Clare Henney: Changing the Stereotype

12:00 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

Ladies Man. Heartbreaker. Suave and sexy.
Matthew Bomer, Neil Patrick Harris and Jonathan Groff have all played guys like that on TV. All of them are openly gay. I never thought I’d see the day that I’d watch an openly gay man play characters usually reserved for straight men. Gone are the days that openly gay male actors like Rupert Everett can only play gay roles or men who are not too masculine. I find it fascinating that the game has changed in that department — even Everett plays straight roles now!

On one end, I am happy that these gay actors get to do jobs that normally would not be given to them as openly gay men. However, I am not happy that I usually end up crushing on them and then feel bad later that the female of the species has lost a chance on such a good-looking guy because he plays for the same team.

I have to hand it to these guys: even if I know they are gay I am still very much convinced they are straight when they play the part – especially Matthew Bomer, who is just way too sexy as a straight guy for me to believe that he’s gay when I first heard about it! These guys have really changed the image of what a gay man is. They are not all flamboyant or interested in looking like women. Some of them, like these guys, can actually look and act straight. If they weren’t open about their sexuality I don’t think I would have known that they were gay. From what I’ve read online both Matthew and Neil have partners and both have adopted children. Jonathan might be a little young for that but I’m willing to bet it’s something he would do if he had a partner and was mature enough to do so. Will this ever happen in the local entertainment industry? Wouldn’t it be interesting if the actors in the Philippines who are gay came out of the closet and continued to do the straight roles they do today? Realistically speaking, that’s probably not going to happen anytime soon but it would be exciting if it did.

Photo Source: MMA Forum, Gabriel G Photo, Orlando News Center