Coming Out: Boldly Going Where Few Have Gone Before
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I have a confession. I'm addicted to Fark.com. Fark is an irreverent community news website that allows readers to comment on stories collected from around the world. When I heard about Swoopes and Takei coming out, I was eager to read the forums to gauge reactions. For the most part, those posting were supportive of both, but there was one sentiment that kept popping up that caught my attention. As one farker put it, "Why do homosexuals feel the need to tell everyone they are homosexual? I don't know of any hetero's who make press announcements that they are straight. I mean really. Who cares?"

On the one hand, you could take this as a positive sign. Besides the fact that there's no need for a straight person to "come out" since we live in a predominantly heterocentrist world where most people are assumed to be straight, this person obviously considered the news of a celebrity coming out as a nonevent. That implies that he or she views being gay as completely normal, or at least not newsworthy. Unfortunately, many do not share that view, which is exactly why it's so important for celebrities to keep coming out publicly.

As evidenced by the anti-gay backlash that has spread across the US and world in recent months, gays and lesbians are not yet accepted. We are far from equal. We do not share the same rights as our heterosexual counterparts. Our relationships are not recognized in most of the country. Our families are not valued or respected.

Every time a celebrity comes out, it helps put a face on gay rights. One of the reasons George Takei came out was Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in California. When the Governator vetoed that bill, he wasn't just taking marriage right away from a bunch of faceless queers, he was denying Mr. Sulu the opportunity to have his relationship legally recognized as equal to that of heterosexuals'.
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