Sean Hayes Finally Sits Down With "The Advocate" and is Who He Is

Ready to face the world.

Sean Hayes played one of the most visible homesexuals in the history of television on NBC's Will & Grace. He breathed hilarious life into Jack MacFarland in such a way that the character is used as an example of a certain type of gay man, both by straights and gays. But as Monkey Uncaged told you last week, he's always been coy about his own sexuality. Or so we thought. It turns out he disagrees about that particular aspect of his life.

When Hayes sat down with The Advocate for this month's cover story, it wasn't without a little tension between man and magazine. Back before the series finale for Will & Grace, The Advocate ran a one page story titled "Sean Hayes: The Interview He Never Gave" that was a series of quotes he'd given over the course of his career. Sean was not pleased.

Really? You’re gonna shoot the gay guy down? I never have had a problem saying who I am.  I am who I am. I was never in, as they say. Never.

This seems to be a true sore spot with Sean,and  not something dredged up to make the article more interesting. And to a degree, he has a valid point about gay celebrities: when are we, the press, the audience, the gay community going to be happy with them? How much responsibility, if any, do they have to be out? And how out is "out" anyway?

Why would you go down that path with somebody who’s done so much to contribute to the gay community? That was my beef about it. What more do you want me to do? Do you want me to stand on a float? And then what? It’s never enough. 

But it's not just The Advocate's past behavior that can set Sean off, it can be reporters or fans too. Whatever you do, don't ask him about his old castmates and whether they're still friends.

Every day. Every day we sleep togeth­er, every day, we live in the same house. We’re just like the cast of Friends. We all love each other and we all get along, America. Everybody can sleep now!

The whole piece is well worth a read, and includes quotes from Howard Bragman, the Hollywood publicity agent (who has guided stars like Meredith Baxter out of the closet), as well as Sean's Promises, Promises costar Kristin Chenoweth who has this to say:

He is a private person. Just because we’re performers doesn’t mean we are that person. He’s known for his character on Will & Grace, but that’s not who he is. So I’m glad that he feels free to talk [now], but let me tell you something: Sean has never hidden anything. I don’t think he was ever pretending to be anything he wasn’t. And that’s what to respect.

Oh, and did I mention that Sean's new Broadway play opens soon, and his production company has a sitcom premiering on TV Land in June?

The full feature is available at The Advocate. Read it and tell us your thoughts on Hayes being officially out.