Zachary Quinto‘s about to go gay again… professionally. He did it earlier in his career on So noTORIous, took a detour as Sylar on Heroes and that Zoe Saldana-pulling hetero make-out machine Spock in Star Trek, but then went queer again in the recent off-Broadway run of Angels in America. Now he’s joining the cast of Ryan Murphy‘s new FX series American Horror Story—as a gay. Got it? Good.
The series, one of the fall’s most hotly anticipated, centers on a couple (Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott) who move their family into a possibly haunted house. Quinto—who plays Chad, the gay former owner of the house—is slated to appear in at least four episodes, beginning with the Halloween episode on October 26.
Quinto’s orientation is a subject of public speculation—and something he won’t discuss—so is he having it both ways by (possibly) being closeted while still taking on so many gay roles? Is it hypocritical to make an It Gets Better video and appear at gay-rights galas but remain silent about your sexuality?
No celebrity has to be a poster child for LGBT causes, but if you’re going to make yourself one, should you have to come out? Does Zachary Quinto’s decision not to go public as gay, bi, straight or none of the above matter?
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
You may now politely sound off on this matter in the comments.
Randall
Great actor whose personal life is no ones business.
K Walker
” is he having it both ways by (possibly) being closeted while still taking on so many gay roles?”
Wtf are you talking about ‘so many’? I count as of the beginning of his stage career he has played 37 roles, and in only three of them (So NoTORIous, Angels In America and Gross Indecency) has he played a gay character. Secondly, why should a gay actor have to push the politics of the role he is playing when straight actors don’t? Quinto has donated time and money to LGBT causes as an individual so why is this not ‘enough’?
What do you suggest he does? Turn down gay roles? If he is gay then surely having him render a realistic gay character on TV is helping people who might be currently struggling with their sexuality. He would only be a hypocrite if he was gay and telling everyone to come out whilst remaining in the closet, and he isn’t doing that.
meego
@Randall: He’s a public figure. It is our business. Once you sign on for a career as an actor, you’re practically giving up your privacy and are automatically open to public scrutiny. This is showbiz and that’s how it works. Be it right or wrong does not matter. It’s simply how it is. Period. Just go to your local supermarket and check out the tabloids. Actors would be nowhere without publicity. Anybody who has worked in the biz will tell you that there’s no such thing as bad press. Even the worst scandal can sometimes work out to your advantage if you know how to ride the wave.
Thomas
Zachary Quinto is one of our better actors today.
His choice to pull an Anderson Cooper and not reveal his personal life is exactly that, his choice.
That said, it’s also my choice to obsess over it or ignore it.
Kirk
Thank god I never got the gay self loathing gene whereby actors offically coming out provide me personal validation.
Cam
@Randall: said…
“Great actor whose personal life is no ones business.”
__________________________________-
1. Isn’t it amazing that hollywood publicists fax off press releases if their clients eat a sandwich and then have to double flush a floater, and yet suddenly they get all huffy and scream that personal lives aren’t anybody’s business when it has to do with “The Gay”
2. Funny how people, when it comes to being gay, pretend that the mere exposure that they are gay is somehow akin to asking what they do in the bedroom. Oh yes, showing up to an event with a date is just SO personal!!
3. I don’t have a huge problem with Quinto. True he’s closeted, but at least he isn’t showing up to events with a phony girlfriend.
Jack
I kissed a gay guy who looked exactly like him but hotter the night before last!! 😀
and then I robbed all the alcohol and sweets from his house I feel ill with guilt and regret 🙁
SteveC
If he is gay then of course he doesn’t HAVE to come out.
But if he is in the closet then he is absolutely fair game to be outed.
Closeted gay celebrities deserve the same respect shown to their private lives as heterosexual celebrities.
In the culture we live in, the tabloid media (and their devoted audience) have declared it perfectly acceptable to pry into people’s private lives.
Zachary Quinto’s private is therefore fair game.
If he is gay and had an ounce of courage he’d already be out of course.
Staying in the closet is not an option and it is a decision that sh0uld be viewed with horror and contempt by any sane, well adjusted person.
SteveC
If he is gay then of course he doesn’t HAVE to come out.
But if he is in the closet then he is absolutely fair game to be outed.
