Veteran actress Meredith Baxter, best known as matriarch Elyse Keaton on the classic ’80s sitcom Family Ties, came out of the closet in a Today Show interview this morning.
I haven’t even thought about her for nearly two decades, as rude as that sounds. She’ll always be Alex’s nerdy ex-hippie mom to me…she was perfect in that part. Why didn’t she come out sooner, though? If it were me, I would have said I was a lesbian shortly after Ellen DeGeneres did, so that it would have just gotten lost in the shuffle of her drama. That way, I could just go on with the rest of my life without making too big a deal out of “revealing” my sexuality.
Call me cynical, but the timing of it reeks of a publicity stunt with the goal of revitalizing a flagging career. I know that gay actors couldn’t risk being truthful about their orientation in the ’80s, and even for much of the ’90s. But c’mon, Ms. Baxter! We’ve lived in the new millennium for nearly 10 years now; you’ve had at least that much time to feel safe with being openly homosexual in Hollywood. Why only now are you being honest about who you are?
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