Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Proud to be Gay: Ricky Martin

For any gay Indian celebrity who's living in the closet — is there any other kind? — two rather different approaches to coming out have recently presented themselves. The most recent, of course, was Latin singer and heartthrob Ricky Martin who came out in a dignified statement posted on his website. It was time, he said, to put aside the fears and insecurities he had lived with, and to take responsibility for who he was. "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."

The other approach was from Sean Hayes, known for playing the flamboyantly gay character Jack in the hit TV series Will & Grace. As with Martin, there had long been rumours that Hayes was gay, but like Martin he had always dodged the question. When Hayes finally came out in an interview to a gay magazine, he was distinctly grouchy about it. He asked: "What more do you want me to do? Do you want me to stand on a float? And then what? It's never enough."

One can see what Hayes means, though it's a pity he wasn't more gracious. Actors can fairly hope to be judged on what they do — act — rather than what they are, which shouldn't be anyone else's business, as long as they aren't causing anyone else harm. Hayes can take credit for a role that helped familiarize millions of TV viewers around the world with the character of an unashamedly open and appealing gay man. Why ask more by expecting him to bare his private life?

But he's not just an actor, but a celebrity, we argue, and as such his whole persona is important, and he plays the celebrity game by sharing with us many details of his life, so if we are willing to listen to them, don't we have a right to them all?

Such audience entitlement claims are a bit dubious, and in any case what if the revelations threaten what made him a celebrity in the first place. Since Hayes played a gay man he was hardly at risk here, but it was a real issue for Martin. When your career is built on thousands of teenage girls going nuts over you, would you risk them knowing they had no chance? Martin brought this up well. "Being on stage fills my soul in many ways, almost completely. It's my vice. The music, the lights and the roar of the audience are elements that make me feel capable of anything. This rush of adrenaline is incredibly addictive. I don't ever want to stop feeling these emotions."
One should also remember how young he was when he found this out — just 13 when he joined the Latin music boy band Menudo and became its biggest star. Martin was a celebrity before most kids start dealing with their sexuality, so he could be forgiven some reluctance with the latter. And yet, Martin went on to say, that same feeling of peace he felt on stage, he felt now as he made his private life public.

Because no matter how you justify it, shutting down on such an essential part of your life is going to be as painful as wearing sneakers that are too small, except it's not your feet we're talking about here, but, corny as it sounds, your heart and how you see yourself. No matter how well it seems to fit, the closet scars you, and the evident bitterness of someone like Sean Hayes is proof of that.

Martin was recently in the news for having twin boys, through a surrogate mother, and in his statement he credited them with bringing about his change. Gays and lesbians are often told to remain closeted for the sake of their families, but for Martin it was having a family that made him realise he should come out: "To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with." The closet is founded on fear and he knew that this was the worst possible basis on which to bring up his kids.

Imagine the rumours that would always surround their father, the knowledge that he was possibly gay, possibly afraid, and possibly always at risk of being blackmailed or outed by the media, as so many other gay celebrities (George Michael, for example), have been. Against this was the disapproval of some, the approbation of others and, best of all, the increasing indifference of most. Why force yourself (and your kids) to suffer for something that really shouldn't matter? In those terms, Martin's decision is obvious, and one can only hope that some closeted gay Indian celebrities learn from it, and perhaps come out with some of the class that Martin has shown.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Communal Tension in Uttarakhand

Rudrapur: Tension gripped a locality after some miscreants threw an animal carcass inside a mosque in Rudrapur town in Uttarakhand, police today said.

Following reports that communal tension was brewing after the organs of a pig were thrown inside a mosque yesterday, police were immediately deployed in the area early today to avert a possible clash.

The authorities also ensured that the place of worship was cleansed.

Angry Muslims, however, demanded the immediate arrest of the miscreants.

When police picked up some persons for questioning on the basis of suspicion, some Hindus in the locality gheraoed the police station and demanded their release.

The police, however, said their personnel were adequately deployed and no untoward incident was reported yet.

Source: DNAIndia.com

 

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