To feel sorry for George Michael that he felt unable to be honest about his sexuality for so long?

[girlfriend44]

Just been watching Wham in China. It seems such a shame that George felt he had to hide his sexuality from his parents and the media for so long.

Wham were really great fun weren't they?
Last Christmas still makes so much money from Royalties.

Anyone want to discuss Wham? Were they part of your youth?

He was sleeping with women too, who presumably didnt know about his sexuality and therefore about the risk to them 🥺.

Thank goodness for prep now, which I advise to any woman dating men

It was strange how he died Xmas day 2016 and three years later his sister died Xmas day 2019. What are the chances of that Neither of them were really old.

Wham were big at a time when lots of music stars were wearing make up - adam ant, new romantics etc and a lot of the big rock bands were quite extravagantly dressed so george michael didnt really stand out at all in terms of his style.
you only have to look at the urban myths thread to get an idea of how homophobic the 1980s were, and schools were legally not allowed to promote homosexuality until i think 1998. Very different times.
In the brilliant Wham doc on netflix they talk about George wanting to tell his parents and the rest of the band being horrified and talking him out of it.

It was 2003 Section 28 was repealed, not 1998. And some schools were still using it until as late as 2011.

Not so very much has changed. My ex-partner and I are lesbians, and when we moved next door to a school in 2018, we got nasty letters through the door. I've had people suggest to me my friend (a gay man) shouldn't be left alone with my DD. People really can be awful.

I think it's wonderful how much has changed in terms of laws and attitudes, but I think there's a disturbing tendency for people to say 'oh, it's all ok now'. Or to put the blame on individuals. Saying George Michael 'felt unable to be honest' sounds a bit crap really. It's not really about what he 'felt,' and 'honest' implies that he was culpable for not being out. I'm not at all sure it is that simple.

I can remember screaming at my dad who insisted boy George was a woman as men don't dress like that I grew up in Lincolnshire and moved to Brighton when I was 16,I didn't know you could be a gay woman, i knew about men but not the mechanics of how it worked physically. It was different times

I absolutely loved GM. Agree it was frowned upon by management for gay singers to come out back then but I remember a documentary where he said he couldn’t come out to his dad as he would have been so disappointed in him. I think his mum knew. He was so generous and kind gave shit loads to charity. I simply cannot believe it’s been 10 years this year since he died !!

Disappointed ☹️ blimey how could you be disappointed when your sons a famous popstar and making lots of money.. I read his father wanted him to go into the restaurant business also. 😲

His family knew he was gay, his mum was supportive but I beleive his Dad struggled to come to terms with his sons sexuality. That is what I read in a magazine article years ago.
I was a little surprised when he came out (or was he outed? ) but gay/staight/bi, what ever , it was his own private business.
He was a supremely talented singer/songwriter and a very generous man
Rest in eternal peace George ❤️

I've just watched the BBC documentary about Freddie Mercury's last years, which has George Michael's brother on it talking about how George felt unable to come out because he was seen as a sex symbol. I recommend it.

You’ve got to understand his father came from a traditional Greek Cypriot family and of an age where homosexuality was not accepted

I agree, it wasn’t because society wouldn’t allow it , it was to protect sales and profits in my opinion

You have very eloquently said what I was going to say. With AIDS, the associations with the gay community were very negative. I’m not sure anyone who did t live through the 80s could grasp this, but I’m glad about that, that society is now more inclusive. When I was at school “gay” was used as a casual insult. At the dc’s school using gay in this way triggers a significant disciplinary route and reporting to the local authority.

It was very different times
My uncle never fully accepted my cousin is gay
And shes been with her partner over 40 years
For a long time her partner was introduced as my cousins friend/ housemate .

I agree with this. I saw Marc Almond at a venue in Southall in the early 80s & the dj offered a prize for the first woman (he probably said “girl”) to take her top off & show him her breasts (“boobs”). My then boyfriend & I looked at each other & said, surely it should be the first man to take his trousers off?! In case you’re wondering, a female prize winner presented herself within seconds. Marc affected delight. 🤷🏽‍♀️

@cheapskatemum that tale epitomises the 80s in so many ways!!!!

I came here to say that!!!

Well I didn’t.

I had no inkling that he was gay back in the 80s. There was Boy George, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Jimmy Somerville and the Communards of whom it was obvious, but otherwise these were the days when most male pop stars wore make up etc.

Having watched the BandAid documentary it seems very obvious- GM is much more at ease talking to the very flirtatious Paula Yates than the blokes.

Why is fame and money something to be proud of? Not saying it something to be ashamed of or he wasn't a nice person (no idea never met him)

Just a general sense of fame and money being everything to a lot of people when there is ao much more to a person

The public have a lot to answer for

Probably something like 1 in 365 🤷🏽‍♀️

I was a teenager during the eighties, and didn’t know he was gay. Times were different then.

A typical gay you saw on tv then was flamboyant and camp, such as John Inman, rather than ‘straight’ looking.

I also didn't know but if you look at Rock Hudson you realise just how different times were. You just had the newspapers to get your info from, and when people found out he was dying of aids and was gay? Wow it was huge.

eta Rock Hudson was a big Old Hollywood Actor

We’ll be saying the same about Sam Smith and other non-binary artists in future. The attitude many have today - particularly women - towards transgender people is very similar to male attitudes to male homosexuality in the 1980s.

It was sadly just the way of the world back then wasn’t it? I wasn’t even alive but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a great time to be openly gay. This is why I hate it when people get misty eyed about the past being so much better. Only if you were white, middle class and straight.

Say what now @MandingoAteMyBaby ? There is a huge open debate about non-binary and transgender people. Everyone is discussing it from primary school to prime ministers! It isn't remotely the same at all.