Closeted gay celebrities deserve the same respect shown to their private lives as heterosexual celebrities.
In the culture we live in, the tabloid media (and their devoted audience) have declared it perfectly acceptable to pry into people’s private lives.
Zachary Quinto’s private life is therefore fair game.
If he is gay and had an ounce of courage he’d already be out of course.
Staying in the closet is not an option and it is a decision that sh0uld be viewed with horror and contempt by any sane, well adjusted person.
Lefty
@SteveC: The only closeted gay celebrities that are fair game are those that are actually homophobic. No one has the right to tell someone else how to live their life unless that person is actually harming other people. You could make a case that Quinto coming out would make it easier for gay kids or something, but the idea that he’s actually harming anyone by not publically stating his sexuality has absolutely no basis in logic. He isn’t actively homophobic, he doesn’t present some kind of false image as a breeder, you have absolutely no idea why he hasn’t come out publically, yet you judge him to be worthy of contempt none the less.
I’ve absolutely no desire to defend the “glass closet”, but I equally have no desire to assume as a right the desire to publically out celebrities who are harming no one and are in no way trying to pretend they’re heterosexual.
It’s unfortunate that people like that can’t come out, but it really is their business if they do or not…
Spike
@Randall: Agreed, unless you are writing for Queerty, and incapable of coming up with articles that don’t rehash the same old hating on those who choose to to keep their private lives private.
Jimmy Fury
Personally I think his not commenting on his sexuality at all does more for equality than parading him around as a “gay actor” ever would. It takes something that should be a non-issue and makes it… a non-issue.
As long as he’s not pretending to be straight or acting like a homophobe there’s no reason to call him out for anything. Let him serve as an example of why sexuality is completely irrelevant to acting.
Better yet, let him serve as an example to all the Luke Evans’ and Colton Haynes’ out there trying to stuff their sexuality back into a closet instead of just shutting up about it.
Cam
@Jimmy Fury: said…
Personally I think his not commenting on his sexuality at all does more for equality than parading him around as a “gay actor” ever would. It takes something that should be a non-issue and makes it… a non-issue.
_______________________________________________
Yes, and while we’re at it, we should go back in time and tell all those old black civil rights leaders how much better it would be for civil rights if they had tried to pass as white. (eye roll)
It never ceases to amaze me the tortured excuses for the closet celeb fanboys and Hollywood brownosers will try to invent.
Cam
@Spike: said…
“Agreed, unless you are writing for Queerty, and incapable of coming up with articles that don’t rehash the same old hating on those who choose to to keep their private lives private.”
____________________________
Nobody is asking if he is a top or a bottom or if he spits or swallows.
How funny that magazines will speculate if Jennifer Anniston is pregnant, or if Jessica Simpson is sleeping with some football player. But the much less invasive question of who he likes is somehow a private dirty secret. Nice
xander
@Cam : Can you not talk about him having to “double flush a floater” when I’m mid-latte and near a keyboard, Lol? Other than that, you’re a keeper!
~~
Quinto’s ‘handlers’ may be urging him to keep quiet for the sake of *their* careers more than his own. Unconfirmed rumours run that such matters as coming out may be spelled out in contracts between studios and actors, but I’m at a loss as to how any of that works or is enforced.
Karen Brown
Not talking about his personal romantic life at all is NOT the same as ‘passing as white’. We don’t know what his handlers do or do not say, but he’s not ‘passing’, or ‘bearding’. He keeps the conversation on his professional life and on his causes, and he’s not the only celebrity, gay, straight or otherwise, who does that. Indeed, the ones with the longest careers are the ones who don’t turn their private life into public fodder (and the longest relationships, for that matter).
Nobody should feel obligated to talk about their personal lives, even if celebrities. And there is a difference between acknowledging that something is probably going to happen (like public speculation about celebrity personal lives) and acting like there’s some kind of right to information.
David Ehrenstein
His choice is CRAP !
Darren
Unless *he’s* making career hay off of his private life, then no, it’s not fair game any more than any other celebrity’s. Fame is a side effect of doing his job well, but that doesn’t require him to tell everyone things that are actually none of their business, including his orientation, who he’s in a relationship with, where he goes on vacation or anything else. His work is our business, his life, beyond what he chooses to share, is not.
