Phillip Schofield has come out as gay

[catinb0oots]

Blimey. Married for 27 years.

@alltoomuchrightnow I was a carer to an elderly woman who worked in Hollywood in the 30's and 40's. She talked about many stars that were openly gay with the people they worked with. Some still are known as straight by the general public.
There seems to be in show business this acceptance of openly gay celebs who pretend to be straight to the general public.

@alltoomuchrightnow Me too from over 30 years ago. The surprise was always that he got married!

"As I said in an earlier post, that vile Piers Morgan was probably threatening to out him..his newspapers have been orchestrating a smear campaign against PS for quite sometime."

Eh? What papers?

You obviously don't think there was any real discrimination in the 80's

You have no idea what I ‘obviously’ think.

You asserted that it was almost impossible to be gay in showbiz in the 1980s because it was culturally unacceptable. I argued that it was not, citing examples of successful British musical acts in 1984 fronted by openly gay men, or a man who would later come out as gay (and let’s face it, many people guessed George Michael’s orientation and I don’t remember there being an outcry over it).

You also stated that people could be fired for solely for being gay in the 1980s. I disputed that, and you haven’t been able to support your assertion, instead quoting other injustices dealt to gay people, e.g. harassment and discrimination. Nobody denies that that happened but it doesn’t support your original assertion that anybody could be fired in the 1980s for being gay.

Disagreeing with your original assertion is not the same as denying that gay people were ever harassed or discriminated against. Can you see the difference?

I’ve mentioned it before in this thread
Such a curious choice of words PS used
I’m proud of myself
Was my exh of 30 years feeling proud the day he came out to me with his lust for another woman..
Because it devasted my life and our children’s who were about the same age as scofes children

It continued to devastate for the 8 years from then on leading up to his death
Even now 15 years later, it still hangs around like a bad smell
My son just mentioned it a few months ago..mam, do you think if dad knew he was only Going to live another 8 years do you think what he would have done what he did ?

When one person in the couple has been duplicitous or a cheat it throws the spotlight on every occasion where there was bad feeling, a no show at an award ceremony, parents night etc
I remember Christ tarrants wife saying that..that’s how we all felt.
When he was on a family holiday with us and seemed grumpy was that because he didn’t want to be there , did he wish he was with someone else. Children pick up on all of that.

Sorry Phil..feeling proud is not something I would be congratulating myself on.

I don't agree that he "was obviously gay". There are people in showbiz that I think are likely gay even though they don't say so but he was never one of them.

I think he is creepy and smarmy but that doesn't equate to gay does it?

I am the same age as Schofield. I had loads of gay male friends in my late teens and early twenties, in the eighties, but I moved in a very arty, clubby crowd. Some were openly out, some were not, most wore make up and clothes that would be considered very out there even today.

My now BiL is the same age. He worked in a factory in the grim north, was very handsome and popular with the women, and very very straight acting; no one, no one has ever been able to tell he was gay. I remember when I first met him being shocked at how homophobic some of his friends were. He came out to us in the early nineties, he’d have been mid thirties, and we were completely amazed. BiL had lots of brief girlfriends and has slept with women and since his teens he has had a female best friend who adores him and would probably have married him if he’d said the word.

BIL could so easily have used some poor woman to ease his way in the world and I’m sure would have loved to have had a family but he chose not to. I think he’s a lot braver than Phil.

I thought it was fairly well known, at least among the LGBT community. I was always surprised to be reminded that he had a wife still!
Brave if him, can’t be easy after all this time...

I don't find it "brave" when a man lies to his wife for years, cheats on her with men, has children with her, and then suddenly decides in middle age that he must "be honest", knowing how difficult it will be for his family.

If he managed to muddle along "living a lie" all those years, maybe it's best to continue living the lie (since apparently life was good during the "lie years"). Out of respect and love for his wife and children, I believe he should have continued to keep that part of himself a secret (and not cheat!!!). He made the choice to marry and have kids. No-one forced him.

Sorry, I just don't see it as bravery-- not at all! It's horrible.

@Iamthewombat And even for the 1 year of 1984 you are wrong.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_top-ten_singles_in_1984

I think posters need to.stop dramatically projecting.........I know a few families this has happened in. And for the most part the world kept on turning, the.families got on and co parented as mature adults.

I can't stand PS. His turtely little face and Weasley presenting gives me the.ick. However I respect the fact it must have been a.difficult thing to do. And his wife / ex wife probably.is.being supportive as a friend.

And Ginga you carry.so much.anger.

