Nice little interview with David Hyde Pierce on cnn.com

Exclusive: David Hyde Pierce is officially out

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This line in the afterelton article killed me:

'Is this another situation where a gay celeb was pushed out before he was ready (see also: Lance Bass, T.R. Knight, Neil Patrick Harris)?'

I mean...the man is 48 years old, has been taking men to the Emmys since the dawn of time and has more than enough money to last him the rest of his life.

As Barbara Cook once said, 'Now really, Mama.'

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DHP has been out for a while. He's never really made any secret of being gay. He had said last year he had moved to Ca. because his partner wanted to write and felt like the opportunities were better in Ca. He and his partner have been together for 20 years, there are many pictures of him attending the Emmys and other functions with Mr. Hargrove.

Don't want to threadjack so, nice article. Thanks for posting the link jacobsf. Nice to know DHP is as kind as he comes across.

'He's never made any secret of being gay.'

That's just not correct. If you can find any link to any interview that Pierce has given (before today) where he acknowledged he was gay or had a male partner, I'll give you a prize. When asked about this in the past, Pierce steadfastly has declined to go on the record or give a direct answer. He has said: 'I live my life as an open book. I just don't intend to read it to anyone.' That's why today's interview with the Associated Press signals a refreshing change. Good for Pierce!

StageFan2, sadly I don't have time to monitor interviews on all Los Angeles radio. Maybe I should've been more specific, and said 'print' interview. The link is to an audio interview, and when I did a Google search yesterday, I imagine it didn't turn up that interview because it wasn't a transcript of that talk.

What's far more apparent in many more of Pierce's interviews has been his statement that he doesn't comment on his 'personal' life. As you can see from gay Web sites, like AfterElton.com and Towleroad.com, the reference to his partner in the AP interview was considered news to many others, too. Wikipedia also didn't include any mention to his partner until yesterday.

In deference to your citation of that Aug. 2006 (a recent development), the truth is that Pierce did keep his sexuality a 'secret' for many years. That was his prerogative, but let's not pretend that he was out all this time, and on the record.

A reference in a Playbill bio isn't exactly 'coming out.' It's oblique enough. Who'd know who 'Brian' is (or his relation)?

As for that prize, I think I have an extra program to 'Curtains' lying around.

Gee, I learned something, too: who monitors L.A. radio.

But seriously, people can be widely perceived as gay, but until the subject himself acknowledges it, it's basically gossip. Pierce had said he lives his life as 'an open book,' but how 'open' is it if you decline to identify your partner by name, like any straight celebrity would? And now he has. Bravo!

Nice chatting with you, too, StageFan2!

This topic gets rehashed everytime a well-known gay actor comes out, so I'll try to be brief: Of course, everyone has a right to privacy, but when you become a celebrity, and especially if you are on TV and seen by millions of people, you're gonna be a subject of public interest and scrutiny. That's part of the Faustian bargain you make in becoming famous and rich.

Straight celebrities are asked about their spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc., all the time, and no one ever says they should keep their 'private life private.' But somehow some folks presume that gay celebs are entitled to more 'privacy.'

It seems to me that as long as being gay is treated as something to be kept hidden or ashamed of, gay people will never get the respect they deserve because even they don't think they deserve it. As I posted, it was Pierce's prerogative to be closeted. And that's his right. But no one asked him to be a spokesman for all gays, any more than a straight celeb with a spouse is automatically a spokesperson for all heterosexuals. No one should be outed. But it's 2007. Times change, and we evolve. There was a time when women weren't allowed to vote. There was a time when blacks and whites drank from separate water fountains.

Now we need to get rid of the antiquated notion that there's a 'stigma' to being gay because that feeds into homophobia. Whether you're gay or straight, like whether you're right-handed or left-handed, should be simply a fact of life. Not a value judgment. When gay people are allowed to speak as openly about their relationships the way straight people are, and given the same rights, we'll start to approach some sense of equality.