He’s not the sort that actively courts fame. He’s not on every red carpet at crap like the VMAs, even though he could be. He’s definitely not the kind who intentionally goes to the places where everyone knows the paparazzi lay in wait, like that one Whole Foods, the Santa Monica Trader Joe’s or the Country Mart in Brentwood. He just does what he does, which is work damn hard to entertain people.
And in reality, he’s not in a closet, not any more than Kevin Spacey is in a closet, or Matt Bomer (who talks about his children but not his partner) or Neil Patrick Harris before he was outed “accidentally.” The people who need to know — actual friends, family, *personal* associates — know. The people who might actually have a real life shot at sleeping with him know. If you’re not one of those people, then you don’t need to know.
David Ehrenstein
@Darren: Kevin Spacey is a lying piece of shit. Your notion that he’s not in the clsoet is utter fantasy.
Unless of course you work for him in which case it’s “reality.”
slanty
I’ll watch it whether he’s gay or not.
Bryan
@Randall: You mean whose personal sex life only when it regards their sexuality. If he was asked to talk about his childhood or family in an interview, HE WOULD and that is his personal life.
Jollysocks
Let’s call a spade a spade: He’s in the closet. To us it may be a “glass closet” but that is not the case with the majority of people watching him. They think he’s straight. Just like many many straight people think that Anderson Cooper is straight as well. He may not be a hypocrite because he isn’t publicly homophobic, but he’s still a gay man living day to day in the closet.
I really get sick of fellow gays screaming, “he’s an actor! The industry’s hard! It’s his personal business!” I myself am also a gay man and I’m out at work, at home, walking down the street, everywhere. Yes, it’s my choice to be out and it’s a GOOD fucking choice because anything else would be a lie. Why do the gay actors have to be shielded like little pieces of porcelain while the rest of us do the dirty work of fighting for equality, enduring threats, and living our lives openly and proudly? Why are these gay actors held to a LOWER standard than the rest of us?
He’s gay, he needs to get over it and come out. End of story.
DavyJones
Why is it that anyone who shows public support for LGBT issues has to be gay?
@Jollysocks: And I don’t just say ‘it’s his personal business’ because he’s an actor. Every gay person should be left to decide for them self when/how and if they want to disclose their sexuality. Speculation is fun and all; but truly until someone actually comes out, it’s their own business.
The exception is people who are actively and publicly homophobic (especially politicians) because their hypocrisy and self loathing does real damage…
Kirk
Leave it to a queerty post on Quinto, Cooper, Foster, Bomer, Queen Latifa or a few others to bring out all the tired, old queerty relics with the same tired cut and paste chants of righteous idignation demanding how others should live their lives. My question to you is, do you actually have a life of your own, or do you just wait for such posts and make demands of how others should live their lives? I’m betting the usual suspects bitching on Quinto have no real influence on anyone or anything in real life so they rag on others on sad blogs. Rather tragic.
Michael
Zachary Quinto is a very humble loving compassionate man and a great actor too boot.Its not my business whether he comes out or not .Ultimately that is entirely up to him and either way I have nothing but love and respect for him.
I loved what another person said hes not waving a flag saying im gay im gay look at me pay attention to me hes not making it an issue either way.
Being gay in this day and age should not be a big deal to begin with.The media everyone makes such a huge deal out of it as if to say OMG the GAY ahhh everybody run oh noezz!! lol
But you people get my point its his decision whether he comes out or not im sure his costars family and friends already know either way.Most of the time an actors loved ones are the ones that are important.The fans are too of course but I can understand why he doesnt want to say either way the media always lambasts annoys the shit out and harasses the hell out of people who come out normally.I can understand his concerns in that area.
Whilst I dont personally agree with him being silent about it.Its not me and its not my life or business its all up to him its what he chooses or chooses not to do or say ultimately in the end.
Interesting
What makes being gay so special that if you are celebrity we shouldn’t talk about it?
Its the double standard that amazes me.
Interesting
Also, the other thing that kills me is the attempts to spin the closet as some how morally virtuous by covering it up under privacy.
