The Ins & Outs Of Public Life

Homosexualiity is like math—even if you personally don't wind up using it in your daily life, learning about it does have useful applications.

For example, I was thinking the other day how one reason homosexuality is such a hot-button issue politically and so vexes politicians is that it's a metaphor for politics. Being gay is parallel to whatever true beliefs a candidate has. Being gay but closeted parallels the candidate who believes something but either hides that belief ("no comment") or denies it ("I'm not gay"), while being openly gay parallels the candidate who is considered plain-spoken and real.

I was testing myself because I considered the fact that I am extremely unyielding toward gay celebrities and other persons of influence who are closeted in order to get by (or in order to more than get by), while I am far more pragmatic and accepting of politicians who say one thing even when I think they mean another in order to gain enough of a plurality of support to attain and maintain public office. If I'm willing to accept Hillary lying that she does not personally support gay marriage just because I know she really does but would lose too many votes by 'fessing up to it, why am I not more willing to accept the John Travoltas of the world? In Hillary's case, I know that once she is in office, she is very likely to work toward a range of positive (for me) goals. In Travolta's case, it's not as if he's exactly worked against gay issues—most recently, he took on the drag role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, a fiilm I didn't looove but which I could not deny was progressive and positive and even pro-gay (despite Travolta's protestations that there was nothing gay about it).

Disgraced Bob Allen, principled Barney Frank, open John Barrowman, closed Jodie Foster.

Maybe it has to do with intentions—I believe all actors who are unwilling to admit to being gay do so in order to protect potentially lucrative, and not just earning-a-living-type, careers, whereas politicians (who are also prone to being career-driven and ego-influenced) are not simply getting to the top in order to make more money and bask in more of the spotlight, but also to govern, to affect the laws of the land.

So I think while homosexuality has a useful parallel to political honesty, it also teaches me that when we are discussing people with secrets, selfish goals have to be balanced with selfless ones or there is no reason not to criticize. Even with a balance, there's room for criticism, but to push it too hard is to push yourself backward at the same time.

This is not meant to be a deep thought, but it did cross my mind, and you can't blame me for trying to make sense of where "gay" intersects with "political," especially lately.