Confusion Over Whether Chris Colfer is Gay or Not

He's 19 years old, right? So he's no longer in high school and also no longer a minor. He can register to vote and he can die for his country. If he were under 18 I could understand not questioning him about this and not asking him to clarify it. As someone else said upthread, adolescents *can* be confused and conflicted about it, but he's an adult and he needs to learn responsibility. Trying to de-out himself and claim "mystery" is avoiding responsibility.

He did say one thing and is now saying another. It requires clarification. And I would expect AE to ask for clarification.

And can I just say that I'm appalled that Wikipedia is once again censoring information related to a gay personality. Such actions simply reinforce the idea that being gay is shameful, nasty, not to be spoken of. It really, really pisses me off.

This need to pile on and attack celebrities like this boggles my mind.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what about that one quote has got everyone's knickers in a twist. Surely that can't be the only thing The Advocate is basing it's accusation on?

It's gone beyond just hoping a celebrity is gay or hoping they will come out or being critical of the closet  to damning them to hell if they not only don't come out but don't come out the way some amorphous panel of gays deems sufficient.

Can someone direct me to the statement where Chris Colver denied being gay or asked for a retraction from The Advocate and Access Hollywood for saying he was gay?  Did he write to AfterElton and ask that the article saying he was gay be removed?

I know he knows about it because folks were tweeting him like crazy on his "coming out" day and he tweeted right back.

There are plenty of actresses who don't deny being pregnant but also say they don't want to discuss it or it's private (despite people asking them about it in every interview).  Some even confirm their pregnancy in one publication then refuse to discuss it in others.

Does that make them a liar or someone who's ashamed of being pregnant simply because they pick and choose which publications to discuss it with?

I would think if Chris Colfer were actually closeted, he would have corrected the media outlets who stated that he's out and gay (including this one).

At the very least he wouldn't have given his ok for The Advocate to say he was gay if he's not or if he's closeted and he certainly wouldn't have talked about it to Access Hollywood.

This feels like The Advocate just threw out a headline to get some press (or try to scoop) and everyone's jumping all over it without any evidence.

That quote is not evidence of Chris Colfer being closeted (despite how it's being spun).  The quote seems more like him drawing a line in the sand and trying to establish some boundaries around his personal life or maybe even just with USA Today.

What's wrong with wanting to have some mystery?  Cheyenne Jackson has an invisible love of 10 plus years who can only be seen during leap year when the 29 falls on a Friday.  Does that mean he's ashamed of his lover?  Is the mystery surrounding his lover some intricate plot to hide a wife?

Chris Colfer is not stupid and he has professional handlers.  If the question asked of him was "Were you out in high school". If he wasn't gay, the natural answer would be "I'm not gay so coming out in high school wasn't an issue for me".  Why would he want to imply that he's gay if he isn't? Seriously.  There is now handler on this planet who would let that get past if he was closeted.

Maybe I'm crazy but this seems like a lot of venom spewing over something that hasn't actually happened.

I haven't seen a statement from Chris Colfer stating that he is not gay and is in fact straight.

When that happens, THEN they'll be a story worth writing about.

If his statement to USA Today was unclear (I don't think it is) why didn't The Advocate simply get some clarification FROM CHRIS COLFER before shoving him back in the closet or accusing him of strolling back in there himself?

The trend of jumping all over gay or possibly gay celebrities like crazed brain eaters is far worse than anything Fox News does because it's coming from gay media outlets that should ALWAYS handle gays with care BECAUSE mainstream media does not.

The Advocate says he's gone back into the closet based upon one quote given to a different publication and all of a sudden it's the sermon on the mount? Really?

The bar for someone being out is so high now it's not just enough to confirm you're gay once, you have to say every time someone sticks a mic in front of your face. 

Yet if he did that, we'd accuse him of being too gay or always throwing his sexuality in people's face or not realizing that being gay is only one facet of his personality or some other such judgmental crap.

Sigh...

I think it's fine if media outlets ask an actor if they are single or dating, if they are a vegetarian and whether or not they like golf.   

Media outlets can ask whatever they won’t but they shouldn’t assume that every celebrity is going to just go all mouth-all-mighty, tongue everlasting just because they are being interviewed. 

I think it's perfectly fine for the actor to say NUNYA to some media outlets and spill their guts to others or say nothing to nobody.

But again, in this case, I fail to see where Chris Colfer is denying that he’s gay.  That to me is the only statement that matters.

Ordinarily, I'd strongly agree with the argument that the coming out process is an individual one, no one's business but the person in question, and particularly off limits when dealing with the young.

But this case has unique circumstances that call for, at the very least, Colfer-- and probably more accurately, his publicists-- to be really, really careful about what they do and say. Like it or not, Colfer isn't playing the vampire's sidekick in a teen horror flick: he's playing a character specifically designed in a way that a lot of gay teens in high school are going to identify with and even need to see, and, obviously, he is being seen this way by the many youing fans of the show. 

If the actor starts sending out all sorts of confusing signals to that young gay audience, he risks making it seem to that also very young audience that there's something wrong about being gay or that there's some need to cover it up. Think, for example, about what we know about the high rate of suicide attemtps by gay teens.  The last thing we need is one of their most identifiable touchstones sending out any signals that suggest secrecy, shame, or being openly gay as dangerous to your future career. 

Colfer may be 19, but he and his publicists can't ethically be playing around about being "out" one minute and "in" the next.   Maybe this is a growing up moment, but he's been put in a very unique and fortunate position, but one that, fortunately or unfortunately for him, is going to require some real responsibility and maturity.  If this is difficult for him, then some of the adults in his life (though at 19, he is becoming an adult), need to step in and give better counsel.

