Nowadays, I would hope that would be less of a problem, but it appears we’re still at the stage where stating that a certain public figure is LGB is considered a gross insult, rather than a statement. If Ralph Lauren was as in the closet about his Jewish origins as Clarke, et al., were/are about their sexualities, would it be considered beyond the pale to bring it up? The cartoonist who created “Krazy Kat” would never appear in public or be photographed without his hat on, lest people see his hair and realize that he was – gasp! – part Black. If someone had brought this up after his death, no doubt well-meaning people would complain that some spoilsport was maligning a great artists’s memory.

I understand your anger at the closeted; I’ve had a number of gay and lesbian acquaintances who have felt the same way. Safety in numbers, perhaps? (I speculate) But the fact of the matter is it’s a personal choice that each individual has to make, and outing will cause nothing but resentment and divisiveness. Armistead Maupin has written about the turmoil he went when he struggled with the decision to come out to his parents. If a 15-year old openly gay student can be murdered in 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_%22Larry%22_King), hesitation is understandable. On another subject, as a Boston psychiatrist wrote in an op-ed piece a few years ago, she had to keep reminding herself that in treating her patients, “My experience is not theirs.”

Instead of “bashing the closeted” (so to speak), might I modestly suggest celebrating those who are or were openly LGBT? Off the top of my head I can think of many: Gerry Studds and Barney Frank in American politics; musicians Billy Strayhorn, Cecil Taylor, John Cage, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano, Melissa Etheridge and Morrissey; writers Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles, Gore Vidal, Clive Barker, William S. Burroughs, Herman Melville, Samuel R. Delaney, Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg, and the aforementioned Armistead Maupin; actors Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ian McKellan, Rupert Everett, Drew Barrymore, John Glover, Dirk Bogarde and Graham Chapman; and of course, Ellen Degeneres.

Otherwise, I found this a fascinating write-up on Sir Arthur Clarke. Thank you.

P.S. Is there any way you can remove the post by the troll called “Nathan”? As a straight man who has and has had LGB friends, I find it egregiously offensive.

All the best,
Steve O’Rourke (Real name; if I were truly courageous, I’d include my geographical location. But I’m not.)

They are like children, clambering over the ruins of fallen giants.

http://thegayrecluse.com/2008/03/17/on-hot-gay-statues-madrid-shames-most-of-the-united-states-good-thing-theyre-not-eligible/