MAY 14, 1993

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 27

ENTERTAINMENT

The closet is a queer's worst friend

Queer in America: Sex, the Media and the Closets of Power by Michelangelo Signorile Random House, 1993. 370 p. $23.00 (hardcover)

Reviewed by Timothy Robson

Michelangelo Signorile's Queer in America has received more pre-publication notoriety than any recent gay-lesbian book, including a two-part excerpt in the Advocate with himself as coverboy. Signorile is a master of media manipulation, from his early career as a professional party-goer and gossip columnist at People magazine, to his chairmanship of ACT UPNew York's media committee during the era of ACT UP's most famous actions and zaps, to his stint as columnist for the now defunct queer journal OutWeek. It was at OutWeek that he became famous for "outing" such figures as Malcolm Forbes. Later outings included Pete Williams, spokesman for the Defense Department during Operation Desert Storm, columnist Liz Smith, and actress-director Jodie Foster. Pop music mogul David Geffen finally came out, after being hounded out of the closet by Signorile.

As a significant book of 1993 it seemed desirable to review Queer in America as soon as possible; this review was written from pre-publication galley proofs. Partly because of Signorile's background as a muckraker and partly because the controversy surrounding its publication seemed concocted, I approached the book with considerable suspicion. Despite all the wellpublicized angst at Random House, readers of Queer in America hoping for new "dirt"

will be disappointed. There are no new names, and many of the interviews are purposefully anonymous. (One could speculate about the role Random House's libel lawyers played in the absence of names.) What the reader will find, however, is an indepth examination of what Signorile refers

Michelangelo Signorile

to as the Trinity of the Closet: the New York media industry; the political system centered in Washington; and the entertainment industry centered in Hollywood. Along the way we hear about Signorile's life story, coming out and development as a gay man (including coming to terms with his selfhate). Signorile also devotes about a third of the text to a discussion of "outing.”

"Outing" refers to the public disclosure of the sexual orientation of closeted homosexual men and women without their participation. In general, outing is most often applied to homophobic closeted gays and

lesbians or those who may be charged with publicly defending heterosexist public policy (as was the case with Pete Williams at the Defense Department). At times, however, persons with no relationship to public policy have been outed. The great controversy in outing lies in when it is or is not appropriate. Signorile maintains that as long as public personalities-politicians, moguls, movie stars-do not come out, they are perpetrating the idea that homosexuality is worthy of hate. He believes that society forces gay people into the closet against their will. According to Signorile, "The message coming from the top down is: If you want to make it, kid, just stay locked in the closet."

Signorile presents story after story of tortured closeted people in high placespeople who are fearful of losing their stature if they come out; people who are sometimes driven to harass other gays and lesbians, even actively promoting homophobic laws and policies. He describes political and industrial systems which reward the closeted and punish the openly gay. Signorile makes compelling arguments for the selective use of outing and for the need of all gay men and lesbians to come out. Only when the societal landscape is common with gay men and women will homo-

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sexuality not be considered something terrible. Signorile does not advocate "special" treatment for gays and lesbians; rather, their sexuality should be treated with the same openness as that of heterosexuals. He believes that sexual identity should be a matter of common knowledge; a person's sexual behavior deserves to be private. If someone states that he or she is straight it is no big deal; in Signorile's viewpoint gays and lesbians ought to be able to state their orientation without fear of reprisal.

Despite the sometimes breathless style of a former gossip columnist and the polemics of the truly-converted (a “Queer Manifesto" is the coda to the book), Michelangelo Signorile's Queer in America is without doubt one of the two most important non-fiction gay and lesbian books this year (the other being Randy Shilts' Conduct Unbecoming, to be reviewed in a future issue of the Chronicle.) Every gay man and lesbian, closeted or uncloseted, should read Queer in America. If you are out, it will make you want to stand up and say, "Yes!" If you're not out, maybe it will give you courage to make that step out of the closet.

Next month: Michelangelo Signorile talks about the closets of power in an exclusive interview with the Chronicle.

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