Society as a whole assumes that, ‘everyone is heterosexual until told differently’
On February 14, 2014, Hollywood actress, Ellen Page, well-known for her roles in Juno and Inception, announced she is gay during her speech to LGBT counselors at the Human Rights Campaign’s Time to Thrive event in Las Vegas.
This announcement came just five days after college football star, Michael Sam, announced his homosexual orientation. In her speech, Page stated Sam was part of her inspiration for the decision to come out.
Both announcements were brave, but were they necessarily as noteworthy as the media made them up to be? My answer to this is no. If we want to treat people of all sexual preferences equally, then we should stop having such a bold reaction to those public figures who come out.
There is no denying that both Page and Sam made a significant impact by coming out publicly. Page’s public announcement brought so much attention to the HRC, when they uploaded the eight-minute video of Page’s speech on their website, it shortly crashed the server, according to KABC-TV writer, Elex Michaelson.
Sam also made a difference by coming out publicly. If he is drafted into the NFL, he will be the NFL’s first openly gay player, as stated by ESPN’s Ben Goessling.
Jeff Bottari / AP Image:
Actress Ellen Page announces that she is gay at the Human Rights Campaign Time to Thrive Conference in Las Vegas Feb. 14, 2014. Five days prior, college football player Michael Sam came out as gay. Page said she was inspired by Sam, so she too came out publicly.
The public gave mixed reactions to these announcements. Many applauded them for their bravery, some showed their disapproval for the gay community and others, like me, did not care either way and wondered what the big deal was anyway. However, this is easy for me to say—I’m a heterosexual in a dominantly heterosexual society.
The problem is that we as a society assume that everyone is heterosexual until told differently. The fact of the matter is that their announcements didn’t make much of an impact on me because of my heterosexual identity and because I don’t know the struggles of being a homosexual in a dominantly heterosexual world.
Also, their job as an actress and football player are what really matters to me. I enjoyed Page’s acting in Juno and Inception, so I wasn’t questioning her sexual orientation. It is the same with athletes. I watch football for the entertainment of watching the sport—not to wonder if the players are gay, straight, or bisexual. Their abilities haven’t changed now that they are “out of the closet.”
Page and Sam did not come out publicly without a purpose. They, of course, came out to rid themselves of the pain of hiding who they are. They also made this decision for a much more important reason, as Page stated in her speech.
They came out so that those teens and young adults still struggling with their identity and worrying about coming out would gain strength, hope and reassurance from these public announcements.
Page even said in her speech, “I’m here today because I am gay. And because…maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility.”
There is no doubt that their decisions to come out publicly were brave, but imagine if a celebrity announced they were heterosexual in our society.
Nothing would happen. No one would care. People would even wonder why they were telling that information to the public in the first place. That’s where I want us to be with the LGBT community.
It’s evident that we’ve progressed as a society, but we have some ways to go until we start asking why homosexuals are announcing their sexual identity like we would a heterosexual.
In my opinion, if we keep treating concepts like sexual orientation with such importance and shock, we will continue to teach our youth that being gay is something that requires a reaction, that it is not the “norm,” and that it is not okay.
Instead, we should respond with “so what?” just as we would an announcement from a heterosexual member of our society. Children learn from us what is right and wrong. If we react, they will learn to do the same, instead of their initial reaction of no reaction at all.
Taylor Howe can be contacted at thowe@keene-equinox.com