Kate wants to hear from you! K8T Asks: What do you think of “outing”? Do you think it’s different from “reporting”?
To get your voice heard, simply hit the Comment link below and tell Kate what you think. No registration is necessary, and you can post anonymously if you want.
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K8 Asks
October 8, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
Given what passes for reporting, outing IS news!
Outing is a good thing. It forces the outed to deal with it. It helps clueless het wives begin to understand why they are not “enough.”
Who is hurt? Ambitious, duplicitous, self-centered people.
October 8, 2007 @ 11:28 pm
If someone is in a position to do harm/is a hypocrite, then outting is a necessity.
While who you love should only matter to that person, as long as who I love gets others’ shorts in a knot, and who I love means that I have less rights than others, I will out those who are harmful hypocrites.
ciao
October 9, 2007 @ 1:44 am
For ‘gutter’ press let’s face it – anything is reporting! If at age 3, a celeb put nail varnish on their pet budgie, it would hit the headlines as insight into their intimate life.
Is it a good thing? I don’t think it really is. I want there to be strong, clever role models out there for young lesbians – and heaps of them:) So, I really look forward to more and more women voluntarily IDing as lesbian in the public eye. However, I don’t see making people admit to something they obviously haven’t got a comfort level with as a positive thing – I think it’s negative, almost cruel. If they’re in the closet publicly, I firmly believe women are paying an emotional price whether they realise it or not at the time. They live with fear instead of pride.
I don’t have much respect for closeted celebs. They frustrate the hell out of me. However, I do believe people should be given a soft place to land and some space to grow in. ‘Outing’ people doesn’t allow for this.
October 9, 2007 @ 2:58 pm
As a journalist, I find outing someone to be a questionable practice except in the most exigent circumstances. If a closeted gay person is harming the community by voting and/or campaigning against gay rights, I’m absolutely in favor of them being outed – assuming there’s clear and valid evidence that they’re gay.
But to out someone just because it’s interesting, to sell newspapers (or website hits), or to fulfill one’s own misplaced sense of how other people should be living their lives is cruel and unnecessary. It’s exactly the kind of intruding into other people’s private adult relationships that gay rights activists currently – and correctly – campaign against.
October 9, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
Do what makes you happy and no one else. You have to wake you with you. I don’t think its ok to OUT anyone. What you are comfortable is your business and for someone else to invade your space and privacy is wrong. What gives anyone the right to judge someone for not wanting to come out? Isn’t that what we have fought so hard for? not to be judged but yet there are still those of people who want to judge others for not being like them.
October 10, 2007 @ 2:40 am
Ethically, I would maintain that visiibility only affects the societal evolution towards equality if it’s done respectfully. Outing someone under the guise that it’s neccesary for the larger movement seems both desparate and tacky. We should be working on the integration of unbiased school curriculms that would fairly highlight the GLBT folks that have come before us in reference to their brilliant contributions to all of society. Articles on Barbara Jordon rarely mention her partner. Audre Lorde seems to only belong to “us” rather than be alongside all brilliant writers and artivists.
I want someone to use their voice to be a source of strength for their craft and individuality and not solely to win social points for their “group”. It’s too much like being a “credit to their race” when speaking primarily about African Americans.
Besides, forthcoming confidence and honesty is way hotter than sneakin’ across the tabloid pages.
October 13, 2007 @ 11:24 am
Check out the new senate ethics probe led by the gorgeous and so delectible Barbara Boxer investigating Larry Craig who recently outed himself as a straight man, could have fooled me, I always thought it was gay men who cruised each other. Anyway, Ms. Boxer is going to go slow and maybe close the hearings out of fear of offending gay men and lesbians because they may out Larry Craig and as a lesbian, who so wishes I was her constituent, I may be offended!The Repukicons are crying because the hearings which they called for will take months in the ethics committee and so keep it all in the public eye for a long time when now they only want it all to go away. I say lets all contact Barbara Boxer and tell her gay people will not be offended by their outing Larry Craig so the hearings can stay public and really put so much more pressure on the GOP aka Greedy Oil People. Whatever happended to David Vitter? Is he still into diapers? I wish someone would “out” that.
October 16, 2007 @ 2:54 am
Out the politically powerful hypocrites! Leave everyone else be.
October 17, 2007 @ 6:04 am
Discretionary; but perfectly acceptable in the case of hypocritical politicians who vote against our rights!
October 19, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
Out yourself. No one else. Not your business whether someone is in the closet.
October 22, 2007 @ 12:33 am
I just emailed Senator Boxer and encouraged her to investigate Larry Craig and to keep it all public and that as a lesbian I was totally fine with that, I almost added that I believed I was speaking for all lesbians everywhere but decided not to as that would be too grandiose. So you too please contact Senator Boxer and encourage her to keep the hearings public, I did add in impeach Bush too, all for good measure and all in a days work for a senator. Watching Bu$h laugh about WW 3 and Iran just freaked me out so I also emailed Nancy Pelosi and told her to impeach him and not very nicely added that if she cant do it turn the Speakers job over to Congressman Stark who was so right on with his outrage about Bush vetoing SCHIP. Thank you so much Ms. Clinton for your forum and all that you do. Peace, which we will have once Bush is impeached!!