I guess you can fault the guy for not tempering his observations – maybe going with something more like “gay actors should be aware…” instead of “gay actors must…” Then again you can also cut the guy some slack for speaking off the cuff while giving up his Saturday to help aspiring filmmakers and Outfest.

Past that, though, he’s a Hollywood insider with no obvious axe to grind, so if he says that in his experience gay actors are harmed by coming out, then gay actors should probably take that into account.

No, things shouldn’t be that way. Maybe they even aren’t – he is just one guy, his perceptions could be skewed. But people in the audience, if apparently not the blogosphere, should be smart enough to take that into account. And to the extent that maybe he is speaking from a place of knowledge, if we don’t like what he’s saying our problem shouldn’t be with the messenger.

Honestly I don’t know what the people wanting the poor guy’s head are arguing for here. He should have lied? Carefully considered what sort of sentiments would go over best in a hostile blogosphere and spouted only those? How would that help anyone?

Matt, what a thoughtful, reasonable post. Between the Sotomayor hearings and this virtual lynching of Holland, your words are a deeply needed breath of fresh air today.

As a personal friend of Todd’s, I can say with certainty that Todd in no way wishes the reality that necessitates his advice were true. Todd lives openly, donates generously to gay and other progressive causes, and lives his life with and encourages honesty, authenticity and compassion.

When asked specifically on this subject, Todd answered honestly, indicating that he has been in the network casting sessions and studio exec rooms and has seen first hand the reality of how easy it is for a promising young actor to be unfairly disqualified. It is a frustrating reality for leading men, but not necessarily actresses or character actors, which Todd also mentioned at the Outfest panel (though was never reported) and even mentioned that this advice didn't apply to them.

Determining the best ways to move the gay movement forward is a complex discussion. Until some A-list leading-men stars come out and start to create an air of acceptance, becoming an A list leading-man as an out actor sadly doesn’t seem, as yet, to be the reality. Todd was simply stating that, in my opinion.

His advice is not based on reality, Bub!

Nice to see him kicked to curb.

We CANNOT allow these creeps -- and their GLAAD enablers -- to push this line of bullshit anymore.

Ehrenstein, your histrionics grow more tiresome by the decade. Ironically, you've become to rational discourse what Don't Ask, Don't Tell is to military service, and Hollywood's anti-gay bias is to the actors in question. Should anyone ask for a truthful response, your advice is to lie, keep silent, or to be punished. Great sense of principles you've got there.

Can we please move on to a more humane and functional gay politics?

He did exactly the right thing in advising queers to stay in the closet. After Adam Lambert's moronic coming out of the closet, his career has been narrowed tremendously. Most of American has no desire to support some freak who sticks his penis in the feces covered anal waste chamber.

It's not natural, and aside from disgusting is only a revenue maker for researchers in curing hepatitus and AIDS.

He did exactly the right thing in advising queers to stay in the closet. After Adam Lambert's moronic coming out of the closet, his career has been narrowed tremendously. Most of American has no desire to support some freak who sticks his penis in the feces covered anal waste chamber.

It's not natural, and aside from disgusting is only a revenue maker for researchers in curing hepatitus and AIDS.

Your notion of what my advice would be is utter fantasy.

And Adam Lambert is doing quite well, thank you. That you see being out and proud as the equivalent of disease shows that Roy Cohn isn't dead -- only taking a nap from which you've awakened him.

The only way to push these boundaries so that openly gay people in the industry are treated equally is for people to come out. How else would it happen?

As the producer of one of last years massive OUTFEST hits - I can say that we were only interested in casting out actors in gay roles. And now they have career opportunities they never had before - including agents at the top agencies.

Actors and all other industry people have a responsibility to come out. Without doing so, NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

What's with people defending him for telling the truth when the truth is deplorable? No, he shouldn't have lied. He should have grown a pair and been a good person who didn't go around scaring probably already skittish actors in the first place.

Veracity:

The question posed to him does not seem to have concerned whether it was *worth it* for a gay actor to become a star, but simply how a gay actor might become a one.

If Holland has seen things that have led him to believe that being out impedes being a star, then his answer can only be, if being a star is all-important to you, don't be out.

If gay actors are "already skittish," it's because they sense this may be the case.

My guess is that Mr. Holland would, if asked, say that he doesn't believe the trade-off is worth it. It just isn't what he was asked.

Given how he was raked over the coals for calling this one like he saw it, I would say he doesn't need to grow a pair of anything. The far easier answer would have been to tell the actor come out, the water's fine.

Our work should be to make the water fine, not to rake over the coals anyone with the temerity to notice we are not yet there.

So you know exactly how things went down at Outfest on July 12, when Holland made his "stay in the closet" remark, I suggest you see my blog post about it. People have been making a lot of incorrect assumptions about things:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/queer-town/todd-holland-outfest-gay-actor/#more

Patrick Range McDonald

Who gives a F**K! Closet or no closet, Jesus, Joseph and Mary! Who F'ing CARES!

Actually, staying in the closet is a very important issue. Go see the documentary "Outrage" about closeted, gay politicians. Also, coming out has been a cornerstone action of the gay rights movement, not to mention ending the personal, psychological suffering of closeted gays and lesbians.

Harvey Milk thought coming out was so important that he said that more than anything else, if he was assassinated he would "like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights."

Best,
Patrick Range McDonald