A tabloid says you are gay...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

You are as unambiguously straight as a person can be. (However straight that is.)

A tabloid says you are gay.

Do you sue for defamation?

Well, there shouldn't be anything defamatory about gay-ness. It is not a bad thing. If you say I am a marine-biologist it would be false but not very defamatory.

But I would sue for defamation because the tabloid did falsely slur and slander my character.

Because the implication of their claim is that I am a LIAR.

Their claim includes the implicit claim that I am closeted.

Unlike being gay, being closeted is a charge with real moral and ethical implications.

Just something to think about...

[Nye Bevan]

1. I would not sue.

Denying being gay, or suing because someone says you are gay, both imply there is something wrong with being gay.

I would treat the allegation exactly the same as if a tabloid claimed I was left-handed.

[rucky]

2. People are closeted for their own reasons

most are legit.

the moral & ethical implications come in play by how they cover it up and how they act publicly.

[Scuba]

3. Just ignore them, they don't warrant the cycles

[qb]

4. I think the readers who take tabloid gossip seriously are of little consequence

to a celebrity's career. Then there's the truism "All publicity is good publicity."
I would just ignore it.

[cbdo2007]

5. Sure I would sue for defamation.

I'm married to a woman so the issue isn't about "gay-ness" being bad, but the false claim could ruin my straight relationship.

Like let's say you were the President of Coca-Cola and a tabloid came out and said you were seen on vacation with a 24 pack of Pepsi by the pool and that you drank the whole thing and were wearing a Pepsi baseball cap. You would sue for defamation because the allegation is not that you were doing something that was horrible and bad in general, but because the untrue report is meant to do damage to you in your current position with Coca-Cola.