We tend to think of the entertainment industry as progressive, supportive of minority rights, women's rights, gay rights. But the truth is that's largely a farce. While there are many actors, singers and artists who are progressive, the industry as a whole is anything but.
Take being gay. Big players in the entertainment industry are publicly supportive of gay rights, marriage equality, the battle against HIV/AIDS but it's the same industry that, for years, has manufactured marriages between their gay stars to preserve their straight brands.
These days, actors and singers tape heartfelt "It Gets Better" messages. Ellen DeGeneres speaks out against gay suicide, for instance. But isn't Ellen also part of the problem when she turns around and interviews Ryan Seacrest's "girlfriend" Julianne Hough on her show or chats about Ryan's "relationship" with Hough on his radio show knowing full well the man is gay?
Aren't these entertainers part of the problem when they tell gay youth it's okay to be who they are but they themselves don't have the balls to do it themselves? Isn't it hypocrisy for celebrities like Anderson Cooper to write books about their lives and family tragedies but when the gay question comes up, well, that's just off limits.
Maybe the most heartbreaking example was this week's passing of Whitney Houston. Ask anyone close to Whitney off the record and they will tell you she was a lesbian. But back in the 1980s when she was dating "lifelong friend" Robyn Crawford, she knew or she was told she'd never be a star if she was openly gay. So Bobby Brown was arranged and, well, we all know how that turned out.
Yes, it gets better and it's getting better. But it would be even better if people could live their lives as they truly are, rather than getting trapped in a self-hating vicious circle just to see their name in lights. It's sadly true Whitney Houston or Michael Jackson or Rock Hudson might never been the stars they became had they been open about who they were. But maybe, just maybe, they would have been alive and a little happier. And maybe they would have had a hand in helping millions of young people come to terms with their own sexual reality, instead of perpetuating the lie that to be somebody you can't ever be who you really are.
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