Comments on: The dangerous closet of ‘The Mogul’ http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/ Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:10:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: Rita Lee http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-444858 Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:12:04 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-444858 I first heard Merv Griffin was gay when I was 16, and a friend whose dad worked with him in TV told me. Then again, when I was 23, a former boss told me he saw Merv at an underground party for gays only and Merv was there, and signed a few autographs. So I have known for many years and I just wonder what his son, who seems to be straight thinks. His son went to the same private school I attended and he was quite the ladies man. I first heard Merv Griffin was gay when I was 16, and a friend whose dad worked with him in TV told me. Then again, when I was 23, a former boss told me he saw Merv at an underground party for gays only and Merv was there, and signed a few autographs. So I have known for many years and I just wonder what his son, who seems to be straight thinks. His son went to the same private school I attended and he was quite the ladies man.

]]> by: Your Uncle Bastard http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-444390 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:03:45 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-444390 Sorry, but I just can't muster up a lot of sympathy for someone who was too concerned with his own dinner-party status to advocate on behalf of his community. And I say the same to every self-serving prick in the public eye: your silence is tantamount to aiding and abetting a demonic frame to be applied to the lives of ordinary, out queer Americans by those who are terrified of difference. Fuck you and your thrones of privilege - y'all <b>deserve</b> to be outed! It's not like this bastard had to really fear for his job in later years - certainly not in the way that the Joe Schmoe "little guy" can be fired in 31 states <b>just for being gay</b>. Hope you learned something on your way to small-h hell, Merv - and it's something Audre Lord could have told you: <b>your silence will not protect you.</b> Sorry, but I just can’t muster up a lot of sympathy for someone who was too concerned with his own dinner-party status to advocate on behalf of his community.

And I say the same to every self-serving prick in the public eye: your silence is tantamount to aiding and abetting a demonic frame to be applied to the lives of ordinary, out queer Americans by those who are terrified of difference. Fuck you and your thrones of privilege - y’all deserve to be outed!

It’s not like this bastard had to really fear for his job in later years - certainly not in the way that the Joe Schmoe “little guy” can be fired in 31 states just for being gay.

Hope you learned something on your way to small-h hell, Merv - and it’s something Audre Lord could have told you: your silence will not protect you.

]]> by: Dusty http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-443044 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 01:54:15 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-443044 Its sadly pathetic that Merv Griffin could rationalize his openly closeted status. It reminds of Michelle Malkin's stance which all progressives find disgusting regarding immigration and even her pov on concentration camps for the Japanese. What of the African-Americans that justify their status and belief in the neo-con movement and agenda? Its impossible for me to find any hint of logical reasoning for why any of the aforementioned groups or individuals find it easy to turn their backs 'on their own people'. But there it is..and it happens all the time. I think it comes down to their ego and their own self value..in their eyes and minds their personal agenda is more important than the wellbeing of the group as a whole. Its sadly pathetic that Merv Griffin could rationalize his openly closeted status. It reminds of Michelle Malkin’s stance which all progressives find disgusting regarding immigration and even her pov on concentration camps for the Japanese. What of the African-Americans that justify their status and belief in the neo-con movement and agenda?

Its impossible for me to find any hint of logical reasoning for why any of the aforementioned groups or individuals find it easy to turn their backs ‘on their own people’. But there it is..and it happens all the time.

I think it comes down to their ego and their own self value..in their eyes and minds their personal agenda is more important than the wellbeing of the group as a whole.

]]> by: emily http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442810 Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:39:07 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442810 I met Merv Griffin in the mid-seventies. Actually, I had dinner with him along with some other well known people. I was very surprised when he arrived at dinner wearing a purple jumpsuit, quite different from what he wore during the day. I was in my early twenties then and really didn't understand what was going on with him. My initial reaction was that he was wearing one of the weirdest outfits I had ever seen and had very bad taste in clothes. He was a totally different person than what I saw on his TV show. By the end of the dinner, I had no doubt that he was gay. It's hard to believe that this was not widely known in Hollywood for a very long time. He didn't seem to be interested in hiding it at all. I remember reading the Gabor stuff and laughing. It is so sad that someone who accomplished so much could not accept who he was and be at peace with himself. Let's hope he is now. I met Merv Griffin in the mid-seventies. Actually, I had dinner with him along with some other well known people. I was very surprised when he arrived at dinner wearing a purple jumpsuit, quite different from what he wore during the day. I was in my early twenties then and really didn’t understand what was going on with him. My initial reaction was that he was wearing one of the weirdest outfits I had ever seen and had very bad taste in clothes. He was a totally different person than what I saw on his TV show. By the end of the dinner, I had no doubt that he was gay. It’s hard to believe that this was not widely known in Hollywood for a very long time. He didn’t seem to be interested in hiding it at all. I remember reading the Gabor stuff and laughing. It is so sad that someone who accomplished so much could not accept who he was and be at peace with himself. Let’s hope he is now.

