Far be it from me to defend David Gest. But does his being a total freak from hell give Fox News—and others in the media—carte blanche to dredge up secrets from his past and delve into his sexual orientation, all the while piously maintaining they don't ever out people?
'For David Gest, suing Liza Minnelli may be like opening Pandora's Box,' reported Roger Friedman in his Fox News 411. 'While Gest alleges domestic abuse at Minnelli's hands, plenty of his old cohorts, associates and friends are happily chatting about Gest's good old days. Or rather, bad old days. One rock singer who met the nascent producer and best friend of Michael Jackson in the late '70s—when he himself was down and out—recalled for me yesterday his many seedy adventures with Gest in New York around that time ... . He was a frequent customer at many of the old haunts [in Times Square], including adult book shops and other places of ill-repute. This source is quick to point out that Gest would often disappear into such establishments for long stretches, returning later without explanation. These places, says this respected contributor to rock history, were 'for men only.''
The news personalities on Fox—and certainly its pit-bull pundits, like Sean Hannity—often expressed disdain for what they saw as a politically motivated, nasty and seedy exposure when the Los Angeles Times ran a story documenting Arnold Schwarzenegger's groping escapades of the past. This was despite the fact that the story included named sources and centered on alleged crimes, not to mention that the individual in question was running for governor. But Fox obviously thinks it's just dandy to tell us that David Gest—someone whose past sex life has no bearing on the rest of us, unlike the gropenator—visited 'places of ill-repute' in Times Square that were 'for men only.' Last I checked, that wasn't a crime.
Anyone who has followed my ramblings for even a short period of time knows that I am not in the slightest opposed to journalists reporting on public figures' sexual orientation—whatever it may be—when relevant to a larger story. I have also excoriated much of the media for running from an uncomfortable issue, hiding behind the banner of the 'respect for privacy' though, in fact, when it comes to heterosexual public figures, they threw privacy out the window eons ago. And the argument can certainly be made that Gest has opened himself up to this kind of inquiry, putting the wacky intimate matters between him and Minnelli onto the front pages.
But why does Fox only out the freaks? If we're going to be fair and balanced about it, how about outing all of those family-friendly celebrities—including the conservative ones on the country music circuit—who get into sham marriages and join radical Christian sects or the Church of Scientology in a desperate effort to conceal their homosexuality, and who have pasts that would make David Gest's pale?
Or how about those Republican members of Congress who are gay and try to pawn themselves off as straight while they pander to the religious right, one of which was outed in the Florida papers a few months ago?
When West Palm Beach Republican Congressman Mark Foley—a staunch, vocal and visible defender of George W. Bush during the recount—was revealed in the Broward/ Palm Beach New Times to be gay and in a relationship with another man, Fox dutifully reported the story in which Foley 'denounced what he says are rumors spread by his political opponents that he is gay' and 'refused to answer questions about whether he is gay, saying his sexual preference had no bearing on his duties as a lawmaker.'
But why didn't they offer us reports confirming that he had attended establishments 'for men only,' or certainly that he did indeed have a boyfriend, much of which was reported in the alternative press? Where were the unnamed sources telling us about his sex life, a la David Gest?
Fox may be the most egregious example—actually bringing forth alleged events from Gest's past—but it is not the only media outlet to reveal a double standard in its coverage of the admittedly creepy Gest/Minnelli marriage. Early on in their marriage we were served up lots of gay code from much of the media, including seeing Gest described as an 'eyebrow-plucking, Lalique crystal-collecting producer.' Yeah, that was pretty funny—and no doubt technically true—and certainly Gest and Minnelli have been a circus act for whom few people outside the nutty Michael Jackson/Liz Taylor set have any real sympathy, making such descriptions irresistible.
Does the bizarre atmosphere make it OK to go there on the gay issue? More importantly, why aren't we seeing the media injecting some gay code into their descriptions of other, less weird famous couples or individuals, ones they all know for a fact are gay?
For years before she came out of the closet, Rosie O'Donnell was known by just about everyone in the media to be a lesbian. But we didn't see anything floated about it, even in the most subtle ways, by any reputable media outlets. Discussing Minnelli and Gest, The New York Times last year referred to 'gossip that the honeymoon is over,' which was actually code for 'reports that he is gay and they're splitting,' which is what was actually in the tabloids. But over the entire 10 or so years that O'Donnell was outed almost weekly in the tabloids there wasn't even a whimper of a hint in the Times that she might not be heterosexual, until her highly publicized self-outing that included a Diane Sawyer interview and an autobiography.
Could it have something to do with the fact that Rosie—at the time—was the 'queen of nice' whom everyone in the media adored? Could it also be that many of the other closeted celebrities I'm thinking about are leading men and women whom many heterosexuals in the media would not want to know, or report—or even hint—are in fact homosexual? Most editors, reporters and TV producers will tell you that they have a policy against outing public figures as gay or lesbian. But the actual policy they seem to have is one against outing those they generally like and respect, while the freaks are fair game.
Signorile hosts a daily satellite radio show on Sirius OutQ, 149.
www.signorile.com
