More LGBT-identified actors than ever before are living open, honest lives in this post-Ellen world. After the success of Paramount's recent Star Trek reboot, Zachary Quinto ( Mr. Spock ) casually announced that he was gay. He's continued to work steadily. Former child star Neil Patrick Harris lives openly with his fiance, David Burtka, and their children while continuing to appear on the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Harris is also a seasoned Broadway veteran and a popular awards-show host.
What makes the rise of Harris' star so significant is that he plays a womanizing heterosexual on his long running TV series. It's one of the rare occasions when an out gay man has been seen in such a blatantly straight role—this after decades of closeted romantic leads such as Rock Hudson pretended to be straight in order to keep their careers.
Some actors, such as openly gay Matt Bomer, have chosen to live out of the closet. Although some may feel he's not a major star, Bomer ( of the TV show White Collar ) continues to obtain regular Hollywood work.
Yet many gay actors continue to claim that too many doors in the film and television studios remain closed to them. Leon Acord, 50, worked as a stage actor in San Francisco for many years, but everything changed as soon as he moved to Los Angeles. "This is where you insert the screeching breaks," he told Windy City Times.
"I had no problem getting cast in San Francisco," Acord said. "I did three plays a year, just as many independent films." He attributes his cooled of career to a variety of factors.
"Not all of it was homophobia," he said. "You're starting from the very bottom no matter what you've done. I now do a play every three years."
However, Acord feels that his sexuality has played a part in his not being able to get meetings with agents. He reports being told numerous times that he came across as "too gay."
"I portrayed a straight male in a play called Salsa Saved the Girls," he said. "A theater critic wrote that I 'played a straight stalker, which is hard to believe given his personal orientation.'"
SAG/AFTRA ( Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Radio and Television Artists ) is the union that represents actors who work in film and on television. It has heard stories such as Acord's from many of its members. On Oct. 3, the union passed a historic resolution at its national convention. Attending delegates unanimously voted to recognize, stand with and support the union's LGBT membership.
The resolution resulted from a study the union conducted that was released Sept. 27. That study, "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Diversity in Entertainment: Experiences and Perspectives of SAG/AFTRA Members," concluded that LGBT actors continued to face discrimination in the workplace. According to a survey included in the report, one-third of SAG/AFTRA members, including heterosexual members, believe that LGBT identified union members face bias on the job even today.
Openly gay actor/comic Jason Stuart is on a SAG/AFTRA committee which serves the needs of the union's LGBT membership. He spoke with WCT about some of the issues faced by gay actors.
"The biggest problem is opportunity," Stuart said. "The idea that we are limited to only playing certain kinds of roles. My goal is to open the conversation so that we can create more work for the blue collar actor. This new survey will give us a new way to communicate with the industry. Actors still feel there is work to be done today in order to create equality with their straight counterparts."
Stuart said that things have changed with so many well known actors having come out. "Some of us are able to make a living and even play straight characters," he said. "But we are not yet in the fabric of what is shown in the media, even though we exist in the real world. My hope is that the stars will support the working actors to move on to the next level of their careers."
Transgender actors would not be left out, according to Stuart. "Being a trans actor is a new frontier and we are working to see what we can do to support their specific issues, which are often different from LGB issues," he said.
SAG/AFTRA's Gwen Walker offered some advice for LGBT actors who might be facing unfair casting practices.
"If you are working on or interviewing for a SAG/AFTRA production and you believe that you have been, or are being discriminated against or sexually harassed in any way, you should call SAG/AFTRA," she said. "Your call is kept confidential and we can help you determine the most appropriate course of action, and if any immediate or emergency action needs to be taken, particularly if you believe you are in danger of possible physical harm."
Walker urged union members to speak up without shame. "Neither discrimination nor harassment is your fault," she said. "When you see or become a victim of discrimination or harassment, don't ignore it and don't pretend it didn't happen. Every action you take against this behavior means it is less likely to be repeated. You have a responsibility to yourself and your fellow union members to see that all performers are treated with respect in the job search and in the workplace."
Walker and Stuart invite SAG/AFTRA members to visit www.sagaftra.org/eeodiversity for more information.
