"There
was a time I played on both sides of the street.
Now I just go straight down the middle of the street."
This
surprising remark was made by Whoopi Goldberg to the audience
at the Absolutely Fabulous 2002 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered
Pride Awards on June 27th, 2002. Given Whoopi's history of public
support for gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues, and the multiple
lesbian and bisexual characters she has played on film, the announcement
that Whoopi is bisexual probably shouldn't come as a big surprise.
But
the casual way in which she imparted the information (in what sounds
like a scripted off-the-cuff remark), combined with the cryptic
way in which she worded it, makes it an odd sort of coming out.
Perhaps
that is why, besides the New York Post, the mainstream
press hasn't really carried the "announcement" of her
bisexuality. Not even the National Enquirer, who usually salivates
to splash this kind of news on their front page.
Maybe
this means that acknowledging one's bisexuality isn't such a big
deal anymore, which would be a sign of tremendous progress. Unfortunately,
it's more likely that her "announcement" didn't make the
news because of the ambiguous way in which it was delivered, which
makes news outlets uncertain how exactly to report on it. Since
she wasn't actually announcing that she is in a relationship
with a woman, it's also not as tangible (or sensational) to the
press.
In
other words, it's too difficult to market. And it probably didn't
make the tabloids because it wasn't such a big "secret"
in light of Whoopi's public support for gay rights in the past.
So
is she bi, or isn't she? It seems like it, but maybe it was just
a joke, or a publicity stunt. A way to get in good with
the gay community.
But
this doesn't exactly gel with Whoopi's history, for she has proven
time and again that she isn't the kind of person who courts favor
from the gay community while behaving differently behind the scenes.
In the 1985 role of Celie in "The Color Purple," which
launched her career, she played one of the first lesbian/bisexual
characters in a primary role in a mainstream film.
She
also starred as a lesbian in the 1994 film "Boys on the Side,"
a character which still remains one of the few black lesbians in
a primary role in mainstream cinema, along with her role in "The
Color Purple." And she played a lesbian detective in 1999's
"The Deep End of the Ocean," although she was a minor
character in that film.
Offscreen,
Whoopi's behavior has also been consistently gay-positive. In 1990,
when she had a regular role on "Star Trek," she refused
to deliver a homophobic line, and in 2001 she produced the Lifetime
movie "What Makes a Family," which starred Brooke Shields
as a lesbian mom. She has also spoken at and received awards from
more gay organizations' award ceremonies than anyone can count.
So
in the face of this kind of statement, I'm inclined to
give Whoopi the benefit of the doubt and assume
she is being truthful, until she gives us reason to believe otherwise.
Her bisexuality would help explain why Whoopi appears to be one
of the few black actresses willing to play a lesbian or bisexual
character, as well as why she has been such an outspoken advocate
for gay rights all these years.
Hopefully
she won't "take it back" or say she was "just joking"
if she suffers some negative consequences in her career from this
announcement.
It
will be interesting to see how this news will be greeted
within the black community, which has so few "famous"
black women in Hollywood and almost no openly lesbian or bisexual
ones. It is great news for women of color and bisexual women, however,
who have little representation among celebrities and suffer from
continual invisibility both within the public at large and within
the gay community itself. If we're really lucky, perhaps other closeted
bisexual celebrities will follow her example and come out as well.
Too
optimistic? Well, thirty years ago, no one thought a little African-American
girl from the projects in Manhattan with the improbable stage name
of "Whoopi" would grow up to become a household name and
beloved American icon, either. And just ten years ago,
few would have believed a high-profile actress openly referring
to her bisexuality would be treated so matter-of-factly.
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