Perez Hilton, of celebrity gossip website site fame, has been outing Jody Foster for some time now, claiming that he ‘knows” she’s a lesbian. Out Magazine followed in his footsteps last April when it put Foster on its front cover (together with Anderson Cooper) as one of its ‘50 most influential gay people in America. It wasn’t the revelation (or rather the purported revelation) of these two celebrities’ sexuality that caused a little storm, rather that a reputable publication such as Out Magazine should choose to include Foster and Cooper in its list when neither has ever admitted to being gay. Most people assume Jody Foster is gay; she all but came out last year with her acknowledgement of her partner, Cydney Bernard, in an acceptance speech. And while most of the people who are aware that Jody Foster lives with a woman and has two adopted children may have no further interest in her sex life, there are some who do. These people think that not only should she come out and say she’s a lesbian, but that the likes of Kevin Spacey and anyone else whose sexuality is somewhat a gray area should also let us know whether they prefer dating men or women.

So why do they seem to take delight in outing others? While the mainstream media may make veiled attempts at innuendo when reporting on a celebrity’s lifestyle, that’s about as far as they go. The gay media on the other hand seem not to want the let the issue rest.

There are lots of reasons why a celebrity will choose not to come out. In announcing they’re gay, they run the risk of become a spokesperson for homosexuality or lesbianism – and the bigger the celebrity the bigger the spokesperson they can become. Forever more they’re the one who’s called on for a comment or quote every time a “gay issue” comes to the fore; they become as famous for being gay as they do for whatever it is they do in their chosen profession. And when it doesn’t quite go to plan they can find themselves, in much the same way musician George Michael has spending more time in the press for living the life of some sort of caricature homosexual than for doing whatever it is they do for a living.

But it’s perhaps not so much that Jody Foster’s worried about becoming a spokesperson for the gay community, but that she’d rather keep her private life private. She’s been in the business for over 40 years and is undoubtedly all too aware of what can happen if one lives one’s life in the spotlight. Ask yourself whose shoes you’d rather be in: Jody Foster’s shoes or Britney Spears’.

While the gay community may believe that Jody Foster has a responsibility to come out and lead the way for a generation of young gays and lesbians who might have lost their own way in the world, she’s also got a responsibility to those closest to her. Whatever your sexuality, if you’re wanting a role model you haven’t got to look much further than an actor as high-profile as Jody Foster who refuses to put her partner, or her kids, anywhere near the jaws of the media.

It’s all very well asking an individual to be a role model, but there are very few other professions where someone is held responsible (even partly) for a percentage of a generation’s self-image and emotional stability because of their sexuality.

It’s a widely-held belief that being gay is bad for one’s career – especially in Hollywood, so it’s perhaps understandable that some celebrities are a little concerned about their future career prospects if they step out of the closet. A young man admitting to being gay probably won’t be offered the romantic lead in many movies (although the British actor Ian McKellen is quoted as saying that coming out didn’t affect his career in this way and he still gets offered heterosexual parts). Acting is all about pretending, after all. But Ian McKellen came out over twenty years ago in the UK: most know that Hollywood is notorious for being a man’s world and a woman may find it not as forgiving.

The argument is that when someone signs up for stardom they have to accept to live their life in the spotlight and be a role model for others. That’s the level of responsibility some believe celebrities have – it’s all part of the celebrity deal. And anyone not taking on that responsibility is seen as wanting to have her (or his) cake and eat it too. But is it asking too much to be able to keep one’s sexuality under wraps if one should choose to do so?

And what’s going to be achieved by coming out? Is it really going to help a young man or woman deal with their sexuality knowing that someone they admire and respect is gay but that he or she only admitted their sexuality because of the hounding they received from the press? Does that sound like someone proudly proclaiming they’re gay? And is someone’s deep-seated homophobia really going to vanish just because they learn that Kevin Spacey, who was really good in American Beauty, dates guys?

All kids, irrespective of their sexuality, need role models. Jody Foster, a classy and respected actor who is successful in her chosen career publicly plays tribute to her partner and looks the picture of contentment when photographed with her and their two adopted children is a good one. So is Kevin Spacey who, if he wanted to quell any “gay rumors/ could be seen night after night stumbling out of bars with beautiful women hanging off his arm, but instead seems to prefer concentrating on working in movies and theater, and walking the two dogs he rescued from Battersea Dogs’ Home. That’s why celebrities such as these two make good role models, not because they shout from the roof-tops that they’re gay.

And where is the equality in all this? Julia Roberts is in the same A-list category as Jody Foster, yet publications don’t devote a two-page spread to her sexuality, nor does she have to prove her sexual leanings every time she shows up at an event alone. Jody Foster shouldn’t have to divulge details of her sex life any more than Julia Roberts should have to divulge details of hers.

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