Elizabeth Taylor Outed James Dean
By: Joe Thompson
3.25.2011
Oh, the things that come out once a person dies.
The Advocate has been tracking Elizabeth Taylor's many pro-gay achievements over the last couple days, and they stumbled upon a juicy tidbit. In her 1996 interview with the magazine, Taylor called Bob Dole a homophobe and outed James Dean. She said:
"It was very hard for men who wanted to come out of the closet in those days. The men that I knew — Monty and Jimmy [Dean] and Rock — if anything, I helped them get out of the closet. I didn’t even know I was doing it. I didn’t know that I was more advanced than most people in this town. It just never occurred to me."
How did that get buried? Check it—the year was 1996, so the internet was a baby and Google was just a research project Larry Page and Sergey Brin were working on at Stanford.
What else did Liz have to say? Find out as former Advocate editor-in-chief, Jeff Yarbrough, recalls the excitement surrounding his visit to Elizabeth Taylor’s home for that exclusive interview with the late star-activist.
Oh, the things that come out once a person dies.
The Advocate has been tracking Elizabeth Taylor's many pro-gay achievements over the last couple days, and they stumbled upon a juicy tidbit. In her 1996 interview with the magazine, Taylor called Bob Dole a homophobe and outed James Dean. She said:
"It was very hard for men who wanted to come out of the closet in those days. The men that I knew — Monty and Jimmy [Dean] and Rock — if anything, I helped them get out of the closet. I didn’t even know I was doing it. I didn’t know that I was more advanced than most people in this town. It just never occurred to me."
How did that get buried? Check it—the year was 1996, so the internet was a baby and Google was just a research project Larry Page and Sergey Brin were working on at Stanford.
What else did Liz have to say? Find out as former Advocate editor-in-chief, Jeff Yarbrough, recalls the excitement surrounding his visit to Elizabeth Taylor’s home for that exclusive interview with the late star-activist.
