Did Colton Haynes come out? And why it matters

Social media was on fire last weekend over actor and model Colton Haynes’ response to a Tumblr post. Towleroad.com wrote, On Saturday, actor Colton Haynes came out as gay in a coy post on Tumblr in response to a fan’s question about his ‘secret gay past.’

“The Tumblr post that caught Haynes attention reads, ‘when I found out colton haynes had a secret gay past i got so excited even though i know it makes absolutely no difference in my life.’ Haynes replied by writing, ‘Was it a secret? Let’s all just enjoy life & have no regrets :).’ Haynes followed up with several emojis.”

Most media concluded that Haynes, who starred in Teen Wolf and Arrow, had come out as gay, but some were reluctant to come to that conclusion. HollywoodLife.com said, “It’s not clear if Colton was actually coming out or not, but we love his stance on wanting to ‘enjoy life’ and having ‘no regrets.’ That’s a statement everyone should live by. And if he was coming out, good for him! Fans seem to feel the same way as well.”

Advocate.com ran a commentary titled “The Problem with Colton Haynes and Not Quite ‘Coming Out.’ Acknowledging that Haynes has a “gay past,” the Advocate said, “That “gay past” the commenter referenced isn’t a well-kept secret, though there was an effort to bury it.

“A quick Google search unearths a number of supposed personal and professional photos from Haynes's younger years with an alleged ex-boyfriend, including an intimate photospread for XY – a gay/bi youth magazine which enjoyed a respectable-sized readership during its heyday, before ending its run nearly a decade ago. The photos surfaced as Haynes’ star began to rise with the popularity of Teen Wolf, but as quickly as gay blogs started reporting about the images they also posted about the threats of legal action they received from Haynes’ attorney if the images were not removed from their sites.”

But the Advocate, while apparently accepting that Haynes is gay, is troubled by his ambiguity on the matter, and similar vague responses to questions about their sexuality from several other young Hollywood celebs.

Noting the number of LGBT characters on TV, and their messages of tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion, Advocate says, “while messages of tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion would seem to be on the rise, an alarming number of young actors continue to dodge, deny, and perform impressive displays of verbal vogueing to avoid addressing the possibility they may be anything other than heterosexual – even in the face of apparent photographic evidence.”

Advocate is distressed by responses like “it shouldn’t matter.” Everyone agrees that it shouldn’t matter, but it does.

The Advocate concluded, “Rather than standing by on social media cocked and ready to fire at anyone who dare actually mention what is quickly becoming the love that dare not speak its name once again, we should be working to change the common response to questions about sexuality and gender identity from, ‘it shouldn’t matter’ to, ‘Yes, I’m gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, gender-queer, pansexual, straight, or whatever – and it shouldn’t matter.’ Because change – real, true, lasting social change – won’t happen until the most visible among us stands up without fear of being counted.”

The Gayly – January 7, 2016 @ 1:50 p.m.