I have written on this blog before about the PR of “coming out”, and so I was interested to read the Power 50 list of influential gays and lesbians in the latest edition of Out Magazine. This included a number of high-profile names, including Jodie Foster, Anderson Cooper, and other, who are not officially “out” or as Out magazine claims are in a “glass closet—that complex but popular contraption that allows public figures to avoid the career repercussions of any personal disclosure while living their lives with a certain degree of integrity.”
The Independent newspaper in Britain produces the “Pink List” every summer, with the top 100 powerful gays and lesbians, and there are rarely too many surprises. It is full of the usual suspects, and there isn’t a great deal of effort to reveal any names that might make people sit up and realise how many who do not publicly reveal their sexuality.
Out magazine has decided to include some more unexpected names on its list. The accompanying article about how and why some choose to live a “glass closet” lifestyle where they are open in their social life but are non-committal about their sexuality when questioned about it, provides a very interesting take on this deliberately ambigious position taken by a number of celebritities.
It provides a fascinating insight into how celebrities are now able to be remarkably open in their immediate circle about being gay or lesbian, and even in social settings, but still do not make that final leap to be open in the media about their lives.
I talked in my previous post about how, as long as it is done in a smart way, the process of “coming out” need not be career suicide and can be a positive thing both personally and professionally.
However it could easily be argued that this half-way house of the “glass closet”, while lacking some credibility, is not the worst option PR wise. There are a huge number of stars who we all know fit into this category, and the reality is that it does allow them to be private about their relationships, and the ambiguity and intrigue allows them to have a strong gay and straight fan base.
In fact, the most recent examples of stars “coming out” – Lance Bass, Anthony Callea, and even H from Steps - have been greeted with apathy and even a feeling that it is something of a publicity stunt.
I am not saying that PR advisers should be counselling their client to stay firmly in the closet, but perhaps there is an argument for saying that some form of “glass closet” is an option – not because it is right but because realistically it may be pragmatic way of maintaining some kind of private life. It is very easy to sit back and pontificate about how celebrities have a duty to be honest about their sexuality and act as role models, but the reality is often more complicated and the “glass closet” does offer them privacy that many straight stars would crave.
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