that she is coming out, she also sees herself as an advocate for gay rights.

“This is a political act, even though that’s not what it feels like to me,” she said. “If anyone knows someone who’s gay or lesbian … they’re less likely to vote against them to take away their rights. I can be that lesbian you know now …”

Tagged with: CelebritiesComing OutMatt LauerMeredith BaxterNBCTelevisionToday Show
 

Brendan-and-Brian-BurkeThe son of former pro hockey player and current Toronto Maple Leafs General Mnaager Brian Burke has come out publicly as gay — and Burke has come out just as publicly in support of his son.

ESPN sports columnist John Buccigross tells Brendan Burke’s story in a poignant second-person narration, inviting the reader to put himself into Brendan’s shoes, while describing this young man’s journey into self discovery.

An excerpt from the article:

“Your dad thinks through everything. Dad is big, confident and continuously radiates a persona that is rough, gruff, unrelenting and unapologetic. He has a cold, expressionless poker face straight out of a Clint Eastwood movie. Yet, he does this all with the most subtle of Irish smirks that says there is more behind this thick skin.

And there is.

He calls you “Moose” because you have always been a big kid. He cares very deeply about you and your happiness. You say he has always been there when you needed him. And he has a great sense of humor. Imagine that.

But on this night in 2007, you are petrified of your dad. Because you, Brendan Burke, at 19 years old, are about to tell your dad, Mr. Testosterone, that you are gay.”

In a statement in the article from the elder Burke, “I had a million good reasons to love and admire Brendan. This news didn’t alter any of them.”

While Brendan came out to his father two years ago, his story only reached national attention recently following a USA Today column on gay slurs. Brendan read the column and decided to tell his story.

Read the full article at ESPN.com.

Tagged with: Brain BurkeBrendan BurkeComing OutHockey