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Loading ...Visibility Matters: Lindsay Lohan and the New Definition of “Out”
LIVING OUT LOUD
Lohan and Ronson have accompanied each other almost everywhere for over two years now. They attend public events together, like last week’s VMA’s and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, and they wear matching rings.
Lohan with Ronson at a party in Aug. 2006
Last Saturday, the two women walked through LAX smiling and holding hands, and on Sunday, they jointly posted a note on Lindsay’s MySpace blog encouraging their fans to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, and calling out Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin on her anti-gay views. "Is our country so divided that the Republicans best hope is a narrow minded, media obsessed homophobe? Palin’s Desire to "save and convert the gays"-really??" they wrote in the blog post, which they signed "xoxo Lindsay and Samantha." (The post was widely quoted by the media, but most press outlets only attributed it to Lohan.)
Lohan might not be on the cover of Time saying "Yep, I’m Gay" (she declined an offer from OK! magazine to come out on their cover), but she’s on the cover of Marie Claire this month talking about what a great influence Samantha has been on her life — refusing to confirm the exact nature of their relationship, but talking about their matching tattoos, and how excited she is to be buying a house with an unnamed someone.
Meanwhile, every gossip and mainstream entertainment site is reporting on rumors of an engagement between Lohan and Ronson (Lohan’s rep denies it’s true), MTV News reported Monday that "Lindsay Lohan Calls Out Sarah Palin for Homophobia", and Radar magazine recently published a lengthy article devoted to the relationship between the two women.
(Comedian Bridget McManus and I were interviewed separately for the Radar article and we were both misquoted significantly enough that we contacted the magazine for a retraction; Radar’s editor denies any inaccuracy, but when pressed, admitted the reporter did not use a recording device, but quoted us from notes she took during our very lengthy phone interviews.)
All of which begs the question: Is an announcement even necessary when your behavior already tells the story?
Actress Saffron Burrows (My Own Worst Enemy, The Bank Job), 35, came out as bisexual in 1999, telling Tatler magazine in 2000, "If I was going to make a broad generalization, I’d say that I prefer the company of women. … On one level, privacy is important but, on another level, I have no desire to deny certain things."
But in the almost 10 years since then, Burrows has rarely been photographed with her alleged partner, actress Fiona Show (the Harry Potter movies), 50. They almost never attend public events together, and don’t talk about each other in interviews. Yet both are listed on Britain’s Pink List each year, and openly referred to by most of the press as a couple.
The separation of the actresses’ personal and private lives is obviously intentional, and I’m not criticizing it. But if actions truly speak louder than words, you could argue that Lohan and Ronson are more "out" than Burrows and Shaw.
There are other couples who are redefining the word "out," like Broadway actress Cherry Jones (24), 51, and Sarah Paulson (Cupid, The Spirit), 33, who attended the Tony Awards together in 2005 as a couple, but only occasionally discuss their relationship publicly.
Saffron Burrows (left); Cherry Jones and Sarah Paulson
So what really makes you "out" today? Does it qualify if you live your life openly with a partner of the same gender, but don’t actually say you’re living your life openly with a partner of the same gender?
I believe the answer is yes, but I also believe editors and writers across the country will be struggling with this issue for the next few years — including the staff at our brother site, AfterElton.com, which covers gay and bisexual men in entertainment and the media.
As a French journalist in the LGBT press (about to launch Yagg, a new website for French-speaking gays and lesbians, and anyone else who wants to come), I can only agree with you, Sarah. The line between out and closeted isn’t as easy to define as it used to be, which is both good news and making our job more difficult. But that’s part of the challenges – and excitement – of being a journalist, and not simply a way for celebs and politicians to publish their press releases.
“Around that time on AfterEllen.com, I instituted what I only semi-jokingly referred to as the “no Britney, Paris, or Lindsay” rule, which was intended to keep our writers from covering these topics (and others like them) on the site. Not only because they’re boring, annoying, and repetitive, but because I don’t take pleasure from reading or writing about young women self-destructing.”
Like naturally the only thing one can do is to make fun and hate-on someone when they fall. Like when these women were self-destructing, that that’s ALL they were ever doing or capable of, that that defined them. And they just deserved to be consigned to the scrap-heap. That they did not need support in their hour of darkness, and did not deserve best wishes spoken aloud more than ever. Like for example, when Paris was sent to jail for three weeks and practically the whole world was howling with derision, she couldn’t use any words of charity in letters sent to her from friends and fans like me.
“I still reserve the right not to write about young female celebrities who represent all the wrong things, though. I’ll just call it the “No Britney, Paris or Tila” rule now.”
The writer says because Lindsay has turned her life around, with a little help from her friend, apparently a gay partner, and that it’s is a good thing. So Lindsay is off the s*** list and can now be written about again. Paris and Britney have turned their lives around as well, but apparently they still deserve to be kept down. And since Lindsay’s reserved spot in infamy is now freed up, let’s just damn another woman to hell.
I have been not been a fan of Tila Tequila… until now, that is. Thanks afterellen.com, for showing this fighter of lost causes, which way the hate blows most.
I’m glad for Lohan and Ronson. They both have to battle the media AND their careers while putting smiley faces on themselves. If I could make a suggestion to them: I don’t think either woman has completed their education. Now would be the time to enroll in a college and get a degree. It doesn’t have to be so intense that it would jeopardize their careers. Lindsey could experiment with different roles. She’s at the point in her career that people would approve and just want to see how she handles them.
This does kind of represent the goal, doesn’t it? Like 365gay.com, the marriage equality movement, librals in generals really, we all want people to truly treat same-sex relationships the same as different-sex relationships and announcing “Yeah, we’re lesbians” would be like Brad and Angelina going “Yeah, we’re straight”… it just sounds stupid. MAYBE the reason they didn’t say it is because they’re trying to point out that it doesn’t matter?
Now if only we can get that misogynist, lesbian hating PerezHilton to stop making repugnant remarks about Linsay and Samantha.
This same stuff has been reported so much better by Grrlplanet…I like that site better – it’s more fun, more interesting, and cooler.
I’m glad that you’ve made this decision, Sarah. The fact that you don’t necessarily have to flat-out state “I’m Gay!” is a sign of progression, and it’s good that AE is able to adjust with the times.