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The Ethics of Outing Someone

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Apr 22, 2010.

  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    The topic came up on the John Paul Stevens thread.

    These two stories are just too funny not to share:


     
  2. crusoes

    crusoes Active Member

    That's some gaydar at work.
     
  3. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I could go either way on them.
     
  4. There's actually a pretty good ethical, journalistic dilemma going on with regards to the S.C. teapartyer who went after Lindsay Graham last weekend. It's been mentioned on Stewart and Colbert, but mainstream media, even in South Carolina, don't seem to be touching it.
     
  5. Deeper_Background

    Deeper_Background Active Member

    Move over, Ricky Martin. Another Hollywood celeb is coming out
    By Elizabeth Snead

    April 20, 2010 3:57 PM ET

    Ricky Martin recently came out about being a homosexual. Not exactly earth shattering news, but still a commendable act of personal courage for the father of two.

    So which Hollywood celebrity is going to come out on May 5?

    People Magazine allegedly has the exclusive and the celeb is booked on several major talk shows that week including "The View."

    PR powerhouse Howard Bragman, who has successfully -- some might add brilliantly -- orchestrated several celeb outings in the past decade talked about his next coming out project at the GLAAD Media Awards red carpet Sunday (Apr. 17).

    Bragman -- the coming out king of Hollywood -- doesn't want to speculate on who it will be (that would kind of ruin his well-planned surprise, wouldn't it) but In the past he's helped NFL defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo, LPGA star Rosie Jones, WNBA star Sheryl Swoops and retired NBA center John Amaechi come out.

    He also orchestrated the plans for former "Party of Five" Mitchell Anderson, "Married with Children" co-star Amanda Bearse and aided Dick Sargent of "Bewitched" fame to come out on Entertainment Tonight.

    Most recently, he planned Chaz Bono's announcement of a transition from woman to man and got the news about Meredith Baxter being a lesbian out before tabloids reported her taking a lesbian cruise.

    "In Hollywood," Bragman has said, "most publicists keep their clients in the closet. And I'm the guy people tend to come to when they want to come out of the closet."

    Bragman made his name founding a major entertainment public-relations firm -- Bragman, Nyman, Cafarelli -- and his new boutique firm is called Fifteen Minutes. Fittingly, his book about Hollywood and celebrity, "Where's my Fifteen Minutes?" even has a chapter dedicated to coming out.

    In a sense, Bragman is at war, taking on the entertainment industry to end the perception that a gay actor has to stay in the closet. http://blog.zap2it.com/thedishrag/2010/04/move-over-ricky-martin-another-hollywood-celeb-is-coming-out.html
     
  6. Captain_Kirk

    Captain_Kirk Well-Known Member

    Hey, maybe they just want to double their chances to have a date on Saturday night.
     
  7. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Bragman is a great name for a publicist.
     
  8. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    I guess the guys running the Gay World Series are ok with the Boy Scouts excluding homosexuals.

    They're a private organization after all.
     
  9. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I don't have a problem with the Gay World Series limiting itself to gays.

    If the Boy Scouts wants to be as exclusive, it should call itself Young Hetero Male Scouts.
     
  10. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    I do.

    Many times, we start gay sports teams and gay leagues because we want to give ourselves opportunities that we either can't or won't take advantage of because of concerns related to our sexuality. As far as I'm concerned, turning away a straight man from a "gay team" solely because he's straight is hypocritical.

    There's a big discussion about this on Outsports, or there's been in the past. Many gay leagues have quotas that limit the number of straight players who can play on a team. In some cases, this is done to keep a team from being dominated by straight guys who can dominate a game.

    However, I object to the very spirit of quotas. If a straight guy has many gay friends who play softball, he should be able to play on a team with them without respect to quotas.

    That's my take. Your mileage may vary.
     
  11. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Actually, I lied. I was trying to make a point to A_QB.

    Obviously, if you have a gay league or team or tournament or Olympics, you don't want it to be all straight people.

    But to say that someone who is allegedly bisexual can't compete seems silly to me.

    I would hope that most teams would be as inclusive as possible unless teams start bringing in straight ringers.

    I believe that a lot -- if not most -- members of gay and lesbian organizations that exist at high schools are straight. Or maybe that's just what they tell everyone.
     
  12. Peytons place

    Peytons place Member

    Reminds me of an episode of "Will & Grace" when Matt Damon's character was pretending to be gay to join the all-male gay chorus, but got outed as straight.
     
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