Coming out is rarely an easy thing to do, and that’s as true for celebrities as it is for everyone else. In days gone past famous gay people were either outed or they did big, splashy interviews were they had to divulge every detail of their life (which they often did under the threat of being outed if they didn’t).
However in recent years it’s become a lot simpler, with an increasing amount of celebs releasing short, simple statements, authorising brief mentions of same sex partners in newspaper articles or thanking their partner when they receive an award.
Ben Whishaw went the simple statement route, with his reps releasing the following in August 2013: ‘Due to speculation, I can confirm that Ben and Mark [Bradshaw] entered into a civil partnership in August 2012. They were proud to do so and are very happy. Ben has never hidden his sexuality, but like many actors he prefers not to discuss his family or life outside of his work.’
Now he’s been talking about coming out and the difficulty finding a dignified way to do it. Talking to Marie Clare (via Radio Times), he says, “I suppose now I’m very grateful that it happened the way it did. It was never a secret, everyone around me in my life knew, it’s just very hard to know how to say it, in a way, with some sort of dignity and to remain private. It was something that happened at that time and now I’m very happy it’s just a fact and I can get on with life.”
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