Shepherd Smith outed by WashingtonBlade's Naff

[Mabus]

Kevin Naff talks about his encounter with Fox's Shepard Smith at a NYC gay piano bar in Out, out damn celebs! From Anderson Cooper to Jodie Foster, it’s time for the rich and famous to stop playing games and start answering ‘the question.’

Cooper isn’t the only well-known TV personality hiding his sexual orientation. Shepard Smith, who hosts a popular program on Fox News and received widespread praise for his work covering Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, also dodges questions about his sexual orientation.

Smith once chatted me up in a New York City gay piano bar, bought me drinks, and invited me back to his place. When I declined, he asked me to dinner the next night, another invitation I politely refused.

We sat at the bar chatting and drinking martinis until 3 a.m., our conversation interrupted only when he paused to belt out the lyrics to whatever showtune was being performed.

I'm sorry, I just don't understand how a gay man can throw in the RW. The only explanations I figure out are intense self-loathing or greed. I wonder if Faux News is going to make Shepard do Lauren Green-type interviews/statements denying it?

[terrya]

1. David Brock did the same thing.

Brock was a part of the RW, also.

I've wondered about Shepard Smith in the past. The gaydar goes off big time with Smith.

IF Smith is gay...perhaps he'll have a change of heart like Brock. One can hope.

[blm]

11. Haven't we known about Smith for at least 5 years now?

.

[Autumn Colors]

22. You might have, but....

I've only been on DU for a short time and I don't normally read the gay media unless a headline makes its way over to some other site that I read.

[blm]

25. I think when he was covering Florida recount that it came up publically.

.

[LisaM]

2. I thought Anderson Cooper was out

I never heard that he tried to hide being gay.

[CottonBear]

3. I don't care if Shep is gay or not. I have problems with his reporting

(or lack thereof) NOT including his Katrina work. They sent him on a brief holiday post-KAtrina and he came back all Fauxed up and back to "normal." :( He should get another job.

[Autumn Colors]

23. I don't care if he's gay either

I just have a problem with gay people who support those who promote and try to pass anti-gay laws.

[mshasta]

4. republican gay?

holy moly!

[musette_sf]

5. I thought they all were gay n/t

[Lex]

6. Meh. I thought everyone knew they were gay. nt

[YDogg]

7. "Shame on the rich and famous closet cases who have let us down."

It's unfortunate that this is such a big deal. I'm not minimizing the big deal that it may seem to be, but I just think it's too bad. I understand the importance of positive role models, but why shouldn't the people mentioned in the column have a right to privacy?

I cannot fathom the whole gay Republican thing, but that's almost beside the point. Almost.

[Mabus]

15. the whole gay Republican thing

I guess this is what bothers me the most. I don't give a shit who is gay and who isn't, but how can someone be gay and support the GOP/RW agenda? Brock is someone that I admire because he talks about the hypocrisy of being a gay Republican in "Blinded by the Right", not to mention that he knows how the RW works and holds them accountable. Didn't Brock talk about self-loathing during his days as RW hitman?


As for the privacy issue, hey if someone is not out there trying to limit gay rights then let them be. If however, they are actively working with the GOP/RW/fundies to suppress gay (and other human) rights then they should be called on their hypocrisy.

[gulfcoastliberal]

20. It's established those in the public sphere don't have the same rights of

privacy as private citizens who aren't celebrities or on TV all the time.

[JI7]

8. it's well known Shep is gay

this isn't news.

[smoogatz]

9. Denial?

The misguided and incorrect belief that only the wingnut wing of the Republican party actually thinks we'd all be better off if gay men were stoned to death or herded into quarantine camps? I mean, I can understand a gay fiscal conservative, and even a gay military hawk, and I'm surprised there aren't a lot more gay libertarians than there are--but I don't understand how any gay person can be a Republican. It's like being a black Klansman or a Jewish Nazi.

[jonnyblitz]

10. "..when he paused to belt out the lyrics to whatever showtune

was being performed."!!!! :rofl: :rofl:

[Lex]

13. That seems contrived to me.

All gay men aren't showtune enthusiasts.

[jonnyblitz]

14. I know. I am not a show tune enthusiast by any means.

it does sound contrived and that is why I found it so humorous but ya just never know, Lex. :shrug: :P

[Ksec]

12. Coopers gay?

Thats news to me.

And Smith?
Well, He IS a snappy dresser and his hair is well groomed.


:)

[RobertSeattle]

16. NOT that there is anything wrong with THAT

[helderheid]

19. same here - didn't know or suspect Cooper

if it's true, there goes my fantasy... eegads he is a hottie.

[Lexingtonian]

17. Are all the smarter and more photogenic right wingers gay?

I can see how there's could be a kind of process of natural selection for that, but the levels are getting pretty absurd.

'Hi, we're the party of bigotry, chauvinism, racism, classism, Mammonism, and 'Christian' theocracy. Our leaders and leaders-to-be are a freak show of closeted gay men, Jews who repudiate Judaism, lesbian black university deans, occultists, and immoralists or people with evident psychiatric or neurological disorders.'

[belle]

18. That is beautiful, mind if I use that?

[William769]

21. Shepherd Smith has been outed for several years

Thats what happens when you play in the back room of bars.

[donheld]

24. Old news to me

Anybody at FOX that's gay deserves to be outed IMHO