To Out or Not To Out?
Seems like the next logical post...Firstly: Yes, I do believe everybody has an expectation of and right to privacy.
But can we keep Anthony Callea in perspective here, please?
This is what the guy said in 2004 - verbatim - when asked directly whether or not he was gay:
I’m not gay. I don’t know why people say I am. A lot of people just make up rubbish.
You can understand why some of us grumpy old poofs might not care for one's homosexuality being dismissed as 'rubbish' - especially when, in Callea's case, he was most likely lying (according to the growing evidence - and I'm not just talking about Popbitch's Gaydar link).
Even Darren Hayes and Toby Allen have had the decency over the years to be coy, or offer the 'it's no-one's business' defence. That's fair enough. Again, I don't think it does queers any favours but if it's something you don't want to talk about, you shouldn't have to.
Bald-faced lying is something quite different all together.
Maybe he was younger and stupider then, and went along with whatever the Oz Idol producers told him what and what not to say. But he has no excuse now.
Secondly: I'd understand the need to stay in the closet when the industry is, for example, professional football. Your physical health might literally be at stake. But we're talking about the music industry here. I don't see Elton John, Rufus Wainwright or Jake Shears struggling to make a living as musicians since telling the world of their love for cock. And as all the little tykes in the pro-Callea army are squeaking, 'we love Anthony because he's, like, such a good singer and, like, songwriter, and like, we don't care about, like, his personal life, like (like)'. So if they allegedly don't care about it, why should he?
If his primary market is 13yo girls, and the Callea album-producing Powers That Be fear his coming out will jeopardise his appeal with said girls, maybe it should be pointed that most girls that age are fantasising about preppy little crooners, not actually having sex with them?
As for the rest of the potential fan base who are actually adults, they should have the capacity to distinguish whether or not they like a singer or band based on the music, not whether or not they have a fighting chance of getting down the artist's pants. This is why we listen to CDs/MP3s and watch DVD/film clips. The guy has enough vocal talent that his appeal should be broader than how he looks in film clips and the disappointment thousands of high school girls might feel because he's "inaccessible" (by the way, no more or less inaccessible than any straight equivalent who has a partner).
Finally, I say again I'm not actually outing him here - that was done by Vic Larusso and Popbitch. I'm relaying. There is a big difference.
posted by Sam @ Monday, March 12, 2007
12 Comments:
I was neither shocked nor much interested to know Callea was gay. It was obvious to everyone anyway, but I do resent the little pissant actually lying about it when asked point-blank. What did he have to lose by just declining to answer the question or being playfully coy? He used very forceful language in denying the rumors, and that, I think is more damaging than being outed.
I can understand why a certain sportsman continues to deny his homosexuality: he's got a lot of family-friendly sponsors who just might pull their millions out from under him, but Callea? Worst it could do for the 'mo is he gets a slot performing at Mardi Gras. I completely agree with you on this, Sam.
Sam, thanks for the post about Callea. I agree with all you said.
On the topic of 'outing' and 'bald faced lying', how is the diet going Sam? It is your business of course but some of us like to gloat over failure.
I don't get it. If your not interested then why blog about him? But just to put some things in perspective. The TRAFFIC REPORTER in question was gossiping on radio, what for I ask?? and why do people just quickly believe that just because the Traffic reporter says its so then it is? He sounds like the friend in question may have given Vic Lorusso a knockback.
Anthony did make one statement on the same question back in 2004' when he was just 20yrs old, who knows whether he was or wasn't way back then he was still very young.
Since then when the subject came up (like people have a right to know? NOT!!!)He has kept his private life just that Private,and said he wouldn't talk about his private life (good on you Anthony). Whether he is or isn't is really neither here nor there, and has nothing to do with his Music which is wonderful.
No-one has the right to publicly take someones own rights away from them.
Dig up Sam...
The further you try and pin all the blame on a weatherman and a blogger, the worse it looks.
You jumped a bit far in this issue without thinking it completely through.
It's actually no longer about Callea at all, but rather the insecurities that every gay man has gone through at one point or another in their life. Fortunately for the majority of us, we don't have to do go through this in the public eye.
(Nor do most of us have to fight against a self appointed advocate with a raging sense of entitlement…)
If you are a 'grumpy old poof' in your twenties then what will you be like in your thirties - even 'older' but bitter.
Have you ever heard Anthony put pooftas down? I haven't. He is not Alan Jones. He is young man that may one day regret his choice of words. I've certainly made mistakes in my life and plenty of them. Have you Sam?
