DOS: Out

The distinguished actor David Ogden Stiers, best known to me (and probably most members of my generation and older) as the stuffy, fussy, brutally witty Charles Emerson Winchester III of the 4077 M*A*S*H unit, has quite casually come out of the closet:

In a recent interview, the Emmy-nominated actor, 66, told the Oklahoma City blog gossip-boy.com, "I am [gay]. Very proud to be so."

Stiers says he didn't publicly come out sooner because he feared it might hurt his career, and although he says he hasn't personally "witnessed such things occurring in a long, long time," he notes:

"I should say in regards to this that many of my fears were in modern times self-invented. I've been working internally on whether they were the problem, or if I just continued using them as an excuse. … I enjoy working, and even though many have this idealistic belief that the entertainment industry and studios like Walt Disney are gay friendly," they weren't always, he said. "For the most part they are, but that doesn't mean for them that business does not come first. It's a matter of economics. ... A lot of my income has been derived from voicing Disney and family programming."

Totally aside from whether discrimination still happens (because we know it does, especially for actors who aren't as well-established as Stiers), it's worth noting how discrimination lingers: Once that fear is in you, it stays. Bigotry is never a one-time tax; it reverberates for a very long time, and its targets pay the price for years to come.

Stiers explains why he's coming out now:

"I wish to spend my life's twilight being just who I am," he said. "I could claim noble reasons as coming out in order to move gay rights forward, but I must admit it is for far more selfish reasons. Now is the time I wish to find someone, and I do not desire to force any potential partner to live a life of extreme discretion with me."

Love and peace to you, Mr. Stiers.