First of all, Pierce made the decision to refer to his partner casually and I think that was fine. He did not make a big deal of it, but rather simply answered a question that was asked of him about another topic.

Secondly, to suggest that a gay actor's discussion of their love life is the same as when a straight actor is asked about their dating is naive at best. Discussing this in a society where not everyone has embraced gay relationships is always fraught with problems. Will I be denied a part because of my sexuality? Will I be the subject of tabloid and public discussion ad nauseum. Any actor who has come out can tell you how tiresome and difficult that can be. YES...this needs to be NO BIG DEAL before it will officially be declared just another relationship. However, the fact that we on these boards make a big deal of it just illustrates that it still IS a big deal to many people.

The fact is that the public looks at any discussion of someone's sex life as their god given right to information. Do we (or SHOULD we) really care about someone else's sex life, gay or straight? I do not think that a celeb who is gay or lesbian is obligated to stand up for every other gay or lesbian person on the planet any more than I think that every Italian should stand up for every other Italian and take one for the team. It is only when we can see all the OTHER aspects of a person as more important than their skin color, ethnicity or sexuality that we will be better people.

So, while I agree that your sexuality should be no more important than whether you are right or left handed, I also acknowledge that in today's world it still IS a big deal to some people and that there is still bigotry and hate crime. I don't think anyone is OBLIGATED to come out because others think they should. I would like to think that you are entitled to have a private life, no matter whether you are a celebrity or a private citizen. Having said that, I am glad that Pierce just said it and moved on. No big deal!

(climbing gingerly down off soap box now! :)

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Kringas and SamIAm, thanks for sharing those thoughts.

I agree it's a 'deeply complicated' issue. Of course, 'discussing this in a society where not everyone has embraced gay relationships is fraught with problems.' But not everyone embraces interracial relationships, either. We still have racial intolerance. Does that mean we shouldn't have fought for civil rights? Of course not. Sadly, I think bigotry and hate crimes will always be part of our society. I'm not naive enough to think that if every gay person came out, things would magically change & everyone'd hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya.'

But I don't know how we reach a place of gay relationships being 'NO BIG DEAL' as long as lots of people are in the closet. Things only become 'NO BIG DEAL' when they become commonplace and accepted. Is everyone obligated to come out? No. But would it be better to live your life honestly to your family and friends? I'd hope that's true for gay AND straight folks.

There's still a long way to go, but I'm hopeful for the future. As polls have shown, the younger generation has far fewer issues with gay people because they've seen so many more of them on TV and movies, and more importantly, they KNOW gay people.

Much more classy than Raul kinda coming out and embarassing his wife and Family in the New York Times.

Yes, we all knew DHP was gay, just as we knew Bass, Knight and Harris were gay. But that doesn't lessen the excitement felt (at least by me) that prominent, well-liked celebrities such as Pierce are openly ackowledging it to the public, perhaps leading to a somewhat mildly more open and/or accepting environment in the future. Sure it's corny and in the grand scheme of things, this is just one minor coming-out, but I can't help but be exceedingly happy that this is becoming more and more commonplace in recent months.

Oh, and speaking of Harris, him and his boyfriend were at today's matinee of "110 in the Shade." Was very exciting to see them!

For the record, it's Associated Press that did the interview. CNN just posted it on its Web site. ... As for the Internet sites and blogs, they tended to be the gay ones, and let's face facts: That's their area of interest. When a high-profile gay actor finally acknowledges he's gay or has a partner (after dodging the topic for years), it IS news. Obviously, Pierce could've made a bigger deal about it (i.e., an interview with the Advocate), but I imagine the reason he did the AP piece was to promote 'Curtains,' not his partner or his sexual orientation. I look forward to the day when no one is 'outed' or feels he needs to 'come out' because no one is 'in the closet.' But as long as being gay is something to be treated with secrecy or shame, we, as a society, have a long way to go.