Like I often say, I like this actor. I loved him in Heroes. But, he sounds like a closet case. That’s his personal choice. There’s not virtuous about it. He’s doing it to advance his career. Not to show courage in the face of adversity or to do some great public good.
So why should we not talk about it? How does protecting his closet help us? I understand his reasons. What do you think ours should be without resorting to bullshit arguments over privacy or worse yet trying to shame those who are just gossiping into not gossiping just about this subject.
AR in Austin
Are we really debating whether anyone, actor or not, has a right to keep his sexuality private? Really? Is there any real question here? The right to define yourself; isn’t that really the basic human right that most people want. Isn’t it the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. LEAVE the MAN alone.
Interesting
@AR in Austin: No, you are debating it. The rest of us who understand celebrity culture realizes that you are full of shit, and calling you on it.
Ross
He’s not obligated to be anyone’s poster child. As long as he’s not bearding or supporting anti-LGBT causes, then leave the man alone.
Dan Ramos
He’s not necessarily in the closet. For all we know, he’s already out to family members and friends who are RELEVANT enough for him to tell them that he is gay. We are not relevant enough to him for him to have to tell us that he’s gay but that doesn’t mean he’s in the closet necessarily. Same with Cooper. The fact that they don’t go around parading girlfriends or wives in public already tells me that they are not in the closet.
Some people really need to feel less self-important and stop imagining that a lot of things are “owed” to them.
iDavid
Wow, with the nation up in arms about equal rights, it would seem some here want to rip Quinto’s right out of his chest. Who the fuck do you think you are? You’ve got yours and he has his. Just cuz he’s an actor you think he has to toss his aside for whiny disrespectful queens? I mean really, change your diapers and then grow up, the stench is fouling the air of equality you supposedly are fighting for.
meego
@Dan Ramos: Oh, so we’re not relevant to him, are we? That’s funny. Really funny. Considering that we put him where he is. Without fans, he’d be nowhere! If nobody wants to see you, hear you, buy tickets to see your movies, watch your tv show, you’re dead! So let’s all be not relevant to him and watch his “ratings” nosedive!
meego
@iDavid: The only “rights” I see here, for him, is his right to stay in the closet. Yep, that’ll help the fight for equal rights!
Cam
@Kirk: said….
“Leave it to a queerty post on Quinto, Cooper, Foster, Bomer, Queen Latifa or a few others to bring out all the tired, old queerty relics with the same tired cut and paste chants of righteous idignation demanding how others should live their lives.”
__________________________________________________________
I LOVE how the defenders of the closet are trying to pretend that THEIR opinion is the new young fresh opinion. Really? Because I have a feeling that all those dead stars from the 30’s and 40’s used the EXACT same excuses for being in the closet that you are…oh yes, you’re so edgy.
The fact is, celebs go on TV and whore out every last second of their personal lives. the excuses of a private life in most cases are ridiculous. They use the same excuse for Anderson Cooper, a man who has written about his mother, his fathers death, his brothers suicide, he talks about growing up fast, going to Studio 54 when he was 10 years old etc… and yet people STILL claim he doesn’t want to talk about his personal life. I would consider in depth writings about a siblings suicide to be pretty personal.
The person who isn’t famous, who comes out of the closet while working a job in a place like Kansas City is not only more brave, but does more for gay rights than any of these closet cases who assage their guilt by writing a check to some charity once a year.
David Ehrenstein
@Cam: SING OUT LOUISE!!!!!!!
Kirk
@35/36 – Thank you for the cut and paste, I rest my case…
Cam
@Kirk:
The typical response of somebody who has no case and who has no answer to the positions stated.
Your case is the case of the homophobic who want gays to stay hidden because being gay is something dirty and shameful that should be hidden.
I bet you also suggest to black people that things would be better if they just pretended to be white.
JoeyB
He is a hypocrite, plain and simple. And Ryan Murphy as well for using him. It’s all about the money, plain and simple. Eventually Quinto will come out, when he is no longer relevant.
Interesting
@Kirk: Those two very different people who post on several sights- at least David does- so I also find it funny you think they are sock puppets just because the find you retarded.
David Ehrenstein
@Interesting: What amuses me about Kirk and his ilk is their demand we not speak about what we know — and this is all being done in an internet chatroom.
