The April 14, 1997, issue of TIME featured a s-down wh the edian, who nfirmed that her s character was gay—and so was she.
Contents:
- READ THE 'YEP, I'M GAY' ELLEN DEGENER INTERVIEW FROM 1997
- ‘YEP, I’M GAY’: UNRSTANDG AGENTIAL INTY
- 'HUNGER GAM' STAR AMANDLA STENBERG: 'YEP, I'M GAY, NOT BI OR PAN'
- A HISTORY OF GAY RIGHTS THROUGH TIME COVERS
- TIME COVERS THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
- AM I GAY?
- 17 SIGNS YOU'RE ACTUALLY GAY (AND JT DON'T KNOW IT)
- 'YEP, I'M GAY': UNRSTANDG AGENTIAL INTY
READ THE 'YEP, I'M GAY' ELLEN DEGENER INTERVIEW FROM 1997
* yep im gay *
It was on the April 14, 1997, ver of TIME magaze that Ellen DeGener, then the star of the s Ellen, nfirmed somethg she’d been buildg up to for s: “Yep, ” as the ver put , “I’m gay.
She would be playg the first gay lead character on Amerin work televisn.
Penney, ironilly, as that pany would later hire DeGener for an ad mpaign that would turn draw s own ntroversy — and the natn bated whether the show would “legimize” a facet of life that was still margalized, or if merely proved that homosexualy was already accepted by enough of the populatn that such a plot twist was possible.
‘YEP, I’M GAY’: UNRSTANDG AGENTIAL INTY
After the Supreme Court heard two arguments about the legaly of same-sex marriage the U.S., the outpourg of support om Amerins ma clear that gay marriage already won — though 's been a long road for supporters. * yep im gay *
TIME: So, for the rerd, are you yourself gay? ” I never wanted to be the spokperson for the gay muny.
TIME: Is beg gay somethg you stggled wh? My first gay experience was lerally someone else’s ia–I was eaked out even by the thought of . In April 1997, Ellen DeGener officially ‘me out’ Time magaze, the ver boldly statg, wh characteristic nonchalance, “Yep, I’m Gay”.
In one sense, DeGener’s g out was not rmative: was wily known that DeGener was gay. Consir, for example, a young man cidg whether to e out to his parents as gay. [7] But, havg realized that he is gay, he to self-intify as gay.
'HUNGER GAM' STAR AMANDLA STENBERG: 'YEP, I'M GAY, NOT BI OR PAN'
Are you qutng your sexualy? Fd out if you’re gay, straight, bisexual, or asexual. Learn what the terms mean and if they apply to you. * yep im gay *
[8] This ternal intifitn is ccial to agential inty, but is the choice to e out, the choice to make that private inty public and allow others to perceive him as gay, that would create an agential inty. If the young man’s parents ignore him or tell him that he’s nfed, and then ntue to ask after his girliend, they effect refe to perceive him as gay.
A HISTORY OF GAY RIGHTS THROUGH TIME COVERS
This, turn, ni him accs ( that ntext) to the social posn of a gay man. In such a se, he has the agential inty of beg gay virtue of his tentns and actns, but lacks the social posn. (externaly) one mt, nscly or unnscly, make their self-intifitn externally available, whether by engagg certa behavrs or displayg certa readily perceptible featur, where those behavrs or featur outwardly manift (or, certa s, are merely tend to manift) social properti associated wh a particular group, [10] and(posn-directedns) one mt allow, or at least accept, that others take them as occupyg a group associated social posn as a rult of fulfillg (a) self-intifitn ndn stat that, for example, one nnot have the agential inty of beg gay whout actually intifyg as gay.
TIME COVERS THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
For example, nsir a gay teenager who out to his parents, but otherwise acts nservatively at home orr to mimize the salience of his gay inty.
AM I GAY?
This same teenager might, other ntexts, liberately talk and behave ways that persistently signal and emphasize his gay inty.
When Updike me to realize that she was not gay, the suatn changed.
17 SIGNS YOU'RE ACTUALLY GAY (AND JT DON'T KNOW IT)
A closeted gay man, for example, may make succsful efforts to pass as straight, but he do not have an agential inty as straight bee he do not self-intify as straight. We n pare this wh a se where a non-closeted gay man—that is, one who agentially intifi as gay—is neverthels treated as straight.
We take that social posns are ntext-sensive: jt bee the young man is not regnized as gay at home do not mean he uld not have the social posn of beg gay other social ntexts.
'YEP, I'M GAY': UNRSTANDG AGENTIAL INTY
Focg on s like Alena’s, the Natnal Center for trans Equaly and the Natnal Gay and Lbian Taskforce report that after receivg genr-nfirmg treatment, “78% of trans people had improved psychologil functng” and suici rat for trans dividuals drop om a range of 29% to 19% to 6% to 0. Amandla Stenberg, the former teen star of "The Hunger Gam" who me out as bisexual 2016 when she was 17, says she now realiz she's gay. ""Yep, I'm Gay, " she told sger Kg Prcs, who nducted the terview for the ternatnal magaze that vers new and tablished talent pop culture, cludg fashn, film, mic and art.
"I was so overe wh this profound sense of relief when I realized that I’m gay – not bi, not pan, but gay – wh a romantic love for women, " Stenberg said.
Stenberg, now 19, said she had a few big "Gay Sob moments" when she realized her sexualy.