The New Art of Coming Out: Jim Parsons and Anderson Cooper

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This was actually last week's issue of Entertainment Weekly and I apologize for not letting you know ahead of time. I'm sure you can still find this issue online or at a Half-Price books type of store. At any rate, as you can see from the cover, the main article is all about The New Art of Coming Out. There is still fan fare surrounding a new celebrity coming out but it's definitely less than it was and more and more celebrities are coming out in very understated ways. I think this is great. It's your choice to be open about your private life, but I know being a celebrity makes it more noticeable, so it's your choice to come out however you like.

Jim Parsons

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Jim Parsons recently came out in an interview about his role on broadway in Harvey. The fact that he was gay was actually mentioned by the interviewer and not Jim at all, which is very cool, in my opinion. If you read the article online, the news isn't even revealed until the third (and final) page:

“The Normal Heart” resonated with him on a few levels: Mr. Parsons is gay and in a 10-year relationship, and working with an ensemble again onstage was like nourishment, he said.

The reason I'm finally posting about all of this (as I meant to do a post when Jim Parsons came out...by the way, he plays Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory) today is because newsman Anderson Cooper came out!

Anderson Cooper

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There have been all sorts of rumors about Cooper being gay, and personally, I always figured he was...but I think it's his choice to come out whenever he wants and it's great that he finally has in hopes that it will help others. The article I linked to above includes some of what Cooper wrote but I really enjoyed this: "In a perfect world, I don't think it's anyone else's business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted."

Gay Teens on TV

I'm sorry for posting this a bit late...only because this is the past week's copy of Entertainment Weekly. However, you still have time to head to the store and grab a copy before next week's issue takes over.

As you can see from the photo though, the main article in this issue was about Gay Teens on TV and how back in the early 90's, it was something you would rarely see. There was a gay teen featured in My So-Called Life in 1994, but that show only lasted one season. After that, it took about five more years. It's easy to see now though that things are changing.  Not only do you have Kurt and Blaine on GLEE (as the cover shows) but United States of Tara, Degrassi, Pretty Little Liars, and even the new 2011 shows...Shameless and Skins (U.S. version).

Personally, I'm really proud of networks finally showing young girls and boys that fall under the LGBTQ spectrum. Degrassi is even a pioneer with the fact that they have a transgender teen on their show as a main character. It's great...and I just hope it keeps getting better from here.

The article is really interesting if you want to hear more about some of these shows, and even past ones. There is a timeline throughout as well that shows you shows that have featured LGBT teens and just what year it debuted.

Included in this article is a quote about how they hope more shows will show LGBT teens more like their straight counterparts. Not everyone is bullied or has parents that are upset, as the quote says...so TV needs to show this more.

Overall, it's an interesting article. I liked the look back and even ahead to what people can expect and hope to see on TV.

Did anyone else read this already? Share your thoughts! Even if you haven't...we'd still love to know what you think about LGBT teens on TV now and even in the past!

~Lauren