21 “Notable” People Who Came Out In 2011

It’s The Advocate’s list, not mine. What makes them “notable”? They are all famous, which is of course a big deal to The Advocate.

People say that if a celebrity coming out can help just one closeted kid or change public perception ever so slightly, we should leave them alone and let them have their magazine cover. But the idea that a rich and famous person coming out is supposed to be inspiring and brave never worked on me, not because the rich and famous person isn’t a “good person” (though usually they’re only coming out after it’s “safe,” i.e., their career is already in the toilet), but because they’re rich and famous. That is to say, they’re nothing like me. I can’t relate. Sorry. I can’t relate to someone who decides to come out on the occasion of their book tour or their movie opening.

I’d like to hear about someone ugly, poor, fat, fucked up, or completely unknown coming out. Not in the context of a news story about how they killed themselves or how their high school wouldn’t let them have a gay prom, but on one of these stupid lists. Someone who really went through a lot of bullshit and who couldn’t buy their way out of any bullying. Someone whom I’ve never heard of would be someone truly notable.

Here goes Advocate’s list:

21 Notable Comings Out
Thousands of LGBT people no doubt came out in 2011, but the media had their eyes on a handful of folks who helped push visibility in their worlds by coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

Oh! These mythical, mysterious gays…possibly coming out, no doubt. If only we knew where they were! But, the media (e.g., The Advocate) wasn’t interested in them because, well, they weren’t part of the media.

Akil Patterson- Gay former Division 1 football player
Amber Heard- Bisexual actress and star of canceled series The Playboy Club
Anton Hysen- Gay Swedish professional soccer player
Don Lemon- Gay CNN anchor
Evan Rachel Wood- Bisexual actress and star of True Blood and The Ides of March
Geri Jewell- Lesbian actress (The Facts of Life) and author of I’m Walking as Straight as I Can
Jared Max- Gay ESPN reporter
Johnny Weir- Gay figure skater
Jonathan Knight- Gay member of New Kids on the Block
Mina Caputo- Transgender musician
Mo Rocca- Gay journalist and staple of VH1’s I Love the’80s
Peter Murphy- Gay member of Maryland’s House of Delegates
Randy Phillips- Gay airman and YouTube sensation
Rick Welts- Gay NBA executive
Scott Norton- Gay professional bowler
Sean Maher- Gay actor and star of canceled series The Playboy Club
Steven Davies- Gay English cricket player
Teddy Montgomery- Fictional gay student on the television series 90210
Vaughn Walker- Former U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of California
Will Sheridan- Gay former college basketball player
Zachary Quinto- Gay actor and star of 2009’s Star Trek and Broadway’s Angels in America

Fictional gay student. How…inspiring.

[The Advocate]

14 thoughts on “21 “Notable” People Who Came Out In 2011”

  1. Sure, the Advocate sucks, but it’s cool that these people have visibility. I don’t get why a gay magazine writing about gay celebrities coming out publicly is such a eyeroller for this crowd.

  2. Also wanted to say that coming out AFTER you’ve retired from playing sports professionally is somewhat cowardly. For someone like Gareth Thomas to come out during his time as a professional rugby player, that’s bravery and inspiration.

  3. I only recognized Teddy from 90210, Zachary Quinto, and that terrible queen Johnny Weir. Johnny coming out was as pointless as Ricky Martin, since the whole world already knew.

    1. I only recognised Jon Knight from New Kids On The Block and that’s only because I’m old enough to have been a fan of that group in the early nineties. I had a quick google and newspaper articles are saying he only came out because Tiffany (his ex-gf and fellow 80s pop star) outed him.

      1. You might want to Google some more. It’s true Tiffany did mention Jonathan was gay, but he was already out and in a relationship. He stated he never felt the need to have a press conference or splash his face all over “People” magazine.

        And about this list, they missed another “Bisexual” actress, Anna Paquin from True Blood. It seemed like a publicity ploy, since she was already married to Steven Moyer. But better her than a fictional 90210 character, who’s not even on the show anymore.

    2. In that terrible queen‘s defense, even the implication that he might be gay was enough to have him run out of his sport on a rail. His Olympic scores were clearly not merit-based. So, I’ll allow a little self-congratulation on his part. (What? I am a cat-loving, sweater-wearing, flyover state spinster. I follow the figure skating.)

      1. it’s figure skating. being gay is kind of implied unless otherwise proven lol. I follow it too, and his Olympic score was a bit lower than expected, but he never had the chance of medaling regardless of how flawless his performance was. He didn’t have the technical difficulty. Remember the scoring isn’t based on a 10.0 scale anymore.

  4. I’m sure these people love being known as the gay/bi/lesbian/transgender whatever, like their sexuality is the most important thing about them.

  5. I read “Peter Murphy” and got real excited. But it was the wrong Peter Murphy.

    And please do not tell me they put a fictional character (FROM A REBOOT OF BEVERLY HILLS 90210) on that list!?!

    1. I agree it’s a bit stupid, but never neglect the influence and the importance of “fictional characters” especially in popular TV series, that have the potential to reach a wide audience and teach something.

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