Liberace's Lawsuit Over His Sexuality

[romantico]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 9:44am

I just discovered this and thought it was shameless. I never knew he publicly denied being gay.A trip to London turns sour when court cases and heated questions over Liberace's sexuality drown the event in scandal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLoLSa3qsuA

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:10am

Oh, yes...and he WON the case too! I saw an excellent documentary about Liberace in London a few years ago. Went into great detail about this (and other things.)

Liberace fascinates me. He's like the Nixon of Show Business in my book (but much nicer.) My favorite thing in Las Vegas is his museum (which is in a strip mall). I got my Liberace Christmas Tree ornament there, and I proudly display it on my tree each year. I also paid homage to him when I was in Palm Springs last summer by making a pilgrimage to his former home there.


It's not stalking if the person is dead!


Note the candelabra!


Check out the doors. Liberace never met a ___________ he couldn't kitsch-up.


As I posted in BFB's famous thread, the name "Liberace" is synonymous with the word "kitsch" to me, so I am vastly (and easily) amused.

[shameless]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:18am

I'm more interested in the other story about how "Surgery Cures Frigid Wives".

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:22am

What was shameless, the accusation or his denial?

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:22am

"I just discovered this and thought it was shameless."

If I had a dime for every time Shamey was mistaken for Liberace...

[shameless]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:27am

LMAO!

[romantico]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:32am

Well, first off I don't think that sort of question is anyone's business but I also realized he was the one who filed the suit.He had to know it was gonna be asked. I know it was a different time and career's were destroyed by this sort of thing so I don't hold that against him so much. I guess I feel the circumstances were shameless and not him so much.I really hated the general attitude they had towards him. They were disgusted by anything that even hinted that a man was gay.

I adore the man and his life and also find him fascinating. I would love to see a movie about him come out but I fear it will be poorly done. Michael Douglas was the last I heard who was set to play him. When Tim Burton was attached Johnny Depp and Robin Williams were also considered.

I would love to visit the Liberace Museum. Didn't his brother have an orchestra? I know he appeared with Liberace on his TV show.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:47am

We just watched the documentary Before Stonewall. It's hard to believe such witch hunts were the norm only 50 years ago.
Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (1985)

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 11:12am

I think the BBC documentary I'm referring to is called "Too Much of Everything is Wonderful." It must have been shown about 2000. That's when I saw it anyway.

Just really well-done. Very factual, objective, no holds barred, but respectful and loving. It would be great if you could find it somewhere, Romantico. (In fact, I'd love to see it again.)

I have an album of George Liberace's. It's Red Vinyl! I used to play it at parties all the time. There was one song that had a chorus of men singing "George Liberace. George Liberace. George Liberace plays mambo for me. UHHHH!"

They don't make records like THAT anymore.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 11:13am

He brought the lawsuit because the hateful article was homophobic and implied that he was a homosexual. The whole purpose for his suit was to state that he was not a homosexual. He certainly didnt need the money. Unfortunately, in the not so distant past, that is what someone had to do to preserve their career. After the article, Li decided to go on the offensive to "clear his name".

Not a heroic move, but the only move he had. Declaring that he was indeed gay was simply not an option in those days.

[Q]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 11:17am

"Declaring that he was indeed gay was simply not an option in those days"

Nor was it, apparently, when he LOST the paternity suit with Scott Thorsen - or even as he lay dying from AIDS.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 11:20am

Correct, but as that video states, once he said it in a court of law, he couldnt contradict it.

Not that he ever would, mind you. I am not holding him in high regard over this, just not judging too harshly what he felt he had to do in this instance.

He probably denied it while he was smokin' bone.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 11:39am

There is no black and white when discussing what people did back then, during what Lillian Hellman described as "Scoundrel Times," in which no one behaved well and everyone behaved badly.

You can condemn the actions that seem unthinkable now only if you understand the pressures that drove otherwise decent people to do such horrible things--on both sides of the issue.

Jerome Robbins ratted out other people so that he wouldn't be outed as a Communist and a homosexual and wrestled with overwhelming guilt for the rest of his life--yet he went on to create his greatest works.

Updated On: 3/24/09 at 11:39 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 11:58am

Q, I'm reasonably sure you were aiming for the phrase "palimony suit" when you wrote "paternity suit."

Liberace would never, ever have been involved in a paternity suit.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 12:43pm

Maternity suit, maybe. Or perhaps just the pants.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 1:13pm

I am very close to several gay men now in their late 70s and 80s. That they have emerged as positive, tolerant and forgiving as they are is remarkable to me. More people should take a lesson from them.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 1:21pm

The real tragedy here is that Liberace felt that he couldn't come out as gay and as a PWA even in his last days, when it would have done him absolutely no harm, and might have done others a world of good.

To this day, his museum still dances around both of these topics, just increasing the shame............

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 1:23pm

More people should take a lesson from them.

You mean, like Arthur Laurents?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 1:25pm

Hubris.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 2:18pm

I wasn't actually speaking about anyone in particular, PJ, just people "in the world" who are negative, intolerant and unforgiving.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 2:49pm

Like Arthur Laurents!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 3:30pm

Hubris.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 3:32pm

Bupkis.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 3:36pm

"Bupkis"- one of my favorite Italian words~

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 3:36pm