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posts about #meredithbaxterbirney more → Meredith Baxter's Surreal Today Show "Confession"
Tina Yothers Ate Carrot Sticks On The Set Of Family Ties
New York, 9:03 PM
Mon Dec 21
44 posts in the last 24 hours
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Meredith Baxter's Surreal Today Show "Confession" |
Tina Yothers Ate Carrot Sticks On The Set Of Family Ties |
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Only way this would have been more uncomfortable is if they had Ann Curry do it (not because of the female-female aspect, just because...Ann Curry).
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Below is the part about her sobriety. And here is the link to the Advocate story. [www.advocate.com]
Do you think getting sober helped you to really see that you might be gay?
I don’t know that for sure, but I will tell you, I have been sober for a little over 19 years, and for the first 10 years of my sobriety I did very little work at self-examination, which is why I had to go get married again. I had to learn a lot about what my part was in all the things that happened in my life. For a long time I sort clung to the victim attitude, that “Gee, look at the sorry hand I’ve been dealt.” It’s a sad way to go through life, but it was what I was doing. And when I got out of that last marriage, I had kind of a breakdown. I started therapy and really recommitted myself to the program and started doing the work that I dragged my feet about earlier. It wasn’t long after that, that my mother died. I don’t think that was a small contribution to the awakening, to laying of groundwork for waking up. My youngest kids went off to college, so I wasn’t worried about the judgment and I wasn’t responsible for someone on a daily basis. I was sober and in a good place and open, so the timing was just very fruitful.
12/02/09
But she's made me cry the way many of my friends have made me cry because she was forced to reveal something about herself that is no one's business at all. It wasn't a voluntary admission, it was defensive block. A voluntary admission? Great. But people being cornered is very upsetting.
I'm glad that she could see how a greater good could come of this in terms of politics, but what about the greater good of her being that 'person you know' in general?
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[Edited to add] Seriously, fix this. It's unbelievable. She's called herself Meredith Baxter for years, that's what she's called in the interview, it's totally disrespectful to call her by the name of a man she hasn't been married to for decades, and it's inexcusable in what's supposed to be a feminist publication.
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It's ironic (wait, I'm never sure if things are really ironic) in the context, though - like, "Hah, I know you just said that your marriages were doomed to failure because you hadn't realized you were a lesbian AND because your husbands were assholes, but Imma go ahead and call you by one of their names, okay?"
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Status: Hopey.
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Two daughters, two lesbians - What are the odds?
12/02/09
I mean, it’s one thing if you are in the closet. You know you’re gay, but for whatever reason (and Hollywood has a million reasons), you play straight. I get that. I don’t think it’s healthy or good AT ALL, but unfortunately some people feel pressured to do that. But to get to middle-age and suddenly say, "Oh my goodness! I’m gay! I never knew!" just seems really, really strange to me.
I know I’m probably coming off as really stupid, but I’m middle-aged and heterosexual, and I can’t imagine "switching teams," so to speak. And I have friends who are gay who’ve basically said, "I’ve known since I was five." And there is definitely a (good) trend of people coming out earlier, like in high school or even junior high, because they KNOW and why should they try to hide it? You are what you are.
I think this also bothers me because social conservatives can look at someone like Meredith and say, "See! It’s a choice! She was heterosexual, and then decided to be gay when her marriages failed." And that’s really, really bad and sets the whole movement back.
That’s just my thoughts. I’m happy that Meredith’s found happiness. I hope we’ve become enough of an accepting society that people don’t feel compelled to hide who they really are.
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Also, being gay (or straight) does not preclude the possibility of having sex or even loving someone the other way. "Cold mutton," as Oscar Wilde said, but if you're hungry you'll eat cold mutton.
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I am pretty sure you already know this, but the strides made with regards to gay visibility and acceptance of gayness have been pretty recent. Like, in my lifetime recent. When it's put into perspective like that, it's not hard to see how someone in his or her 40s or 50s might be in denial about their sexuality for as long as they were.
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Sorry it's so rambely, but people end up in the same place using different paths.
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However, the emotional and physical connection I have with women is so much more intense and fulfilling that I have chosen to 'hitch my wagon' to a wonderful woman that I am settling down and planning on raising a family with. I don't know if I like labels at all. I am a woman and a sexual being who has fallen in love with another woman - and we really can't help who we fall in love with. Does this make me a lesbian? Sure, but I also don't think it invalidates any of my past (heterosexual) relationships.
I am a product of time and circumstance. Because it is more socially acceptable in this era to be who we are sexually I feel comfortable being "out" with friends and family and the larger public. But, I have to say that if I was born 35 years earlier, I probably would be just like Ms. Baxter and others like her.
I feel a debt of gratitude to all those who came out years, decades and centuries before I did. Their bravery paved the way for me to be able to be who I am. I can lead a more fulfilling life with my girlfriend because of the path they blazed through society instead of being like so many other women similar to Ms. Baxter - happy enough, but not truly fulfilled.
12/02/09
Sigh.
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