Personally I think it may be time to move.on,.stop being a perpetual victim and shift a little of.the.responsibility.to your dad who hid away.instead of stepping up. You were young adults when your mum walked away. She didn't subject.you to horrific abuse, to carry so.much.hatred is.in all honesty bizarre.

It's not brave FFS.🙄 He doesn't stand to lose a single thing out of this.

Show me the legislation that meant people could not be fired for being gay in the 80's? It was legal and happened.

Gays weren't allowed work for the British Diplomatic Service until Major lifted the ban in 1991

history.blog.gov.uk/2017/12/06/homosexuality-at-the-foreign-office/

and as for general trends how about this from Wikipedia: (my emphasis)

The 1980s was the era in which HIV/AIDS was first reported.] The first recorded victims of the disease were a group of gay men and the disease became associated in the media, and at first in medical circles, with gay and bisexual men in particular.] The association of HIV/AIDS with gay and bisexual men worsened their stigmatisation and this association correlated with higher levels of sexual prejudice, such as homophobic/biphobic attitudes

Rising negative sentiments towards homosexuality peaked in 1987, the year before the legislation was enacted. According to the British Social Attitudes Survey, 75% of the population said that homosexual activity was "always or mostly wrong", with just 11% believing it to be never wrong. Five years prior to the enactment, a similar BSAS poll had found that 61% of Conservative and 67% of Labour voters believed homosexual activity to be "always or mostly wrong".

I didn’t know he was married and just always assumed he was gay.

It’s a different world now in terms of acceptance of homosexuality in the UK.
www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/29/sandi-toksvig-lesbian-fired-save-the-children-princess-anne

This was in 1994

Colour me not surprised...wasn't he caught kissing another dreamcoat in a cupboard in the 80s?

Interesting comment about Dale Winton being heartbroken that he was in love with a married tv presenter
He seemed such a nice man..I really hope it wasn’t PS ..he deserved better.

Would love to hear Paul O Gradys take on this.

Jeez. The poor wife and kids, but especially his wife. What choice does she have in that position?? other than to be supportive of her massively famous husband in the public eye. If he was married to woman who he says he loves them surely he isn’t Gay but Bi?? Which probably means his amazing secret gay partner is about to step into the limelight. Which then means I just think it’s all a bit of a shit show.

And even for the 1 year of 1984 you are wrong.

So you’ve lost the argument and you are trying to claw back some ground by quoting top ten singles at me? Norris McWhirter is spinning in his grave.

‘If he managed to muddle along "living a lie" all those years, maybe it's best to continue living the lie (since apparently life was good during the "lie years"). Out of respect and love for his wife and children, I believe he should have continued to keep that part of himself a secret (and not cheat!’

1. that might be the most uptight, British thing I’ve ever read on here! Let’s sweep it all under the carpet!

2. no-one has any idea about the details of his personal life or whether or not he ‘cheated’ So hysterical speculation like that is pointless.

I feel for his wife and kids.
How cringe of Holly to ask him about future relationships when his family must be in shock. Utterly selfish behaviour.

@CallMeRachel

"I recall Dale Winton was quoted as saying he was always heartbroken by being in love with a high profile married man in TV but was unable to be with him. I now wonder if that married man was in fact PS."

It wasn't. That man was David Baddiel. He couldn't be with him because it was unrequited love.

’How cringe of Holly to ask him about future relationships when his family must be in shock. Utterly selfish behaviour.’

They may have known for years.

Oh for Heaven's sake, I've had friends coming out since the late '70s. It was brave then. It's not such a bit of 'bravery' now when being gay is (pretty much) socially acceptable, especially when you're blowing apart someone else's life to do it.

It doesn't matter if his wife has known for years or not. Either she's been deceived or they had an 'agreement' to keep up appearances. Either way her life (and her DD's) has been opened up to public scrutiny in a way she never expected. My sympathy is for her and the children.

But I don't believe for one second that he hasn't known forever. Even if he forced the knowledge deep down inside himself, he's known. And that makes his getting married wrong. Just as wrong as marrying someone for their money, or for immigration reasons.

Part of the (traditional) wedding vows is asking the couple if they know of any impediment to their marriage. He's lied from Day 1.

I know someone this has happened to, she was happily married to someone she considered her best friend and genuinely loved. They had kids the lot. Bit something as t quite right for her and after 20 years of marriage she’s come out.
She hadn’t been ‘living a lie’ with her husband, it’s much more nuanced and complicated. There are lots of reasons why she buried her feelings for women.
But I certainly don’t think she should have continued on as they were for the kids sake, or the hubbies sake.