SAG-AFTRA

Fall 2012

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With increasing frequency, SAG-AFTRA members are being open and authentic about who they are — and not letting it define them. that had kept them in the closet from the beginning of show business. Fiſteen years later, a tectonic shiſt seems to have occurred in both the number of out gay, lesbian and bisexual SAG-AFTRA members and how they are choosing to come I 22 SAG-AFTRA | Fall 2012 | SAGAFTRA.org n 1997, Ellen DeGeneres came out on the cover of Time, with the headline blaring "Yep, I'm Gay," followed by appearances on Oprah and 20/20. When her comedy series Ellen was cancelled a year later, Entertainment Weekly ran the cover interview headline "Yep, She's Too Gay," reinforcing the notion then that out performers might continue to have difficulty in an industry out — or just be out from the beginning of their careers — in ways that seem no-fuss and matter-of-fact. In May, The Big Bang Theory's Emmy-winner Jim Parsons tossed off as an aside that he is gay in a New York Times feature about his stage career. Star Trek, Heroes and American Horror Story star Zachary Quinto posted a message on his website last October, and White Collar and Magic Mike star Matt Bomer did it in February by thanking his partner and their children while accepting an award. Talk show host and newsperson Anderson Cooper made his own understated revelation in July, in an eloquent but straightforward letter to The Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan, writing, "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud." "We have so many openly gay people now in so many different walks of life that when someone acknowledges that they are gay, it's just another part of who they are and not a big headline," San Francisco Public Radio host Scott Shafer, who is gay, told CBS This Morning about Cooper's statement. "For journalists, what we have is our credibility and for Anderson Cooper it got to the point that … not being openly gay became a liability because it seemed like he was

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