Zachary Quinto is gay. So is Anderson Cooper. Yet we’re supposed to pretend we don’t know that in certain contexts — but not others. We’re supposed to pretend it’s matter of “privacy” and that “they should be allowed to come out when the’re ready.”
Their rfusal to come out is an act of cultural terrorism. Our silence on what we know to be true is DEMANDED by the status quo — and tis slaves like Kirk.
I’ve called out Anderson Cooper in the past
http://www.laweekly.com/2009-05-07/film-tv/fear-itself/
and will continue to do so the next time the opportunity presents itself.
vaan_lohengrin
nope, doesn’t matter at all.
Lefty
It matters to me. I’m more inclined to watch something if I deffo know the star likes cock.
Sad, but there we are… 🙂
DARKSKIN FETISH
WHO????
Blake J
As long as he is not homophobic or bearding, he does not need to make a public announcement about being gay.
Maybe if a whole group of actors (entertainers), etcetera came out at once or at least in relatively small period of time, it would be less of a “shocking” fact to the general (straight) public.
Just look at the comments on YouTube videos, message boards, etcetera about out actors (entertainers), etcetera and you will see at least half of them will be about the actor’s sexuality.
Not necessarily homophobic, but still drawing focus away from their talents.
Or worse is when women make statements like “what a waste”, “too bad he is gay”, etcetera.
And unfortunately producers, casting directors, etcetera interpret this as meaning women will not go to see their movies, etcetera.
Claude
Harvey Milk invited everyone to come out. The more visibility, the more acceptance. Public personalities do not have an obligation to do so, but they carry a special responsibility. Quinto is certainly LGBT friendly. It wouldn’t hurt for him to specify whether he is a straight ally, or himself bi or gay… unless he finds the speculation keeps him in the media and provides free publicity.
Jeffrey
@Interesting: Kirk said it was a cut and paste, not that they were the same person. Anyway, Quinto can do what he wants. As long as he’s not denying he’s gay, he’s not doing anything wrong. And even if he did deny it, we all know how it is. It would just take time for him to understand himself and make things right.
Kirk
@Jeffrey – thanks, you got it, they do not. Same old same old from the usual suspects. LOL.
Interesting
Yes Thank you jeffrey for being as retarded as Kirk. These same weak arguments come up every time by you fellows. But you never answer a simple question; Why should we treat gay stars differently than straight ones?
Karen Brown
In what sense? People speculate about the romantic lives of celebrities, straight and gay, sure. We speculate on the romantic lives of our friends, neighbors, coworkers too. I’m sure everyone here, unless they are a hermit, are speculated about by someone they know. The primary difference is that a celebrity has another category outside of ‘people who know them’, and that is ‘people who know OF them’, in the form of media, fans, the general public, etc.
But, though the desire to speculate on the lives of people around us is something we all live with, at no point does their curiosity, in any sense, obligate us to satisfy it. They are treated differently because there are stars, gay and straight, same as people on the street, who tell all their private business to anyone who’ll listen, and some who like to keep their private lives private. Nobody says a straight star who does this is a hypocrite (which, by the way, is entirely inaccurate. A hypocrite is someone who criticizes someone for doing what they secretly do. Roy Cohn is a hypocrite, a guy who simply doesn’t talk about his social life in public doesn’t fit that at all, unless he goes around criticizing people who don’t talk about their social lives in public.)
Others have said they are out, and they likely mean what most mean. Some even note that it means ‘my friends, my family, my co-workers know’. Guess what, that’s probably happened. And guess what else, none of us fit into any of those categories. The only equivalent is if you said someone isn’t ‘out’ unless, as a telemarketer, for instance, they told every customer they talk to on the phone ‘Hi, I’m Karen, and I’m gay’. We don’t expect anyone else to do that to qualify as being out, only celebrities. And nobody certainly expects that of straight celebrities.
Karen Brown
In what sense? People speculate about the romantic lives of celebrities, straight and gay, sure. We speculate on the romantic lives of our friends, neighbors, coworkers too. I’m sure everyone here, unless they are a hermit, are speculated about by someone they know. The primary difference is that a celebrity has another category outside of ‘people who know them’, and that is ‘people who know OF them’, in the form of media, fans, the general public, etc.
