Again, starting off with the question of this thread, Is society really as accepting as it claims, I would point out what is all over the internet today with headlines about Kenny Chesney. Wether Kenny Chesney is gay or not, it is interesting for several reasons.
1.) All of the internet articles I read, which is quite a few, are quoting this statement: Maybe I should have come out and said, `No, I'm not (gay),' but I didn't want to draw any more attention to it," the 38-year-old country singer says. "... I didn't have to prove to anybody that I wasn't (gay). I didn't feel like I really did."
The fact that gay is in parantheses (gay) means he did not use that word. The author does that so we are clear of the statements intentions, but I wonder what word/words, if any "was/were" used?
2.) All of the articles say this: That Kenny has said that the reason he/they used fraud as the reason for their annulment was not because he's gay. Which is very different than saying he is not gay. But the press has all said he said he's not gay and not once in the articles is he quoted as saying that.
NOW THE INTERVIEW ITSELF MAY SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT ON 60 MINUTES, BUT NO ONE HAS PROVIDED A TRANSCRIPT OF THAT.
From an article in the O.C. Register:
His denial, what I've seen of it, seems very believable to me, but whether it's true or not, I really feel for the guy right now, as I do for just about any celebrity whose sexuality becomes gossip fodder. If he really is gay - and I'm not suggesting he is, just hypothesizing here - and he's denying it, well, not only might that immeasurably set back the cause of gay people to not be stigmatized, but it would mean that Chesney is living in some sort of closeted self-torment. Which is his and anyone else's prerogative, of course; I don't stand with those who believe gay celebrities should be outed, or simply out themselves, as a means of furthering a community's visibility. It's a private matter, first and foremost.
If he is indeed not gay, well, unfortunately that will hardly convince some people. The speculation will remain, and no amount of truth-talking from Chesney is going to make some people shake the notion that he's somehow covering something up. Look at how some people view Clay Aiken in the wake of charges (from a rather dubious source) about his sexuality. There is bound to be unexpected fallout from this, especially considering Chesney is a country star. Not to put stock in homophobic stereotypes, but there are surely some country fans who will for years to come mockingly equate Chesney with, oh, Brokeback Mountain.
Notice how the author, and I'm sure he doesn't even know he is doing it, is using the BBM reference as though that if someone thinks Kenny Chesney is gay or even associates him with being gay, that that is a bad thing. Why wouldn't you be honored to be compared to BBM?
By the way, Clay Aiken has always been viewed as a big closet case, even before those other charges; where has this author been? Well, he's in super conservative Orange County, I answered my own question.
3.) Quoting this line from that article again: [Any person's sexuality] -- It's a private matter, first and foremost.
Straight people usually say this because all they are thinking about in terms of gay people are the actual sex acts. They never think of someone's sexuality in terms of just being with your partner and being free to hold hands, or a touch, or make a statement about someone, or bring over a friend to someone's house, or if someone comes over to your place have to think about anything being in your house that might give yourself away or not. Etc. So as a matter of privacy, it's out there for gay people to see straight people as straight all the time. It's not private. We know you are straight. You are allowed to freely express it. With gay people it is not always an option.
So if society is as accepting as it claims, this Kenny Chesney story today wouldn't have even come up. It would be a non-story and the press wouldn't feel a need to address it at all.
