Gay
internet
gossip
sites
were
abuzz
last
week
after
Jodie
Foster
appeared
to
make
a
tacit
coming
out
speech
at
an
awards
banquet.
Foster,
long
suspected
by
some
of
being
a
lesbian,
concluded
her
speech
at
the
Women
in
Entertainment
Power
100
breakfast
on
Dec.
4
in
Los
Angeles
by
thanking
"my
beautiful
Cydney,
who
sticks
with
me
through
all
the
rotten
and
the
bliss."
The
Cydney
in
question
was
largely
believed
to
be
Cydney
Bernard,
a
film
producer
thought
to
be
Foster's
partner
of
14
years.
Adding
to
the
melee
was
another
rumor
about
a
potentially
lesbian
star:
Queen
Latifah.
Some
sites
claimed
the
singer-turned-actress
was
about
to
wed
her
female
personal
trainer
after
a
blind
item
in
the
New
York
Post's
Page
Six
gossip
column
implied
it
first.
Publicists
for
both
stars
did
not
respond
to
requests
for
comment
for
this
article,
but
Latifah
did
respond
to
the
rumors
with
a
reporter
from
the
Chicago-Sun
Times.
"When
you're
famous
these
days,
it's
just
part
of
the
deal
—
unfortunately,"
Latifah
told
the
paper.
"People
will
make
up
all
sorts
of
things
that
are
not
true.
There
ain't
going
to
be
no
wedding."
From
the
quotes
that
appeared
in
the
Sun-Times,
Latifah
didn't
appear
to
deny
or
affirm
whether
she
is
dating
her
trainer.
While
rumors,
questions,
denials
and
tacit
affirmations
swirl,
the
age-old
question
remains:
why
is
it
so
hard
to
be
openly
gay
in
Hollywood,
an
industry
built
at
least
partially
by
gay
people?
Perhaps
quite
telling
is
that
not
a
single
Hollywood
actor,
even
those
who
are
out,
would
respond
to
interview
requests
for
this
article,
including
former
"Queer
As
Folk"
actor
Robert
Gant
and
T.R.
Knight
from
"Grey's
Anatomy."
So,
the
closet
seemingly
remains
despite
the
fact
that
Knight,
Neil
Patrick
Harris
and
David
Hyde
Pierce
all
came
out
in
the
past
14
months
alone.
"I
think
a
lot
of
it
is
still
mostly
that
actors
are
concerned
that
they're
not
going
to
get
cast
in
parts,"
says
Stephen
Tropiano,
gay
TV
expert
and
author
of
"The
Prime
Time
Closet:
A
History
of
Gays
and
Lesbians
on
TV."
"There
is
still
probably
a
stigma
attached
that
if
you're
gay
or
lesbian
you
wouldn’t
be
able
to
play
a
heterosexual.
It's
been
proven
that
that's
not
necessarily
the
case
with
people
that
have
come
out
like
Neil
Patrick
Harris
for
example.
But
he
…
was
already
on
the
show
when
he
came
out.
Would
he
have
been
cast
in
the
same
part?
I
don't
know,"
Tropiano
said.
Then
there
are
the
ever-present
publicist/agent
teams
that
seemingly
discourage
stars
from
coming
out.
When
rumors
started
flying
this
year
about
Harris'
orientation,
his
publicist
responded
by
saying
that
Harris
was
"not
of
that
persuasion,"
a
lie
Harris
quickly
corrected.
"I
think
he
ended
up
firing
the
publicist
because
he
was
upset
because
he
said
that
[Harris
and
boyfriend
David
Burtka]
never
really
hid
it.
He
probably
was
just
never
asked,"
Tropiano
says.
WHILE
GATEKEEPERS
LATCH
AND
unlatch
the
closet
door
according
to
whim,
audiences
are
more
prepared
than
ever
to
accept
gay
actors
in
roles,
Tropiano
says,
pointing
to
Knight,
who
was
quasi-forced
out
of
the
closet
in
October
2006
when
Isaiah
Washington,
his
"Grey's"
costar,
called
him
a
"faggot"
on
the
set.
The
remark
set
off
a
publicity
firestorm
that
resulted
in
Washington's
eventual
firing.
"His
circumstances
were
not
necessarily
his,"
Tropiano
says
about
Knight.
"Has
it
really
affected
him
on
the
show?
Probably
not.
I
think
we
probably
have
to
give
audiences
a
little
more
credit.
There's
so
many
people
that
we
grew
up
watching
that
turned
out
to
be
gay
that
it
doesn't
really
matter
to
us
very
much."
Tropiano
cites
as
an
example
Robert
Reed,
who
played
father
Mike
Brady
on
"The
Brady
Bunch."
The
show
was
the
last
word
in
wholesome
family
entertainment,
but
Reed
was
gay
and
HIV
positive
when
he
died
of
colorectal
cancer
in
1992.
Despite
America's
familiarity
with
gay
people,
few
A-listers
are
out.
"If
you're
an
A-list
star
and
you
get
to
the
point
where
you
have
some
cache,
I
think
in
some
ways
it
would
be
a
little
bit
easier
for
you,
but
it
also
depends
on
what
kind
of
roles
you
play,"
Tropiano
says.
"I
would
assume
it
would
be
easier
because
you
have
the
power,
but
then
on
the
other
hand,
I
can't
really
name
a
top
actor,
an
A-list
...
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