So now the dust has settled it’s time to digest some of the biggest news of the last seven days – Philip Schofield has come out as gay.
Now I mean this in the nicest way possible, but who cares? Now, I don’t mean that no-one cares because he’s gay, I mean no-one should care. If he, or anyone else, comes out as gay then it SHOULDN’T be front-page news.
I see why it is, because he is such a big name and he’s been married for 27 years but given what it is it shouldn’t be that big a deal – we live in 2020 for Christ’s sake.
Don’t get me wrong, a man at the height of his popularity and fame did things the right way, he proudly announced his news on social media, before confronting it head-on, on national television in front of millions of people.
He gave a heartfelt interview and opened up about his true feelings in a way that I thought was moving, genuine and very brave. Brave not for what he was saying but brave because of what he was opening himself up to. Would people reject him because they didn’t understand his reasons for revealing this now? Would he be supported as he came out to the world, especially in our country where we have an occasionally unforgiving media?
From what I’ve read he has had fairly universal support, especially from his wife of 27 years, who has publicly supported him in what was surely a difficult and confusing time for her too.
For someone of his stature to come out and confront his feelings in such a public way has hopefully encouraged others to share their own feelings. Because let’s face it, despite society coming quite a long way in terms of people’s sexuality it’s still seen as a big thing to ‘come out’ about your feelings, especially if they differ from ‘social norms.’
People still feel like talking about their sexuality is a taboo subject and that if they stray from these norms, people will treat them differently in some way. I can tell you right now that if any of my closest friends or family came out to me, they would be the same person I’d always known and loved.
The truth is that nowadays people can be LGBTQ, they can be pansexual (attracted to people regardless of their sex or gender identity) or they can be a whole host of things and that is their choice – just as much as it’s someone’s choice to be heterosexual.
I hope that when Rupert, and our unborn child, grow up that they can choose to be whoever they want to be (maybe not a vegan) without any fear of prejudice, especially from Jess and I.
I hope that they can talk honestly about who they are and who they want to be because love is love. When I was younger and more naïve, I didn’t see that. Now, with years on my side and a broader mind, I can see that love comes in many forms. We should encourage the next generation to not only accept it but embrace it too
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