In a brillaint interview for The Guardian, Alan Cumming demolishes Richard Chamberlain's advice to "a gay leading man-type actor," to stay in the closet. "I think it's so mean-spirited," Cumming tells writer Hadley Freeman. "If you're living a lie, that's not healthy, and I think it is really irresponsible of [Chamberlain] and Rupert to say these things." Pushed by the interviewer to concede that maybe Chamberlain and Rupert Everett have a point when they say that straight can't accept gay actors playing heterosexuals, he fires back: "It's not about your work... It's about how you exist as a person in the world, and the idea that your work is more important than you as a person is a horrible, horrible message. I always think about a little gay boy in Wisconsin or a little lesbian in Arkansas seeing someone like me, and if I cannot be open in my life, how on earth can they? Anyway, it's an academic question: how can you know [that coming out affects your career]? Some people get less work than others, and it has nothing to do with sexuality."
One more reason we love 2010 Out 100 honoree Alan Cumming. If only others had his courage--and eloquence.