]]> by: cerebrocrat http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442736 Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:31:05 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442736 dammit, y'alls comments are really hard to work dammit, y’alls comments are really hard to work

]]> by: cerebrocrat http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442735 Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:30:12 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442735 Okay, I'll bite on the outing question. I'm very pro-outing of powerful hypocrites, perfectly happy with outing of non-hypocitical closeted celebrities, and not really anti-outing of anybody except for dependent teens whose wellbeing would be threatened as a result. Being culturally American, I do have a mind-your-own-business ethic that would prevent me from casually outing people for sport. But I think the harm that closeted adults face (in this society, I mean) by being outed is exaggerated, and the harm remaining closeted does to others is underappreciated. Every gain in legal equality and social acceptance that gay people have made in the last 50 years is the indirect result of gay people willing to make themselves known; every gay person who doesn't has a small part in undermining the freedom of those who do. And even those people who would lose status, income, or the approval of peers as a result of being outed are likely to be better for it in the long run. "Passing" constantly as someone you're not carries a great psychological burden, all the more so when it constrains something as fundamental to our happiness as affiliation and sexual behavior. Okay, I’ll bite on the outing question. I’m very pro-outing of powerful hypocrites, perfectly happy with outing of non-hypocitical closeted celebrities, and not really anti-outing of anybody except for dependent teens whose wellbeing would be threatened as a result.

Being culturally American, I do have a mind-your-own-business ethic that would prevent me from casually outing people for sport. But I think the harm that closeted adults face (in this society, I mean) by being outed is exaggerated, and the harm remaining closeted does to others is underappreciated.

Every gain in legal equality and social acceptance that gay people have made in the last 50 years is the indirect result of gay people willing to make themselves known; every gay person who doesn’t has a small part in undermining the freedom of those who do.

And even those people who would lose status, income, or the approval of peers as a result of being outed are likely to be better for it in the long run. “Passing” constantly as someone you’re not carries a great psychological burden, all the more so when it constrains something as fundamental to our happiness as affiliation and sexual behavior.

]]> by: cerebrocrat http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442732 Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:25:17 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442732 Okay, I'll bite on the outing question. I'm very pro-outing of powerful hypocrites, perfectly happy with outing of non-hypocitical closeted celebrities, and not really anti-outing of anybody except for dependent teens whose wellbeing would be threatened as a result. Being culturally American, I do have a mind-your-own-business ethic that would prevent me from casually outing people for sport. But I think the harm that closeted adults face (in this society, I mean) by being outed is exaggerated, and the harm remaining closeted does to others is underappreciated. Every gain in legal equality and social acceptance that gay people have made in the last 50 years is the indirect result of gay people willing to make themselves known; every gay person who doesn't has a small part in undermining the freedom of those who do. And even those people who would lose status, income, or the approval of peers as a result of being outed are likely to be better for it in the long run. "Passing" constantly as someone you're not carries a great psychological burden, all the more so when it constrains something as fundamental to our happiness as affiliation and sexual behavior. Okay, I’ll bite on the outing question. I’m very pro-outing of powerful hypocrites, perfectly happy with outing of non-hypocitical closeted celebrities, and not really anti-outing of anybody except for dependent teens whose wellbeing would be threatened as a result.

Being culturally American, I do have a mind-your-own-business ethic that would prevent me from casually outing people for sport. But I think the harm that closeted adults face (in this society, I mean) by being outed is exaggerated, and the harm remaining closeted does to others is underappreciated.

Every gain in legal equality and social acceptance that gay people have made in the last 50 years is the indirect result of gay people willing to make themselves known; every gay person who doesn’t has a small part in undermining the freedom of those who do.

And even those people who would lose status, income, or the approval of peers as a result of being outed are likely to be better for it in the long run. “Passing” constantly as someone you’re not carries a great psychological burden, all the more so when it constrains something as fundamental to our happiness as affiliation and sexual behavior.

]]> by: Steph Mineart http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442720 Sat, 18 Aug 2007 12:47:42 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442720 In general, the people who are in favor of "outing" people are really only talking about hypocrites who profit from the generosity of the gay community while doing them harm either politically or socially. Griffin was doing both - taking advantage of openly gay people to troll for boyfriends and hook-ups (notoriously, from what's be said) while firing openly gay employees and threatening through publicists people who might out him or discuss his romantic life. I've never heard a single person suggest that your frat brother or fellow employee or neighbor down the street should be outed, so all those arguments are really non-starters. In general, the people who are in favor of “outing” people are really only talking about hypocrites who profit from the generosity of the gay community while doing them harm either politically or socially. Griffin was doing both - taking advantage of openly gay people to troll for boyfriends and hook-ups (notoriously, from what’s be said) while firing openly gay employees and threatening through publicists people who might out him or discuss his romantic life.

I’ve never heard a single person suggest that your frat brother or fellow employee or neighbor down the street should be outed, so all those arguments are really non-starters.

]]> by: Tim in SF http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442047 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:30:54 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-442047 Don't say MSM, say Traditional Media. First of all, it's a right-wing pejorative, second, by calling them "mainstream media", you are saying that blogs like yours are not mainstream. "Mainstream" is whatever is read by the most people, and the blogs have a bigger readership than most big-name "main-stream-media" publications. "Traditional Media" relegates those old dinosaurs to the dustbin of history, where they belong. Don’t say MSM, say Traditional Media. First of all, it’s a right-wing pejorative, second, by calling them “mainstream media”, you are saying that blogs like yours are not mainstream. “Mainstream” is whatever is read by the most people, and the blogs have a bigger readership than most big-name “main-stream-media” publications. “Traditional Media” relegates those old dinosaurs to the dustbin of history, where they belong.

]]> by: moss.gatlin http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-441691 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:49:49 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/the-dangerous-closet-of-the-mogul/#comment-441691 Here's another view on outing: http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/tyler_whitney_just_18_and_already_outed Here’s another view on outing:
http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/06/tyler_whitney_just_18_and_already_outed

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