Unless you or I have walked in his shoes then neither of us can understand the pressure (subtle or not) that he would receive from the record company to maintain an image they have created.
I'm not defending Anthony because I think "he's hot or a great singer" but I unlike you can see that his 'bald face lie' to the media is his stuff. Remember Ellen DeGeneres, KD Lang etc. They were all asked over a period of time about there sexuality and denied it. You would need to build a bigger soapbox.
It sounds to me that you have a problem with 'bald face liars'. That to me Sam is your stuff.
I know you haven't outed him but you seem defensive about this subject. Unless, I started reading this later on, I thought it was originally about a profile he allegedly has on gaydar. My question is, how do you know it is his profile and why do you care. The second part I'll take liberty to answer. You feel he has 'bald face lied' to you. Stop for a moment and feel how he might feel now or even in years to come.
I used to work for a cummunity radio station and during the course of one of our show's "investigations" we got a copy of an Idol finalist's contract. This thing was SCARY, it said that the signee's "image" was property of the 19 Group (company that owns IDOL) along with the signee's "history" and "personal story" as presented by the show. Anyone who goes against their "image" voids the contract and doesn't get paid - even if the company continues to use them! I would NOT say channel 10 would have been OK with him coming out during the contract. But then again, they take risks like putting Gretel Killeen's head on televisions, so who knows?
Anon: No digging involved - I was explaining my position for what I did, not changing it.
'It's actually no longer about Callea at all, but rather the insecurities that every gay man has gone through at one point or another in their life.'
I disagree. Everytime an Anthony Callea lies about being gay it sends the message to oher young men trying to come to terms with their own homosexuality that it's something they still must conceal or lie about if they wish to fulfil their dreams and ambitions in life. This issue is much bigger than just Callea.
'Nor do most of us have to fight against a self appointed advocate with a raging sense of entitlement…'
The hyperbole is flattering but I don't have a raging sense of anything. I write a blog and magazine column that people may either choose to read or not.
And for the record, off the top of my head I can think of four other bloggers with bigger readerships than mine who've 'outed' Callea. So I'm hardly a lone 'self-appointed advocate' here.
All of us, by the way, have had the guts to put our names to what we write, too.
Denys: You shouldn't take me so literally. I'm not really a bitter person per se, but I do feel strongly about this particular issue.
And yes I've made mistakes - but since coming out I have always tried to be honest and upfront about who I am. You only ever fuck yourself around in the long run if you're not - not to mention the many young gay men who may look up to you and follow your example if you're a public figure, as Callea is.
I don't know if it's his Gaydar profile - hence my re-writing of the original post as 'alleged' profile.
But I'm not afraid to 'accuse' someone publicly of being gay because I don't think being gay is a bad thing. It's certainly not considered slander or libelous these days, as Jonestown has proven.
I guess that's the point I'm making - if everyone's serious about claiming Callea's sexuality isn't a big deal, no-one cares, etc - then why are people getting so upset for me calling it?
Sam, I don't know you to not take you literally. It was you that said "some of us grumpy old poofs". I was merely suggesting that if someone of your youth was making comments like this then one could only imagine what you would be like in your thirties. Again your words, "I'm not really a bitter person per se." I'd like to believe your not bitter or grumpy at all. Having read your columns you appear intelligent, articulate and funny.
I just happen to disagree with you on this issue.
"..since coming out I have always tried to be honest and upfront about who I am." Only tried. Not good enough Sam. LOL
So maybe Anthony did not try to be honest in this case but I still don't understand your reaction to his 'bald face lie'. He is the one that will have to live with his actions not you or I. I still believe that neither of us could understand the pressure or contractual obligations he could be under.
All the best mate.
Everybody has the right to privacy, even if the methods of some people to obtain a portion of it might annoy or anger or disgust some of you.
Is he gay? Who knows, other than himself. And really it isn't any of our business. But one can imagine the circumstances that might result in him needing to lie, including possibly his own self-disgust or at least uncertainty. Maybe he was unsure, maybe he really doesn't think it's anybody's business, and maybe it was all a part of his contract with Channel 10 and BMG.
It's hardly our place to judge, especialy considering some of us didn't come out until we were older than Callea was when he was first asked the question.
Anthony didn't call "homosexuality" rubbish. He called the *claim* that he was gay rubbish.
I think his "message to his fans" (see anthonycallea.com) was very human, and I can entirely understand why he didn't come out in 2004.
In a homophobic environment (such as Howard's Australia), anyone who comes out is brave.
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