Richard Chamberlain: Gay Leading Men Need to Stay Closeted

In a sad commentary of how far the battle for LGBT acceptance still needs to go, Richard Chamberlain, who officially came out in 2003 with the release of his memoir, Shattered Love, recommends that gay A-list actors remain in the closet. It is a clear indicator that anti-gay bigotry remains alive and well in Hollywood - and throughout much of middle America. The truth is that anti-gay religious based bigotry is an evil that will likely not die out until several more generations of older Americans die and take their religious brainwashing to the grave with them. Meanwhile, people will continue to feel compelled to lead closeted - and often tormented and in some cases miserable - lives out of fear that their careers might be ruined or still born due to the adherents of writings/myths derived from ignorant, uneducated nomads of 2000+ years ago. As I see it, religion continues to be a force for much evil in the world. Here are highlight from Chamberlain's comments to The Advocate:
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You were a wildly successful closeted actor during a period of time when coming out was unheard of, but the climate of acceptance has significantly changed in recent years. How do you feel about gay actors who still remain closeted as we near 2011?It’s complicated. There’s still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture. It’s regrettable, it’s stupid, it’s heartless, and it’s immoral, but there it is. For an actor to be working is a kind of miracle, because most actors aren’t, so it’s just silly for a working actor to say, “Oh, I don’t care if anybody knows I’m gay” — especially if you’re a leading man. Personally, I wouldn’t advise a gay leading man–type actor to come out.

When can a leading man come out — when he’s 69 and promoting a memoir?I have no idea. Despite all the wonderful advances that have been made, it’s still dangerous for an actor to talk about that in our extremely misguided culture. Look at what happened in California with Proposition 8. Please, don’t pretend that we’re suddenly all wonderfully, blissfully accepted.
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Chamberlain's assessment of our society is accurate - not that it makes it right or something we should settle for.