Anatomy of a Coming Out

While I was watching one of my favorite shows tonight, Grey's Anatomy, my roommate was online and surprise, surprise - he told me one of the show's stars came out. Now, many of us Grey's fans may have been hoping it was McDreamy or McSteamy, but instead, it turned out to be our favorite puppy-dog-eyed Dr. O'Malley. Here's the article for details:
http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1548317,00.html

First off, let me say congrads to actor T.R. Knight to have the balls to come out so publicly. I wasn't blogging when Lance Bass burst forth from the closet so I didn't have a forum to respond to all the gays out there who were saying it wasn't a big deal and why do we care and why is the media making such a big deal out of it. The reason is because it is still a big deal. If it wasn't a big deal, there would be many more actors, musicians and other high-profile people who are out and proud. There are still many gay people in this world who are not out. Now, that's there business, and to me it just shows that it still isn't the easiest thing to do. When I came out, it was before Will and Grace, before you could walk into Blockbuster and find a gay and lesbian section. Coming out wasn't easy then, and I'm sure it's still not the easiest thing to do. It takes courage. I grew up in a tiny little Midwest town and I didn't have a gay role model during my coming out process. I can only hope that there is at least one kid who sees this actor is gay and not afraid to admit it and it helps that kid to feel a little less isolated. I suspect it will not just be one kid, but many.

Of course, it saddens me to hear reports his coming out may have been prompted by a fight on the Grey's set where anti-gay slurs were hurled. We'll have to wait to find out more about that.