If we're going to talk about protecting the young in this particular case, it can't just be about the young actor.  There are other kids out there, at far greater risk, not of just becoming typecast in a promising acting career, but of terrible things like severe depression and even losing their lives. If they're seeing even those playing proud and out kids sending dangerous mixed messages and acting in their private life like "gay shouldn't be mentioned" and "gay shouldn't be seen," there are going to be real consequences, ones we won't see on t.v.

I thought being in the closet meant that someone widely believed to be gay constantly lies about their sexuality, fakes relationship with a beard, etc? I dont see any of that going on here. If Chris really is gay then it is his business alone and no one elses. If he doesn't want to talk about his sexuality then it's his choice. I dont see why every gay actor has to ''come out'' and make a big deal about being gay by appearing on the cover of People magazine.

The same thing with Matt Bomer. I dont understand how people can consider him ''in the closet'' either. He has never talked about or denied being gay. Some people just dont want to talk about their sexuality. That's all! Doesn't make them closet cases.

Kurt's interaction with his dad seems to echo some of this discussion. It was very well acted and did send some clear messages. Not the least of which is life is complicated and you've got to make the best of ambiguous situations. The one thing that was sad for me was that Defying Gravity had so much more relevance when Kurt sang it. Even Lea's voice couldn't take that away. I was surprised Shu didn't make it a duet. But that wouldn't have furthered the plot. And finally, while I think that Chris's interviews have been unambiguous, I am continuously amazed at the vitriol that flows in these forums if someone seems to make a misstep when coming out. It's truly disheartening for us to eat our own this way. I'm thinking of getting the big red G tattooed on my own forehead, in case someone accuses me of not being out enough.

And speaking of closets, didn't Sue's visit to her sister with Down Syndrome bring a tear...

Nous Sommes Tous Sauvages.

So "Glee" is a show with fake teenagers, fake paraplegics, and, now you tell us, fake gays.  Surprise, surprise--it's television, folks!  It ain't the real thing.  You who are seeking role models would be better off looking elsewhere.  And as for 19-year-old boys and girls who are in the closet one day and out the next, welcome to the world of young adults and welcome to the world of celebrity!  I remember looking for role models when I was a young man, and I thought I'd found them in celebrities like David Bowie and Maria Schneider and others who sorta kinda maybe came out and then, like Blake's Thel, hightailed it back to the shelter of the closet.  I found much more reliable role models in writers and other artists like William Burroughs and Gore Vidal who, for all their faults, at least had the courage of their convictions.  Most of them flaunted their credentials as sexual outlaws and are still condesended to by mainstream critics as a result, but at least they stuck to their guns.  Yes, I know how hard it is for a young performer to come out today; the problem is they don't always know themselves.  So when they stick a tentative foot in the water, and the water turns out to be bitterly cold, I can't blame them for pulling back.  As a result, I am slow to judge Chris and others.  The media spotlight is merciless.  I can only imagine what it must be like to lead a normal life--dating and "hanging out" at the clubs--in Hollywood, when, quite literally, the whole world is watching. 

Oddly, attention in the mainstream press is focused today, not on Chris, but on Kevin McHale, who, it turns out, isn't really wheelchair-bound.  Cheat?  Do advocates for the handicapped have a right to be up in arms?  I guess they do.  Just as gays have a right to be impatient with Chris Colfer.  But we don't have anything to complain about in his character, Kurt Hummel, who is indeed a doll (joke!) and an out gay teen.  We just need to learn to separate the real from the fake.  It's too early to judge Chris, who may yet offer a clarification of his recent remarks in the press, but it's all right to celebrate Kurt.  You go, girl! Or words to that effect.

"The mountain has wings."

Yes, sexual orientation is ingrained. But it can take people time to get to know themselves.

I describe myself as straight, which is like telling people that I live in the northwest part of my city. A more precise description would be to say I am "straight-ish" with bi tendancies. (Yes, it's kind of a cliche for women, I know.) This took me some time to figure out, and I went through a period of not knowing how to define myself. Now, I am able to tell those people whose business it is, the more detailed explanation, which is the equivalent of telling them that I live on 37 Main St. 

Young people need time to figure themselves out, and figure out their specific adress... which street, which avenue, what suite #, before they can even tell other people the general area they live in.

I dont know that he really retreated back intot he closet, and we dont know what his agents and handlers are telling him to say either. I think there are layers of people telling him what to do, and what to say. I agree that there is no mystery to being gay, and that are probably gay teens out there watching Glee and hearing about Chris Colfer and thinking "someone like me" and 'Im not the only one!" who isnt just a character on the show, but also like them in "real life".  I think we need to give him some space and perhaps he will clarify what he meant.  I still LOVE Glee, and thought last nights episode was GREAT! Who knew that Sue had a softer side, that was such a touching moment with her sister... Loved it!

"LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!  Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" Mame Dennis Burnside - Auntie Mame 1958 

In my opinion I think he just changed his mind about how "out" he wanted to be.  It's his right to do so but he should have been more careful about how he was answering the questions in hs Advocate article.  I don't quite understand why a straight actor, when asked if he was out in high school, would reply with "oh no".  As far as I know straight kids have no closet to come out of.  So I can understand why The Advocate took that response as an indication that he was declaring himself gay.

I also don't believe that because he's only 19 that it automatically means he's confused about who or what he is.  I've known men in their 30s and 40s who were more unsure about their sexuality than some 19 year olds. 

He had to realize that taking on this role as a gay teenager meant his own sexuality would be questioned.  So he should have been ready to answer the questions in a way he would be comfortable with.

Do we accept our gayness or do we feel shame for it?