When pop singer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Ricky Martin disclosed Monday that he is a “fortunate homosexual man,” responses ranged from sincere congratulations to “what took so long?” Christian Right organizations have been slow to respond; no doubt they will in the coming days.
Martin, 38, has been a celebrity since his days in Menudo in the 1980s, and since 1991 as a solo artist. That is a long time to endure the dilemma that confronts most LGBT public figures: Shall I be sexually honest — or concede to the twin pressures of a lucrative opposite-gender fanbase that wants to dream of romance with me, and a socially conservative marketplace that rewards secrecy or, worse, faux heterosexuality.
There are valid reasons (besides prosperity) for celebrities to preserve their private lives.
Sanity, for one — it’s difficult to carry out a healthy social and romantic life when it’s conducted under the glare of floodlights and the roaming eyes of TMZ, the National Enquirer, and countless gay gossips.
Avoidance of typecasting is another. Someone whose private life is unknown finds it much easier to secure and succeed with a wide range of different themes and audience demographics, whereas Ellen Degeneres and Elton John — successful as they are — have few options.
Some may argue that, for political reasons, celebrities who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender should come out for the benefit of the “community.” I, for one, think celebrities should take their time and come out on their own terms — not simply because activists like us might want them to.
A slight correction: Martin was a member of Menuda in the early ’80′s, when he was 12 or 13.
It may be worth noting that the disclosure on his website was originally written in Spanish, and the English-language translation is not exact. What he actually said was not, “I am a fortunate homosexual”, but, “Today I accept my homosexuality as one of life’s gifts, I feel blessed to be who I am.”
Thanks for the correction!
He still looks damn hot for 38! (Not that that’s particularly old mind you) ;-)
Part of the problem, though, is that Hollywood and the music industry (what’s left of it) actively encourage a climate of a certain kind of homophobia. They’re okay with gay, as long as they can set the terms of where, when and how “gay” is portrayed. You can be reasonably certain Martin was actively discouraged from ever coming out from the get-go. He may have been contractually obligated not to, at some point. That’s conjecture, but there’s precedent for it. This enforces a sort of climate where after a while, gay celebrities start to view coming out the same way the suits view it — as a liability to their careers.
I’m not sure I buy the whole TMZ argument, because if TMZ hounds a celebrity (they don’t hound all of them, you notice), they’re going to do it regardless of whether that person is out of the closet or not. I’m also curious about the idea of Ellen DeGeneres as a person who has “few options.” We all watched what happened to her when she DID come out, thirteen years ago (which is a long freakin’ time, as far as this issue is concerned), but now? She’s a Cover Girl model for god’s sake, and she’s truly one of America’s sweethearts.
Don’t get me wrong — I don’t think celebrities have any “responsibility” to come out. But I do think it’s going to take a certain number of artists and actors to come out at the height of their careers/be out from the very beginning, in order to change the paradigm so that those “Hollywood liberals” can one day actually be as liberal as Oklahoma thinks they are. Ricky Martin coming out of the closet (to no one’s surprise) is a net positive. Granted. But I don’t think what he did was dangerous, or groundbreaking in any way. He simply acknowledged what most had suspected for years. He’s gay. Big whoop.
“Oh, you’re queer because you can’t get a date with a woman!” One of my favorites, when I have women hitting on me ALL THE TIME! THANK YOU, RICKY. Thanks to all the super-hot babes out there, like Wayne and Ricky, who make me so glad…SO GLAD, there are alternatives for role models other than Perez Hilton! YUK!
To all of you studs, whom the LGBT movement so desperately depend, please reach down and pull your balls out of your dorsal vagina and show the world, it ain’t because there is ANYTHING wrong with us, some ‘defect’ that makes us love our own sex.