Family Ties' Meredith Baxter comes out
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Meredith Baxter of Family Ties fame has come out in an interview with The Advocate.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Family Ties' Meredith Baxter comes out .
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/17400
Wow. Well, good for her for coming out!!! I always liked her character on FAMILY TIES, along with Judith Light on WHO'S THE BOSS.
I hate that this is news. It shouldn't HAVE to be news. Certainly, had she not come out on national television, being a celebrity, there would have been gossip and speculaion until she would have been forced to come out with a public statement about her sexual orientation.
But why the fuck is one's sexual orientation treated as a matter of public knowledge???
maybe because for many closeted teenagers and adults who live in conservative Bible Belt towns across in the States, this news will encourage and inspire them?
Obviously, there is good that comes from this: inspiration, encouragement, breaking down walls of discrimination. However, I am sad that staying closeted and/or coming out are things people feel they have to do. Someday in the future, I hope that a person's sexual orientation won't be treated as a matter of public knowledge. Today is clearly not that day.
Because of heteronormativity? Because, generally speaking, everyone is assumed to be straight until they prove otherwise?
I know what you are saying - it shouldn't be news because it shouldn't be viewed as abnormal, weird, whatever. But the reality is that it is still viewed this way, and the more people come out, the better. People do become more tolerant/accepting when they know someone who is LGBTTIQ, even when it's a celebrity.
For example, my mom LOVES Ellen, and her show, and I think it truly has helped her accept me as a queer woman. Seeing that someone can be a lesbian and be happy and 'successful' (I recognize that's a problematic, loaded term) has been positive for her. Too often the only stories in the news are of LGBTTIQ folks who've been killed/etc, which is what I think fueled my mom's original reaction when I first came out (that she was scared of what would happen to me, and therefore I should NOT come out, to anyone, ever).
This is awesome. She's completely right. Every time people come out, even just your average Joe or Jane down the street, it changes minds. Plus, I'm just plain happy that she's happy. What a good way to start the day!