The Impact of Sexual Minorities' Coming Out Actions on Their Careers in the United States: Take the Film Industry as an Example

Research Article
Open access

The Impact of Sexual Minorities' Coming Out Actions on Their Careers in the United States: Take the Film Industry as an Example

Kaining Bai 1*
  • 1 Peidong School, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China    
  • *corresponding author 6019980026@jsnu.edu.cn
CHR Vol.4
ISSN (Print): 2753-7072
ISSN (Online): 2753-7064
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-31-7
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-32-4

Abstract

Although much has been done to protect LGBT people, coming out still seems to be a red line that cannot be crossed in the US film industry. Actors or Actresses who come out of the closet will still always lose job opportunities, just because of their sexual orientations. Or they will only act on some LGBT characters. Therefore, this article uses the case analysis method, to find out the impact coming out actions have on people's careers in the film industry in the United States, to explore why so many actors or actresses still choose to stay in the closet, and to give some suggestions. Finally, this article finds out that it is losing quality acting resources, disruption to private lives, conflict in works, and excessive public opinion pressure which stop them from coming out. Based on the findings, this paper also provides some suggestions which can be used to eliminate occupational discrimination against sexual orientations in the American film industry at family, school, and society levels.

Keywords:

film industry, LGBT, United States., coming out

Bai,K. (2023). The Impact of Sexual Minorities' Coming Out Actions on Their Careers in the United States: Take the Film Industry as an Example. Communications in Humanities Research,4,329-335.
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References

[1]. Merritt, P. S., Cook, G. I., Wang, M., Schnarrs, P. W., & Jack, S. Can a Gay Man Play It Straight? How Being Out Influences Perceptions of Masculinity and Performance Appraisal. Clemson University, Claremont McKenna College, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Texas at Austin, 2013.

[2]. Liming Zhou. Hollywood Apocalypse. Fudan University Publish House, 2010.

[3]. Dan Mangan, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says gay rights, contraception rulings should be reconsidered after Roe is overturned, CNBC, June 24, 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-supreme-court-justice-thomas-says-gay-rights-rulings-open-to-be-tossed

[4]. Unknown, California Proposition 8, Same-Sex Marriage Ban Initiative, BALLOTPEDIA, https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_8,_Same-Sex_Marriage_Ban_Initiative_(2008)

[5]. Lesley Messer, Wentworth Miller comes out as gay, ABC news, August 22, 2013, https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wentworth-miller-gay/story?id=20034348

[6]. Jessica Derschowitz, Matt Bomer comes out, CBS NEWS, February 14, 2012, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-bomer-comes-out/

[7]. Sadie Gennis. Wentworth Miller Shares Heartbreaking Truth Behind Fat-Shaming Meme, TV GUIDE, March 29 2016,https://www.tvguide.com/news/wentworth-miller-depression-suicide-fat-shaming-meme/

[8]. Is Matt Bomer Gay? What Did He Say About His Coming Out? exactgayceleb, https://exactgayceleb.com/is-matt-bomer-gay/

[9]. Caitlin R., Stephen T. R., David H., Rafael D., &Jorge S. Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults. Journal of Children and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 2010, 23(4): 207-212.

[10]. Tiffany E. W. Nancy S., Bullying of LGBT Youth and School Climate for LGBT Educators. GEMS (Gender, Education, Music, & Society), 2013, 6(1): 4-10.

[11]. Griffin L. C. Beyond the Basketball Court: How Brittney Griner's In My Skin Illustrates Title IX's Failure to Protect LGBT Athletes at Religious Institutions. University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law, 2016.

Cite this article

Bai,K. (2023). The Impact of Sexual Minorities' Coming Out Actions on Their Careers in the United States: Take the Film Industry as an Example. Communications in Humanities Research,4,329-335.

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 2

ISBN：978-1-915371-31-7(Print) / 978-1-915371-32-4(Online)
Editor：Faraz Ali Bughio, David T. Mitchell
Conference website: https://www.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 18 December 2022
Series: Communications in Humanities Research
Volume number: Vol.4
ISSN：2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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References

[1]. Merritt, P. S., Cook, G. I., Wang, M., Schnarrs, P. W., & Jack, S. Can a Gay Man Play It Straight? How Being Out Influences Perceptions of Masculinity and Performance Appraisal. Clemson University, Claremont McKenna College, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Texas at Austin, 2013.

[2]. Liming Zhou. Hollywood Apocalypse. Fudan University Publish House, 2010.

[3]. Dan Mangan, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says gay rights, contraception rulings should be reconsidered after Roe is overturned, CNBC, June 24, 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-supreme-court-justice-thomas-says-gay-rights-rulings-open-to-be-tossed

[4]. Unknown, California Proposition 8, Same-Sex Marriage Ban Initiative, BALLOTPEDIA, https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_8,_Same-Sex_Marriage_Ban_Initiative_(2008)

[5]. Lesley Messer, Wentworth Miller comes out as gay, ABC news, August 22, 2013, https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wentworth-miller-gay/story?id=20034348

[6]. Jessica Derschowitz, Matt Bomer comes out, CBS NEWS, February 14, 2012, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-bomer-comes-out/

[7]. Sadie Gennis. Wentworth Miller Shares Heartbreaking Truth Behind Fat-Shaming Meme, TV GUIDE, March 29 2016,https://www.tvguide.com/news/wentworth-miller-depression-suicide-fat-shaming-meme/

[8]. Is Matt Bomer Gay? What Did He Say About His Coming Out? exactgayceleb, https://exactgayceleb.com/is-matt-bomer-gay/

[9]. Caitlin R., Stephen T. R., David H., Rafael D., &Jorge S. Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults. Journal of Children and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 2010, 23(4): 207-212.

[10]. Tiffany E. W. Nancy S., Bullying of LGBT Youth and School Climate for LGBT Educators. GEMS (Gender, Education, Music, & Society), 2013, 6(1): 4-10.

[11]. Griffin L. C. Beyond the Basketball Court: How Brittney Griner's In My Skin Illustrates Title IX's Failure to Protect LGBT Athletes at Religious Institutions. University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law, 2016.

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