With regards to tabloids, should gays get special treatment?

[idgiehkt]

I have been mulling this over in my head this morning because there is discussion on several boards about the 'Lance Bass hoopla'. Since there is a whole industry devoted to revealing the private details of every celebrity's life, and the number of those have increased exponentially on the internet, should these tabloids treat gay people differently than heterosexuals when it comes to a scoop or a story? In the case of Lance Bass, someone argued elsewhere that he went to P-town with Reichen and was 'hanging all over him' apparently in a public way. Also George Michael was crusing in a public park when he was caught by the stalkerazzi. I suppose it's possible to disregard the whole issue by saying all tabloids suck, and they should 'leave celebrities alone', but the fact is, they aren't going anywhere.

So when a tabloid gets a scoop or a picture about a celebrity's new signficant other, or whatever, is there a deeper ethical issue if that person is gay or bi? Should the tabloid kill the story (which they would only do for legal reasons, if they were afraid to get sued). Or is it the same as if they catch a celebrity out with a member of the opposite gender, which they do about every hour and report on pretty much daily. I'm kind of confused about this issue; it's perhaps the only one where we could be legitimately said to be wanting 'special privileges'.

[MsUnderstood]

1. Would getting caught ruin your career

If you were a single straight man and caught running around with a single straight girl, would having a photo taken of you cause havoc on your career?

If you were a single gay man (not OUT yet) caught running around with a single gay boy, would having a photo taken of you cause havoc your career?


Its not that gays needs special treatment its that the tabloids need not to push it like it is a bad bad thing to be gay. . . and the CELEBRITIES who are gay need to come out before they get shoved out of the closet so this doesn't hang over them.

[idgiehkt]

3. that is precisely my question

Being that your first two sentences are true, it is up to the tabloids not to carry the story, or is it up to famous gay people to be extra super careful never to appear in public with their significant others so that it never becomes an issue? Can we expect tabloids to take the high road and understand what you have just stated? What if the website or tabloid in question is run by a gay person, as I believe Perez Hilton is, who is the one that kept hounding Lance Bass, after Bass appeared in public wearing Reichen's clothes?

[meegbear]

2. SEX SELLS!

Anything that'll titilate their audience and increase sales is what they want to do.

Back in the day, when celebrities were considered "commodities", studios would pay big bucks to keep unflattering stories/photos from being released. That doesn't exist anymore and tabloids know those stories/photos will generate beaucoup bucks for them.