Jim Parsons officially comes out. — Page 2

Oh without a doubt, he's not THAT big of a star to where it won't hurt his career but I could see it happening. He's very active in LGBT charities.

No not at all, I just think he's a hottie :]

I'm not gay. I am a huge supporter of gay rights and I am very vocal about it. I'm sure that means some people assume I am gay. I do not comment. I feel that it is just that: my damn business.

Is assuming folks are straight unless told otherwise any different than the assumption that most Americans are christian? People only know I'm Jewish if I mention it, and I don't feel the need to do so any more than I talk about my sexuality. I don't think I'm hiding anything -- but why should anyone care?

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Was going to repeat what JerseyGirl wrote about his personal history. I think it is great that a kid his age who has still not yet reached the height of his fame has been outspoken on this issue for a considerable amount of time. Even if he was gay he is still 20 years-old and I know people his age and older still going through the motions of their sexual identity so I am not going to hold it against him IF he came out one day as gay.

Well, she was basically outed. She says it was no secret, but Ted Allen said she was dating a woman on Sirius. Anne had never spoken about it.

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My mom is going to be super excited to hear that about Anne Burrell! She adores Anne. I do too, actually. She's probably my favorite Food Network personality.

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Nah. I would have thought Anne long before I thought Cat Cora was. Turns out they BOTH are.

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Something about Anne Burrell just cracks me up, and I love her for that.

Plus, she didn't let an ex of mine win the most recent season of Worst Cooks in America, so she earned even more points in my book

Phyllis -- TOTALLY get that point, and can certainly understand it. I'm certainly not bothered by folks declaring that they are gay, and I'm certainly 'ok' with those that are -- I deal with gay youth every day, through good and bad.

I think I just believe that someone being 'outed' is simply disrespectful. I also don't think that every person in the public eye should be expected to come out publically. We put way too much pressure on actors, athletes, etc to BE role models. They aren't and shouldn't be....unless they happen to do something spectacular.

If a public figure WANTS to make his/her sexuality public knowledge (Hello Gavin Creel), that's wonderful, too and I fully support that -- but I just don't think its our business otherwise. If I don't have to advertise I'm straight....I don't think anyone should 'have to' declare they are not.

(I certainly hope my words didn't offend anyone earlier -- not my intent)

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Updated On: 5/25/12 at 10:05 PM

dramamama, I certainly haven't taken offense to anything you (or anyone in this thread) has said. I appreciate that there are different ways of looking at this, and I just wanted to make sure no one thought I was discounting their thoughts just because my perspective/experience is different. It's all good.

That said, I really think we're such a long way from getting to the point where it doesn't matter. I guess I look at straight people as not only having the privilege of being allowed to be completely open about their sexuality in a way that's not comparable for gay people. Heterosexuality is the norm, the assumed neutral point, and it's still enough of a sticking point for many people in this country that I think the importance of famous people acknowledging publicly that they aren't straight is important. And in the case of celebrities, the vast majority DO flaunt (for lack of a better word) their heterosexuality. Entertainment journalism is practically built on it.

Again, my experience is just my own, but - while I don't think that I'm defined solely by being gay - I do think my being gay is big component of my make-up and informs a lot of who I am to a certain degree. And that may be because long before I was having ANY sorts of feelings that could be called "gay," I was already being called "gay" (and much more) by other people, at school and in the world at large. The world defined me as gay (and for much of my youth, went out of its way to make me feel bad about it) that by the time I realized that I actually was gay I also realized that despite what others said, I was under no obligation to feel bad or ashamed about it. Growing up gay was really tough for me, because I did feel alone much of the time and there were very few indications from my family or anyone else that I was entitled to be who I was or that there wasn't something wrong with who I was. I'm not "woe as me"ing or anything. It's just the way the world goes.

Now, I agree that "outing" is disrespectful and should be saved for instances where the person being outed is a detriment to gay people in their actions, deeds, etc, but I think there's a difference between outing a homophone and acknowledging that someone may be gay. I think protestations of the right to privacy get overblown when you compare how public heterosexuality is the norm. I don't think just acknowledging that someone is gay or might be gay is scandalous, and certainly not any invasion of privacy.

It's certainly a complicated and thorny issue, but I still maintain that while it's great to personally believe it doesn't matter, I don't think that's quite where we are as a country. It's certainly sometime to aspire to, but we've a long way to go.

Namo just articulated every think I was trying to say much more succinctly.