But, though the desire to speculate on the lives of people around us is something we all live with, at no point does their curiosity, in any sense, obligate us to satisfy it. They are treated differently because there are stars, gay and straight, same as people on the street, who tell all their private business to anyone who’ll listen, and some who like to keep their private lives private. But nobody says a straight star who does this is a hypocrite (which, by the way, is entirely inaccurate. A hypocrite is someone who criticizes someone for doing what they secretly do. Roy Cohn is a hypocrite, a guy who simply doesn’t talk about his social life in public doesn’t fit that at all, unless he goes around criticizing people who don’t talk about their social lives in public.)
There’s straight stars who don’t talk about their sex lives, and yes, even when they are asked, and keep the attention on their work. Others may still be curious, sometimes they just stop wondering and, yes, keep their attention on the work. And, those are the stars with the best staying power. So, it isn’t the speculation that is the difference, it is the implications and the insults that come with not satisfying it is where difference comes in.
Others have said they are out, and they likely mean what most mean. Some even note that it means ‘my friends, my family, my co-workers know’. Guess what, that’s probably happened. And guess what else, none of us fit into any of those categories. The only equivalent is if you said someone isn’t ‘out’ unless, as a telemarketer, for instance, they told every customer they talk to on the phone ‘Hi, I’m Karen, and I’m gay’. We don’t expect anyone else to do that to qualify as being out, only celebrities. And nobody certainly expects that of straight celebrities.
Cam
@Karen Brown: said…
“There’s straight stars who don’t talk about their sex lives, ”
__________________________________-
The sad thing is, you compare being honest about who a person is, to explicitly talking about what they do in bed.
Nobody is asking if Quinto is a top or bottom or if he pees on his partners or what goes on with the lights go out. The fact that you see it that way says more about you than anybody else.
Karen Brown
I’m sure he is being who he is. Not all of us, straight or gay, TALK about our social lives. I have people in my life, that I know, that regularly share every picky detail about their love lives. Yes, including what they do in bed. If you were at a bus stop with them, within the half an hour it took for the bus to arrive, you’d know the names of all their kids, the fight they had last night with their spouse, etc. I also know people who I’ve known for years, we chat about lots of things. Politics, philosophy, current events, music, what they’re doing in their work, and I don’t even know if they date. They aren’t ‘hiding who they are’, they are PRIVATE PEOPLE.
No, I’m saying that he may very well BE honest, to the same people any of US are honest to. Our friends, our family, our coworkers. People we know, we interact with. He has no obligation to talk about his personal life with strangers, and yes, WE ARE STRANGERS, than you do, to every person you meet on the street.
Karen Brown
And where did I say anything about ‘the bedroom’? I said social life. That includes everything FROM the bedroom, to what their favorite restaurant is. It is everything that is not directly involved in their professional relationship to another person. If I am talking to the car salesman, his only conversational obligation to me is selling me that car. If it is a performer, it is the work they do. Some car salesmen choose (probably to make themselves seem more likeable) to start chatting about the weather, ‘how about those Mets’, chat about the wife/husband, that great restaurant they went to last night. That’s their choice, and we are not entitled to know about that, just because they are in a service industry, even if it is common for salespeople to do so.
It doesn’t change because the person acts, sings, dances for a living. They are ‘obligated’ to provide us with good entertainment in their field, at least if they want our money. It is probably in their best interest to let us know that the entertainment is available, and is good. That’s advertising, or promotion. They are NOT obligated to tell total strangers a damn thing about their lives (sexual or otherwise). We can be curious, and possibly will, but they have no obligation to satisfy our curiosity.
iDavid
Quinto and his manager may have a contract against him “coming out” that is if he’s even gay, which you crack heads don’t know.
He may be str8.
Your hot air may all for not.
Regardless, control freak Nazi Bachmann tactics is so funny coming from you Gallagher knockoffs. You really ought to design the arm band and start a unified bitch sight. She did, look how popular her pushy big ass is. I’m sure she’d like more company.
meego
@Karen Brown: So, Karen, tell us what is your stake in this? You appear out of the blue. You’ve never posted on queerty before. You wouldn’t be a part of his PR team now, would you? 😉