For the past 20 years, Out magazine has identified 100 gay men, lesbians and transgender people who have stood out for their achievements. In 2007, and every year since, the magazine has undertaken to photograph each and every one, using one photographer, and a connecting theme – which I can tell you, as editor, is no small undertaking. The exercise has been instructive on many levels, not least as indicative of broader shifts in cultural acceptance. In 2006, we couldn’t find a single A-list actor, male or female, willing to grace the cover. Not one. Instead we honoured Anne Hathaway and Iman, partly for their work as “allies”, but also, if we’re honest, to compensate for the paucity of recognisable LGBT celebrities.
That’s how much the ground has shifted. Of the four cover subjects in 2014, three – Sam Smith, Ellen Page and the young actor Samira Wiley – were not even out at the beginning of the year; the fourth, Zachary Quinto, came out in 2011. That was three years ago, and the sky didn’t collapse. On the contrary, Quinto’s career, on the big and small screen, has flourished. Samira Wiley, who stars in Orange Is the New Black, and Sam Smith – who came out as his career was exploding – represent a new generation for whom being out early in their careers has become an imperative, not a choice.
Until very recently, the prevailing wisdom was that an out gay entertainer faced insurmountable challenges if he or she wanted to build a career. Take Richard Chamberlain, who sat for this year’s portfolio for the first time. “I spent a great deal of my life pretending to be somebody else,” said the star of Dr Kildare and The Thorn Birds. “If I were ever outed, my career – which was my entire life, for the longest time – wouldn’t have happened.”
Today, that scenario is being flipped on its head; the closeted entertainer is becoming an anachronism. In a more tolerant society, it’s increasingly less clear why anyone would want to go through life pretending to be someone else. To quote Ellen Page: “Once you’ve done something that you used to think, and said aloud, was impossible, what could ever really scare you again? It’s kind of an awesome thing to go through in your life. Even now, press is more enjoyable because I don’t have to have certain conversations. For instance, I’m never going to have to have a conversation about a dress, or heels, ever again.”
Amen to that. Hollywood bean counters still clinging to outdated ideas of what fills seats in cinemas may recall that the dinosaurs died out fast.
