From the United States Department of "Well, No Shit"

In the most shocking news story since the "Water is Wet" affair, actor David Hyde Pierce (Dr. Niles Crane on "Frasier") was officially acknowledged as being gay in an associated press article yesterday.

The AP article is primarily about Pierce's Broadway work and Tony nomination, but a subtle reference is made to his "partner":
"Pierce got to Los Angeles in the early 1990s when his partner, actor-writer-producer Brian Hargrove, wanted to write for television. A short-lived Norman Lear series, 'The Powers That Be' led to 'Frasier.' And the rest is, well ..."

It's really not much of a surprise, but it's great to see another star come out of the closet. There's a stigma attached to openly gay actors- that if the audience knows an actor is gay, they won't be believable as straight characters. When you think about it, it's asinine. I know for a fact that Tobey McGuire isn't actually a spider-man, but this knowledge doesn't detract from my enjoyment of "Spider-man 3". (Note- it was the shitty script that detracted from my enjoyment of Spider-man 3".)

Niles is just the latest in a long line of C-list celebrities to come out. Lance Bass, Doogie Howser, and Gael Garcia Bernal have all recently joined the Openly Gay club. (Okay, Gael didn't come out. But a fella can dream, right?)

What bothers me is the list of celebrities who are "unofficially" gay. That is, those who are generally known to be gay, but neither acknowledge nor deny it. Until very recently, both Doogie and Niles were on that list. For your gossiping enjoyment, a partial segment of the remaining list:

1. Kevin Spacey
2. Jodie Foster
3. Sean Hayes (from "Will & Grace")
4. Ricky Martin
5. Anderson Cooper (CNN)

"Out" magazine was recently bold (or stupid) enough to run a front-page article called "The Glass Closet: Why Won't the Stars Come Out and Play?" In the article, they named all of the celebrities above, among others, and questioned why these people continually dodge the question, when it's fairly well known that they are, in fact, gay. One would think that a mass coming-out would do quite a bit to erase a part of that stigma.

I'm not holdling my breath, though. Until then, we can only just gossip about those closeted cowards like we have been for years. As for me, I have to finish my work here at the office and meet up with Gael in my building's parking lot. He's taking me to a B&B in Vermont, where we plan on relaxing, doing some antiquing and telling Anderson Cooper jokes.