The Hollywood Closet: Glad To Be Toby

Now I don't care about you, but I think the world would be a much better place if everyone went around telling other people what to do.
Surely no-one is more qualified to tell someone how to live their life than someone who knows fuck all about it?
Thank flip then for men like Toby Young, over on his blog for the Daily Telegraph he has announced; 'Hollywood is the home of gay hypocrisy'.
Oh really? Why's that then, Tobes?
Here is Mr Young's argument in a pistachio nutshell;
"Hollywood films are constantly championing heroic individuals who take a stand against prejudice and discrimination at great risk to themselves... Yet virtually no major stars are willing to jeopardise their careers by publicly admitting they’re gay. Proposition 8 only passed by 52 per cent of the vote and if more celebrities had been out of the closet at the time there’s a strong chance it would have been defeated."
Well, yes and no.
It's true that there are still no big name American movie stars who are out - though they've happily embraced a few British ones.
And yes, homophobia has dissipated as more people have come out, both public figures, and - more crucially, I believe - family members, friends, neighbours, and workmates.
But this is an argument as circular as the one about the chicken and the egg.
I agree that staying in the closet is a collusion with homophobia, but it's also a product of that same homophobia.
Mr Young's conclusion is positively dripping with sanctimony; "I’m fed up with being lectured by Hollywood luvvies about the the evils of discrimination. Until they put their own house in order, what right have they to criticise anyone else?"
Really, Toby? Sounds like a non sequitur to me.
Well, I'm fed up with being lectured by Hampstead pundits who blame the victims of discrimination for perpetuating discrimination.
What right has Toby Young to criticise gay men who are in a situation he will never have to deal with?
Though - it's worth noting - Mr Young has himself recently decided to "come out".
In May he wrote in his column for The Spectator; "Four weeks ago, I made one of the toughest decisions of my life. Ever since I was a child I’ve known I was different but I’ve done my best to conceal that fact. For most of my adult life I’ve pretended to be ‘normal’ and my late mother, God bless her, went to her grave without knowing the truth. But I cannot continue to live a lie. At the beginning of the election campaign I finally came out. Ladies and gentleman, I am a Tory."
I hate to say this, but I could have told him he was years ago.