Does People Have a Corner on Coming-Out Celebs?

So, as noted below, Clay Aiken shocked the world (aka nobody) by coming out on the cover of People magazine this week. First off, congrats to Clay, I guarantee it'll be a sigh of relief to get Perez off your back (although judging from the closet cleaner's site, that doesn't seem to be working). Yet, with another celebrity officially coming out, and using a major publication to do so, one has to start wondering: Does every gay celebrity need to out themselves on the cover of a major magazine? And why are all of those magazines owned by Time Warner? Check out our analysis, after the jump!




"I'm gay".

"Yep, I'm gay".

"Yes, I'm gay".

These were the cover headlines for the three covers featuring Lance Bass, Ellen DeGeneres, and Aiken. Both Bass and Aiken came out on the cover of People magazine, while DeGeneres came out on the cover of Time (which, like People, is owned by Time Warner). Why is it that Time Warner, and most notably People, has become the go-to place if you wanna go from famous, to famous-and-gay?

For every outed celebrity as of late, if you want genuine support and recognition without being hounded minute-by-minute during your outing process, apparently People is the way to go. While they didn't grace the cover to do so, both T.R. Knight and Neil Patrick Harris issued exclusive statements to People before catching the express train to Outville. Yet all this confirms is that People is hungry for good coming out stories, and does nothing to show why gay male celebrities feel the need to use it to vent their feelings - and personal lives.

Let's take a closer look at People magazine. People is a magazine about, well, people. Because that's the case, it often hovers (very) dangerously close to the point of becoming a tabloid, often running stories that are similar to those in paparazzi rags such as Us Weekly and In Touch. The only difference is that People (usually) won't go after a story unless it's true, and often is very capable of creating stories that their readers have a sympathetic pull towards. Because people will believe a story that's on the cover of People, but not Us Weekly, it seems like a smart choice for those who want to come out, and actually be believed.

But this begs the question, why only People? There are several other magazines and publications that have just as much (or even more) journalistic credibility than a borderline gossip rag such as People. Why not release the story to a major newspaper, such as the New York Times? Or how about this: give the interview to a major gay-oriented magazine such as The Advocate, and in doing so possibly enlighten others on several LGBT-oriented issues that would be addressed in that issue?

The main issue with that of course, is the fact that The Advocate doesn't appeal to as broad of a base of readers, so getting the full story out may prove more difficult. But in an age where any mainstream story can be passed around the globe instantaneously via the Internet, news feeds, and various mobile-web devices. Plus, ironically enough, while outing yourself on the cover of a magazine lets the world know you're gay, doing so on the cover of The Advocate may seem "too gay", which is sadly something the mainstream America still isn't ready for. So for a performer who is still looking to have a successful career after coming out, appealing to a broad audience seems like a wise idea, and doing so in People may be the best way to do it.

So I guess People's corner on coming-out stories isn't all bad. But maybe it would be nice for a performer to be able to come out someday without having to have their career saved by gracing the cover of one particular magazine. Until then, Lindsay Lohan, people is waiting for a callback from your publicist.