For Rosie O'Donnell and Tracy Kachtick-Anders, Is the "Glass Closet" a Better Option?
Few Celebrities Are as Out and Proud as Rosie O'Donnell
Besides Rosie O'Donnell and Tracy Kachtick-Anders and Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, what other lesbian celebrity couples are out of the closet?
There are other lesbian celebrity couples besides the usual suspects. Singer Melissa Etheridge married Tammy Lynn Michaels in California in 2003. WNBA basketball player Sheryl Swoopes and Alisa Scott are an out item. Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon is lovers with Christine Marinoni since 2004. Actress Heather Matarazzo is in love with Caroline Murphy. Leisha Hailey, best known for her character on the L Word, is dating Nina Garduno. However, when compared with straight twosomes, the list of out lesbian celebrity couples is small.
Rosie O'Donnell and Tracy Kachtick-Anders are not in the closet, but is a "glass closet" better?
Some celebrity couples like Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have been able to be out of the closet and still maintain thriving careers. For other homosexuals, however, there have been problems. The most recent example is singer Adam Lambert. He has never been in the closet, but when he tried to express his sexuality on TV, he was faced with opposition.
When you look at the small number of lesbian and gay celebrities who are out of the closet, one can see that most would rather guard their privacy than put it all out there. Is a "glass closet" a better option? As reported at Out magazine, in their article The Glass Closet, lesbian, gay or bisexual celebrities who live in a "glass closet" have not come out to the public, but have not denied their homosexuality either. Examples are Jodie Foster and Anderson Copper, whose pics are on the cover of the Out magazine issue. If you are living in a "glass closet," you are likely not to protest pics of you on the cover of a gay and lesbian oriented magazine, but you are likely not to address them either. You would simply ignore them.
Celebrities who live in a "glass closet" can feel like they're honest, even though they have not come out publicly, according to public relations firm CEO Howard Ragman. But is that the way to go? Is coming all the way out, like Rosie O'Donnell and Tracy Kachtick-Anders, better? Says Ragman, "Their career may be different and less lucrative, but everyone I've seen come out has been happier as a result of it."
Sources:
David Caplan, Rosie O'Donnell Steps Out with New Girlfriend, People
Michael Musto, The Glass Closet, Out
Kathy Belge, Lesbian Relationship Profile, About.com
Published by Jolie du Pre - Featured Contributor in Arts & Entertainment
Jolie du Pre is a full-time freelance writer, a published author and editor and a Featured Celebrity News Contributor. Contact her at joliedupre@gmail.com. View profile
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11 Comments
Post a Commenti agree with Caroline- Tracy seems to have disappeared. What's going on with that, Rosie?
What happened to Tracy? She seems to be MIA.
Patricia, sexually explicit dances and songs don't bother me - but then again I'm an erotica writer and editor.
One other thing, I don't like it when heteros perform sexually explicit dances and songs, any more than I like it when gays do it.
I just heard that Rosie and Kelli split. And her new love (Tracy) writes for Examiner!
Besides Rosie and Kelly, Ellen and Portia, and Anderson, I don't know who any of those other people are and I don't care! I think it's a person's right to decide if they want to be "out" or not. Some heteros practice the same exact sex practices as gays, just with the opposite sex. Should we take out an ad about it? I don't think so. Being gay is about what you do in your bedroom, and that's not my business.
Snappy, while I agree that it is a risk to come out as a celebrity, I disagree that Ellen's career "fell flat" after she came out. She is an exemption, unfortunately. A glass closet is better than coming all the way out if you care about money and fame.
Let's not forget that Rosie O'Donnell was very much in the closet until her talk show ended. She made her fame and fortune, and only after doing so did she then chose to publically come out. Since that time, her career has pretty much bombed.
Similarly, Ellen Degeneres' career also fell flat after she came out. She never did "maintain" a thriving career, but managed to claw it back later on, and made herself successful on a different platform (a platform that rarely deals with gay issues in contrast to her sitcoms).
I'd say there is a long way to go before celebrities can come out and not have their careers dented (if not finished off).
I hope there will be no more 'closets' and people can just be who they are without grief.
I like the reference to the glass, seems like it can shatter or make a career, depending upon how sexuality is presented