SOUNDBITES — “If you said name 10 things that define me, being gay wouldn’t make the list. I think Isherwood was like that too. There are many gay characters in his works because his work is so autobiographical, but their gayness isn’t the focus. The one thing I liked about Isherwood’s work—especially when I was younger and grappling with my sexuality—is that there was no issue about it in his writing. That was quite a modern concept back during the time when he was writing. Quite honestly, I just don’t think about my sexuality. But maybe this has to do with being a part of the first generation to benefit from all the struggles of the gay men and lesbians that came before us.” —Fashion designer and A Single Man director Tom Ford, who really needs a dick in his ass
tom ford
“Quite honestly, I just don’t think about my sexuality”
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Cam
Oh Give me a BREAK! This is the same guy that posed nude for a magazine shoot, and said he wanted to develope a cologne that smelled like a man’s crotch. What you are now seeing is his journey from the Fasion World to Hollywood. Hollywood tries to put EVERYODY back in the closet and no doubt his publicist has said to him “Tone down the gay or we’ll never get wide distribution for your movie”.
alan brickman
He’s such a manipulative opportunist!!! he should work with Dolce and Gabanna on gay rights!!! lol!!
emb
Really, Tom?! You “just don’t think” about your sexuality? You really ought to have that looked into. A little thinking never hurt anyone.
scott ny'er
ha. yeah, toned down like that trailer. Which really sucked. A trailer of people just STARING at each other and the camera. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
i can be as pretentious as the next dude but really, that was seriously over the top.
BelVivDevoe
he spraypaints his balding head hahaah
FakeName
If Tom Ford thinks that Christopher Isherwood never thought about his sexuality then I have to wonder if Ford has ever read anything that Isherwood wrote, including the novel upon which Ford’s film is based. Idiot.
Rick
Let’s give her a break. She’s not exactly a political scientist when she says:
“Quite honestly, I just don’t think about my sexuality. But maybe this has to do with being a part of the first generation to benefit from all the struggles of the gay men and lesbians that came before us.”
EVERY generation from the beginning of time has benefited from the GLBT struggles of those that went before them.
She means well.
P.S.: Also, extra kudos for having a lover that isn’t fabulously young and gorgeous and predictable. Yay.
Equal Measure
“[…]who really needs a dick in his ass.”
Beg pardon, Queerty? Why the vitriol? And then why the comments about being pretentious or trying to closet himself?
Ford says he’s gay in the quote itself, and is just saying that it’s not a front-and-center part of his personality. Just because some gays decide to dive headfirst into queer culture doesn’t mean that others should be torn up for the crime of not making a big deal out of it.
If we’re going that route, then we also need to throw Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Fry, Ian McKellan, under the bus too. Hell, what about Alan Turing? Should he have decided to not bother with developing the groundwork for modern computing or breaking the Enigma code, and just gone into activism instead?
Not everyone spends huge amounts of time thinking about their sexuality or gender expression. Some people just have sex however they like, and then get to work on more important things.
jason
Rich gay men rarely keep in touch with the real world of ordinary gay men. Maybe that’s Tom’s problem. Elton too.
Bordeaux
I find it terribly irresponsible when someone with so much influence goes around and claims that being gay does not define him, implying that we should move beyond labels. Sadly we are all still very much defined by labels- take a look at Uganda and Burundi where homosexuality is being severely outlawed at the moment. If you live at the top of society in your lavish white tower you still have a responsibility towards other people, even more so. I always had a lot of respect for Tom Ford, but I’m losing it fast.
Paul Halsall
Ford is simply lying. I came out to myself in 1982 after reading Isherwoods memoir _Christopher and His Kind_.
In the book, Isherwood makes being gay the front and center of his existence. It is his basic identity, much more important for example than nationality.
Marc H.
Please people, could you just try to be a little bit nice for a change. I mean, you can express all your thoughts freely in a manner that is possibly less hurtful and demeaning. Just because the internet offers a certain amount of anonymity doesn’t mean you gotta go all belligerent and destructively judgmental.
The thing is we always seem to know what’s best for other people and how they should behave (as if we’re actually in their situation), but why are we so frustrated and unhappy ourselves then, sometimes, if we know it all. We just don’t know what it feels like to be someone else and we possibly never will. So to be fair and truthful stop throwing stones at a glasshouse you’re possibly trapped in yourselves.