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Author Topic: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?  (Read 6682 times)

Anord

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I was thinking of how many people holding office, in hollywood, on tv, etc are Pagan and for the sake of their careers are in the "broom closet". What do ya'll think?
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Fagan_the_Pagan

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2011, 02:54:59 pm »
Quote from: Anord;35400
I was thinking of how many people holding office, in hollywood, on tv, etc are Pagan and for the sake of their careers are in the "broom closet". What do ya'll think?

 
I can't give a number, but I'd suspect its a good number.  Not the majority by any means, but a good number.
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Valentine

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2011, 02:58:05 pm »
Quote from: Anord;35400
I was thinking of how many people holding office, in hollywood, on tv, etc are Pagan and for the sake of their careers are in the "broom closet". What do ya'll think?

 

I mean, there's no way to know, really.  Except the way we do it in the queer community:  
"No my friend totally used to hang out with this guy who worked for this doctor?  and she said she was doing a checkup for Dolly Parton one time? and totally caught her making out with her lady friend in the exam room.  For serious.  Gay."  
"Oh my God I had no idea!  I mean, I knew it.  It's so obvious."  
"Right?  It explains so much."  
(fin)

(We shall leave aside "John Travolta caught in gay bathhouse" and "no actually Jodie Foster really finally came out" and "no for actual reals Lana Wachowski is transitioning so just run with it" and so on, because they are easy.)
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Catherine

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2011, 07:38:19 pm »
Quote from: Valentine;35409



Lol, that was fun to read. :)

To answer the question, I have no idea and wouldn't even try to guess. There could be a lot, or none at all.

Etheric1

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2011, 08:41:18 pm »
Quote from: Anord;35400
I was thinking of how many people holding office, in hollywood, on tv, etc are Pagan and for the sake of their careers are in the "broom closet". What do ya'll think?

 
There is no way to tell this.  None.  There can be plenty of suspension, but that's no better than gossip really.  I think many pagans keep their beliefs to themselves, especially if they have anything that might put them in the public's eyes.  Reason being is that there are still a lot of preconceived notions about what being a pagan actually means and what it could do to one's reputation. Additionally, it's not uncommon to hear about the need for secrecy when it comes to this subject perhaps at the request of a coven/group/temple/what-have-you.  Even if a person may seem like they could be in the "broom closet" because they are perhaps extra interested in tolerance of pagan ideas, that would still be supposition on anyone else's part.

Personally, I couldn't care less on who, or how many, people are in the closet on this matter.  It's a private matter between themselves and their spiritual practice.  I'd just as soon they NOT broadcast it because I highly doubt our society (at least here in America) is ready to discuss the matter in a mature fashion.
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MadZealot

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2011, 10:55:08 pm »
Quote from: Etheric1;35463
Personally, I couldn't care less on who, or how many, people are in the closet on this matter.  It's a private matter between themselves and their spiritual practice.  I'd just as soon they NOT broadcast it because I highly doubt our society (at least here in America) is ready to discuss the matter in a mature fashion.

Yup.  In America we're stuck on the whole Pagan=Satanic fallacy.  A famous person who 'came out' as Pagan would likely be committing career suicide.  Or worse: you'd have a star 'come out' as a total loon (think Tom Cruise on a couch) and cast a poor light on his/her tradition.  
Hell, this country is barely able to accept gay stars.
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Malkin

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2011, 11:46:52 pm »
Quote from: MadZealot;35493
Yup.  In America we're stuck on the whole Pagan=Satanic fallacy.  A famous person who 'came out' as Pagan would likely be committing career suicide.  Or worse: you'd have a star 'come out' as a total loon (think Tom Cruise on a couch) and cast a poor light on his/her tradition.  
Hell, this country is barely able to accept gay stars.

 
There was a guy in the CIA who was a member of the Temple of Set during the whole Satanic Panic craze. His name is Michael Aquino, if I'm not mistaken. He came out at work and explained his beliefs, and it's largely because of him that the government never had a clumsy crack down on occult groups in the US. (Also, Reagan thought Aquino's religion was awesome; he asked him to come to White House dinners in his ritual robes!) So that worked out pretty well for him, and for the rest of us.

