Mr. Quinto explains his coming out to MTV…co-stars look vaguely uncomfortable.

Spock and The Awkward Turtles...

The awesome Zachary Quinto came out over the weekend in a casual interview with New York magazine, and now he’s on the publicity circuit for his upcoming film Margin Call which stars Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, Mary McDonnell and Penn Badgley. In this short clip from an interview on MTV, Mr. Quinto thanks his supporters.

AND, big kudos to Mr. Quinto for NOT doing the usual, obnoxious, celebrity coming out process. He didn’t negotiate the People magazine cover, or the big book deal, or the big talk show circuit to make his public declaration…he did it casually in an interview. Classy….which is great because it reinforces the idea that coming out SHOULDN’T be a big deal…it’s not a production and doesn’t require a press release. Straight people aren’t required to publicly announce their sexuality; it’s a given. Queer people won’t be truly equal until the Coming Out process is made redundant and closets are only necessary for clothes and boxes of crap we can’t bear to throw away.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tucci and Mr. Badgley look a bit…uncomfortable while Zachary speaks. Despite his long marriage and rumors of an affair with co-star Edie Falco, there are also a few rumors about Mr. Tucci on the webs of the same-sex nature, (which could just be wishful thinking, as the man is ridiculously sexy…) And, more than one site has printed Blind Items about “Gossip Girl” star Penn Badgley’s relationship with close friend, actor Shawn Pyfrom from “Desperate Housewives”. Is Mr. Quinto’s coming out making things dicey for other closeted actors? (We kind of hope so.) Are these two actors gay or bisexual? Don’t know…but it wouldn’t surprise us. (Many actors are gay or bisexual…not a big surprise.) Do we care? Only if they are gay or bisexual and publicly pretending otherwise. Why? Because it’s a lie and living a life of lies is no way to live your life. And, being professionally closeted when you are privately out is cowardly and sends a terrible message. It tells other gay people, “Stay in the Closet!” and it tells the rest of the world, “We’re ashamed of who we are.” And, to stay in the closet for financial reasons is insulting to all queer people. You’re actors…it’s the gayest profession in the world…if being out for a “name” actor means you won’t be considered for leading man roles, and you won’t have a seven figure income, well, that’s not enough of a reason. And, once all actors come out, then that stigma shouldn’t apply anyway…gay people have accepted straight actors playing gay roles for decades. Straight audiences will eventually be able to cope when they discover that Handsome Leading Action Hero Man prefers to fuck other Handsome Leading Action Hero Men and not the lovely ingenue they are rescuing onscreen.

We’re also guessing that Margin Call star and “why does he even bother to stay in his glass closet?” actor Kevin Spacey was SO very thankful he wasn’t included in this interview. That would have led to the Biggest Elephant in The Room since Jumbo played the Orpheum circuit.