Outfest Panel: Coming Out in Hollywood with Jonathan Slavin, Doug Spearman and Meredith Baxter

Howard Bragman, Meredith Baxter, Jonathan Slavin, Ari Karpel

Out publicist Howard Bragman and newly out actress Meredith Baxter headlined Coming Out in Hollywood, a panel discussion with fellow out entertainers at Los Angeles’ Outfest on Saturday.

“She’s an iconic American actor and Meredith coming out is a really big deal,” Bragman said. “She’s somebody we’ve grown up with, seen on TV and who we all know. Research says if you know someone who’s coming out, it’s going to have a big impact on you, which is why coming out is the single, most political act any of us can do.”

Bragman’s comments were echoed — and debated — by fellow panelists Jonathan Slavin (Better Off Ted), writer-director Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex), Doug Spearman (Noah’s Arc) and moderator Ari Karpel of the Advocate.

Bragman, who has worked with such clients as Baxter and more recently Chely Wright, said he’s faced waves of criticism for helping entertainers come out. “In this world where Brad and Angelina sell these pictures for billions of dollars to People magazine of their kids and their family, I think we have an equal right to show off our lives and our honesty and our family. People said to Chely Wright during her coming out that it was just a publicity stunt — ‘That being a lesbian thing, you just did it for press’ — well, it’s a little counter-intuitive in country music, and Chely answered — ‘The publicity stunt was pretending I was straight for 15 years.’ It wasn’t a publicity stunt; it was her, living her life honestly. It did come out with a book and an album, and I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of. Other people I’ve worked with have come out for commercial reasons. The important thing is that you do come out.”

Addressing whether or not being out hinders their careers, Slavin noted he’s lost out on parts because he’s gay.

People do say, ‘You were great but we didn’t see casting a gay guy for this role.’ It’s just thrown around; it’s sort of the last thing that people can throw at you. Sitting here at a gay film festival, I do find it interesting that in other communities, when black people write a black film about a black experience, they automatically create jobs for black actors.

But the same is not true in our community; we write gay films and cast straight people to portray us. I think that our own internalized homophobia, this cult of masculinity that many people in our community worship, we want to see ourselves portrayed by dreamy, hot straight people and that’s not always the most accurate representation. I do think politically that it’s an odd issue.

However, when it comes to those working behind the scenes in Hollywood, being out has no bearing when it comes to having a successful career, Roos said. “I’ve been out since childhood to people who were gifted with sight and hearing — they knew I was gay before I did. But it never occurred to me at all to be closeted, it never crossed my mind. But there was no risk to be out, none at all. Maybe in your writing career, when I was writing for TV I never wrote an episode of The A Team; I never could convincingly pitch a story to them. Aaron Spelling in the ’80s, everybody was a woman or gay who worked for him. He was straight, but he was very gay friendly. It absolutely helped me to be honest about who I was. I don’t think I’ve ever been hurt financially or career-wise by being gay; just the opposite, I’d say.”