There are plenty of rock stars who are subtle and not-so-subtle about their occult practices, like Zepplin and Bowie. (Or Tool, to be a bit more contemporary.) The writer William S. Burroughs was quite open about his magical practices. (Bowie used Burroughs' "cut-up" method to write many of his early songs.) A few actors have admitted to occult interests; Christopher Lee is supposed to have an impressive library of occult works, and Nicolas Cage says he makes a lot of his fantasy movies precisely because of his fascination with the occult. (He says he used his visit to Merlin's Cave below Tintagel Castle as motivation for his role in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice.")

As for out-and-out polytheists, there is a Heathen city council member in New York, Dan Halloran. While I've heard of other pagans running for local office in various states, I think Halloran's the only one to succeed so far. (And he faces his own challenges.) Clearly, the type of work that you do affects how open one can be about these things. Unless you're as deliriously wealthy as Shirley McClaine.

Melamphoros

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2011, 11:55:40 pm »
Quote from: Anord;35400
I was thinking of how many people holding office, in hollywood, on tv, etc are Pagan and for the sake of their careers are in the "broom closet". What do ya'll think?

 
To be blunt, my stance on supposedly broom closeted celebrities is exactly the same as my stance on regular closeted celebrities:  Nobody's business but their own and good for them for trying to maintain a private life when the press is constantly following them around.


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SkylarB

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2011, 04:50:42 pm »
Quote from: Anord;35400
I was thinking of how many people holding office, in hollywood, on tv, etc are Pagan and for the sake of their careers are in the "broom closet". What do ya'll think?


This is interesting to think about, but because of the sheer fact that they are in the broom closet means we'll never really know. I like to think there are some. As for famous people that are openly Pagan, there is Sully Erna - lead singer of Godsmack, who has studied with Laurie Cabbot. And Fairuza Balk - most famous for her role in, ironically, The Craft, and Water Boy.
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Asch

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2011, 11:57:30 pm »
Quote from: SkylarB;36076
And Fairuza Balk - most famous for her role in, ironically, The Craft, and Water Boy.


I think, I could be wrong but I *think* she was Wiccan/Pagan (can't recall which) prior to do the film. Not gonna lie that flick is totally a guilty pleasure it's so silly.

stephyjh

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How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2011, 12:51:22 am »
Quote from: Asch;36135
I think, I could be wrong but I *think* she was Wiccan/Pagan (can't recall which) prior to do the film. Not gonna lie that flick is totally a guilty pleasure it's so silly.

Apparently she owned a Pagan shop in LA for a while. Cybill Shepherd also has been pretty open about her goddess worship.
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thetaurus

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2011, 04:43:49 am »
Quote from: Anord;35400
I was thinking of how many people holding office, in hollywood, on tv, etc are Pagan and for the sake of their careers are in the "broom closet". What do ya'll think?

 
I'm going to stick my neck out and say 2,482.
I'm feeling confident about this... :-)

mandrina

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2011, 11:22:13 am »
Quote from: stephyjh;36139
Apparently she owned a Pagan shop in LA for a while. Cybill Shepherd also has been pretty open about her goddess worship.

 
Olympia Dukakis?  I heard that somwhere.  

supposedly there was an expert that worked with them on the craft so that it wouldn't be nearly as silly as it could have been
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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #13 on: December 29, 2011, 03:56:26 pm »
Quote from: SkylarB;36076
This is interesting to think about, but because of the sheer fact that they are in the broom closet means we'll never really know. I like to think there are some. As for famous people that are openly Pagan, there is Sully Erna - lead singer of Godsmack, who has studied with Laurie Cabbot. And Fairuza Balk - most famous for her role in, ironically, The Craft, and Water Boy.

 
Among relatively famous names of Urban Fantasy writers, add in Cate Tiernan- if you read her novels, she writes witchcraft and Wicca like only a wiccan would be able to.
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Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: How many people in the spotlight are still in the "broom closet"?
« Reply #14 on: December 29, 2011, 04:14:56 pm »
Quote from: thetaurus;36813
I'm going to stick my neck out and say 2,482.
I'm feeling confident about this... :-)

 
You've got my vote.:)

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