In a town full of worst kept secrets, Academy Award winning actress Jodie Foster’s sexuality was one of the most obvious. A working actor since the age of 3, the now 50 year old performer and director has kept her private life just that…private. Part of that privacy was undoubtedly due to the bizarre revelation in the aftermath of President Ronald Reagan’s assassination attempt in 1981, that the assassin, John Hinckley, shot the president, largely due to his obsession with Jodie Foster. Since then, Ms Foster has kept her private life largely off limits to the media, refusing point blank to discuss John Hinckley, or reveal any details about her personal relationships including the paternity of her two sons, Charlie and Kit. Rumors that the actress was lesbian began circulating in the 80’s, and largely became accepted as fact by the LGBTQ community…Jodie Foster was “one of us” and while many criticized her for not publicly outing herself, others continued to praise her for living her life privately but without the need to lie or attempt to cover up her sexuality with arranged heterosexual relationships. Many in Hollywood were aware that Ms Foster had been partnered with producer, Cydney Bernard for many years but even those in the know were surprised when Foster acknowledged Ms Bernard in a speech in December of 2007 as “my beautiful Cydney, who sticks with me through the rotten and the bliss…” Their relationship reportedly ended the following year but that ambiguous remark renewed more speculation about Ms Foster’s private life as well as debate in the gay community on whether her remarks were a legitimate “coming out”.
Well, after Jodie Foster’s appearance on Sunday night’s Golden Globes awards, there’s no longer any doubt about her sexual orientation…well, perhaps a little. The actress was on hand at the Globes to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award and in a rambling and rather confusing but highly personal speech, she appears to have finally taken that final public step out of the closet door, stating:
“Seriously, I hope that you’re not disappointed that there won’t be a big coming-out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago, back in the Stone Age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family, co-workers and then gradually, proudly, to everyone who knew her, everyone she actually met…”
Foster went on to publicly acknowledge and thank Ms Bernard:
“There’s no way I could ever stand here without acknowledging one of the deepest loves of my life: my heroic co-parent, my ex partner in love but righteous soul sister in life, my confessor, ski buddy, consigliere, most beloved BFF of 20 years, Cydney Bernard.”
The actress was visibly nervous and obviously speaking off the cuff during the nearly 7 minute long speech where she also paid tribute to both her sons, who were in attendance, and to her mother Brandy who suffers from dementia. Remarks regarding her professional career and her future led many to believe that Ms Foster might be retiring from show business, but she clarified backstage at the Globes that she is not retiring but does hope to spend more time behind the camera directing films, than acting in them.
Since the telecast, the press and particularly LGBTQ media immediately began broadcasting the news, with obvious high interest from the queer community – with most praising Foster for publicly coming out while others groused about the timing of her announcement and the manner in which she did it, lamenting on the lack of privacy in modern life.
Here’s her speech:
Personally, I think it’s terrific and important that Jodie Foster took that step tonight and it was brave of her to do so in such a very public manner…though it is also rather surprising coming from someone who values their privacy to the degree that she does. But, she’s not the first “we all know you’re gay” celebrity to come out…in the last year or so, several “glass closeted” actors have broken down their barely there closet doors: actors Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, and Zachary Quinto and journalist Anderson Cooper chief among them. Parsons and Quinto both came out obliquely in press interviews, and Bomer acknowledged his long time partner and children in a recent speech. Mr. Cooper chose to quietly out himself in print as opposed to a formal announcement on television. All four men have long been rumored to be gay and all four never made much of an effort to hide their sexuality. Mr. Bomer and Mr. Parsons are long partnered and were frequently seen in public with their families and Mr. Quinto and Mr. Cooper lived rather open gay lifestyles in Los Angeles and New York respectively. None of these celebrities lied about their sexual orientation, or entered into fake heterosexual relationships to provide a cover, or tried very hard to disguise the fact they were living their lives as gay men and women. Sadly, society requires celebrities to make a public announcement about their homosexuality; we’re all presumed heterosexual unless we state otherwise, and despite the unfairness of having to “come out” it’s still an important step for all of us to take regardless if it’s just having that talk with family or friends, or broadcasting the news to millions of people via the media. Unless we speak out and make ourselves present in the world at large, the world at large will not acknowledge our right to be present and to be equal with every other member of our community. Silence only holds us back. Living a lie, like celebrities who choose to live false public lives with fake opposite sex partners and glossy, fictitious back stories filled with phony heterosexual tales of love and woo actively damages our fight to be accepted.
We should praise the honest, encourage the hesitant and damn anyone who deliberately chooses to perpetuate a lie.
Bravo Jodie Foster.