LGBT Activists Cringe and Praise Jodie Foster Coming Out
Advocates praised Jodie Foster’s coming out on the televised stage of the Golden Globe Awards last night, but some said she had done little over the years to set an example for others who are LGBT and struggling.
“It was cryptic and defensive and we started thinking it was a joke,” said Diane Anderson-Minshall, executive editor of The Advocate. “She sounded a little passive-aggressive to a lot of LBGT activists. This woman who obviously has been afraid to come out in the public sphere has been out in her private life for decades.”
“By our stand, you are not out until you are publicly out,” she said. “Even though she danced around being a lesbian, at least it’s finally done.”
Some said her long-awaited coming out may have underscored the generation gap in the LGBT world.
Foster, who just turned 50, touched on her career, family and her sexuality while accepting the Cecille B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
“I guess I have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never been able to air in public that I’m a little nervous about,” she said. “But maybe not as nervous as my publicist…”
“So I’m just going to put it out there, loud and proud. I’m going to need your support on this,” she said to rapt room, cameras showing some stars like Anne Hathaway weeping.
But some say her coming out was not so overt, that the actress’s six and a half-minute speech was cryptic and meandering. They say it would have been more powerful had she been straight forward.
Can we please have a moratorium on this stuff? I do not care which way your door swings, or if it swings at all. Gay, straight, both or neither; it’s none of my business so keep it to yourself.
I’m not talking about coming out to family and friends. That can be traumatic. But you don’t need to tell the whole world. And it’s not an act of bravery if you are an never-married 50 year old Hollywood A-lister who has openly but unofficially been out for a couple decades now.
When I say I do not care, I mean exactly that. I really don’t care what anybody’s sexual orientation is, just like I don’t care whether you are left-handed or you have freckles.
In Jodie Foster’s case all I care about it that she makes good movies. I do not care about her personal life, her religious beliefs or her political opinions.
Now if we’re having a discussion and your sexual orientation happens to be relevant to the discussion, feel free to throw it out there. Or not. But either way it’s not a big deal.
The Crawdad Hole 
Like I say about all of these entertainment types….who cares???
I have no interest in their personal lives.
their bedroom romps are not important enough in my life to really give a damn about them.
if i go to a movie I pay to see them do their job and act. that is all.
most of them either gay or straight are not good role models anyway
Even I have known this for a long time and I don’t keep up on celebrity stuff so how many times can a person legitimately come out expect to get attention for it? This is just a standard Hollywood stunt which they seem to think makes their award shows relevant just like their Palin drivel. As soon as content is unbundeled most of these people and the companies who employ them will go away.
I agree w Constance….I too have known JF’s leaning for a while. I have liked her since Candleshoe movie when my child was young ..Don’t care what her orientation is. She’s good at her craft.
But I am jealous of the empty closet! I could sure fill that up with some of my important collected stuff.
Ohhhhhh, I have an Open Thread in the TCH Stable, we’re on the same wave length. 🙂 I’ll wait…..7pm’ish est okay?
I saw Jodie’s speech live and all the Monday Morning Quarterbacks in the media are getting it wrong. She didn’t ANNOUNCE anything new, most of us have known it for years and respected her privacy. Her speech was brilliant in that “leave me the f**k alone” sort of way. She’s a class act in a sea of Hollywood bimbos (looking at you Julianne Moore). As they said over in the Ace group, just STFU and entertain me.
Honk! Foster’s tribute to her mother was touching.
I agree, but it’s not what my post is about, just a similar topic. Oh, I can’t wait now…..this is bigger than Jodie 🙂
I’ll be interested in reading it. I didn’t hear the speech myself & am delighted to hear that the media got it wrong.
My gave a damn got up and went.
““By our stand, you are not out until you are publicly out,” she said. “Even though she danced around being a lesbian, at least it’s finally done.” ”
And OF COURSE, it’s ALL ABOUT Diane Anderson-Minshall, executive editor of The Advocate and what SHE thinks.
Asshat.
I too sound a LOT Passive-Aggressive when the “out and proud” community forces my hand and demands I become a Sheeple.
Well done Jodi. Since you bothered to do it at all. Now go make another great movie. Or give me a call.
I agree. Who made you boss Diane? It’s none of your damn business how, when or if Jodie comes out. You haven’t lived her life, or anyone else’s for that matter. Make your own choices, and stop self-righteously judging others.
The only thing I care about is why the heck the LGBT community feels necessary to write the rules on how someone comes out – Who the heck died and made them King (errr Queen… whatever….)….
Jodie Foster (and others) don’t answer to ‘them’ (whoever the LGBT community ‘them’ spokesperson is).
PS – some people are all over the map, gay today, bi tomorrow, straight some other day. I thought that was why LGBT became LGBTQ…?
All I know is I don’t like anyone speaking for me and telling me what rule book I’m supposed to play by just because we have something in common (although the Black Caucus has been doing that for how long now?)…
Honk!
This is what it comes down to nowadays: It isn’t enough to be out — which used to mean living openly re: your sexual preference — to the people who actually matter in your life. Oh no, you have to PUBLICLY PROMOTE yourself as nothing else BUT your sexual orientation to be “a gay in good standing” for Diane Anderson-Minshall & her ilk.
Arkansas leg hound
I tried to avoid the ” WTF was WJC doing there?” type of globes chatter from the righties, even though I did agree with the hypocrisy statements of ” a room full of Hollywood feminists gave an accused rapist a standing ovation”. Better yet, “he was there to announce Hillary’s run in 2016”. 😀
I read that Spielberg arranged it, and he has done a lot of fundraisers for Bill & the Dems, so maybe it was quid pro quo.
Best line in that article:
Huffpo dragging the corpse of Natalie Wood out again ….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/14/natalie-wood-death-coroner-report_n_2472840.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Sigh. Lindsay Lohan reminds me so much of her.
I thought she did a great job, especially her emphasis on privacy. It was basically a STFU and leave me alone. I’ve been in the public eye since I was a baby, you don’t get the intimate details of my sexuality, too.
It was kind of refreshing.I wish more Hollywood stars would decide to keep their love life private. How about if we all focus on something else now?
here is another one that makes me say I don’t care
Just wrapped with @lancearmstrong More than 2 1/2 hours . He came READY!
I did a hit and run on my own blog about this subject. My fight’s with Oprah, not Lance. Had she only given Obama the James Frey and Lance treatment to Obama … sigh.
Oracle Corp. says flaw in Java software is fixed; Department of Homeland Security recommends users disable Java – @AP
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/administration/277039-report-obama-officials-issued-216b-in-new-regulations-last-year
just last year $216BILLION in new regulations
now this makes me care
Probably no one will ever hire Foster as a plumber – an occupation in which she’d likely fail – so the rest of comments are personal and TMI, unless one is looking for sympathy.
But the reason for her comments last night are discernible. TCHers here with bilaterally functional medula oblongatas will usually find the subject matter vaguely interesting. Those with twin cerebulla which only vaguely interconnect, simply do not care. Its all in the way our brain hemispheres interconnect – or don’t.
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/01/14/video-game-maker-relents-star-wars-game-to-allow-same-sex-relationships-on-one-planet/
these are supposed to be games right? what the hell does sex have to do with it??
That sounds a lot like giving gays one Island on planet Earth – that it seems like a good solution to Gays that are actually on Earth is just too friggin’ funny for words…. lemme guess, they’re Progs?