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Since I have joined twitter in October I've seen quite a few people on here saying that closeting in Hollywood does not exist and if someone was part of the LGBTQ+ community they wouldn't be told to hide it and their label would not be involved. So buckle up for a long thread!
In an interview with Sir Ian McKellan for the November 2018 cover story of the UK's Gay Times magazine, pop singer George Shelley opened up about having to hide his sexuality during his days of being a member of the boyband Union J.
"I don’t want to waste one day. I don’t want to lie and pretend I’m somebody I’m not." -George Shelley
"People knew, and then I started going out, Jaymi would take me to these clubs, and people would see me with these guys," Shelley told Gay Times, recounting how he used to party at gay clubs with fellow gay bandmember Jaymi Hensley before coming out.
"I’d be kissing these guys on nights out like any other 20-year-old would do when you’re experimenting, and that’s absolutely okay. But because of the situation I was in—in the public eye selling records aimed at young girls—I feel like I was made to believe, and made to think++
++ because of the things I was being told and the way I was conditioned, that it would’ve jeopardised the band’s career. And in turn jeopardise my own career."
George Shelley isn't the only boy band member who had to hide his sexuality. Let's have a look at Lance Bass for instance.
Who is Lance bass?
At 16 years old, Mississippi-born Lance Bass became a member of The Backstreet Boys’ rival boy band, *NSYNC.
He was the apple of millions of teen girls’ eyes.
At 16 years old, Mississippi-born Lance Bass became a member of The Backstreet Boys’ rival boy band, *NSYNC.
He was the apple of millions of teen girls’ eyes.
The thing was, Bass felt like he was harboring a secret. He was gay, and wasn’t ready to share that fact with his family and friends, let alone the world and the legions of fans his band had accrued. He feared professional repercussions in a music industry.
“It was torture,” Bass
“It was definitely a depression,” he said. “Ironically a depression: to be in one of the biggest bands in the world and have the best time of my life. But when I was home, I felt really horrible about myself. So yeah, it was sad.”
“I felt like if anyone found out that I was gay, the record label would immediately drop us and the fans would hate us ― these were all the crazy things that went through my head as a teenager.”
"I was certain that that would happen — but more than that I didn’t want to jeopardize the careers of these guys up here, much less the hundreds of amazing people who worked tirelessly to bring NSYNC to the world."
Lance was on his 3rd relationship by the time he came out to the media well after the band went on hiatus
By the time he encountered that reporter, Bass said was on his third relationship, knew his family loved him and finally felt comfortable with telling the world about it.
By the time he encountered that reporter, Bass said was on his third relationship, knew his family loved him and finally felt comfortable with telling the world about it.
Let's move on to Olly Alexander
Since Years & Years won the BBC's Sound of 2015, Olly Alexander has been refreshingly open about his sexuality.
But the singer says he was advised to keep quiet about being gay when the group got their record deal.
But the singer says he was advised to keep quiet about being gay when the group got their record deal.
MEDIA TRAINING
Speaking at a Stonewall event, he said the band were getting media training when he asked the trainer how to deal with questions about his sex life.
Speaking at a Stonewall event, he said the band were getting media training when he asked the trainer how to deal with questions about his sex life.
I'm sure everyone knows about Ricky Martin and how he is very open with his sexuality now but do you know what happened at the beginning of his career?
"I was a closeted gay man who was making my partners hide," he said. Some of his partners had gone "back into the closet" on his behalf, he added.
Martin said he had taken extreme measures to avoid speculation, in case it harmed his career.
Martin said he had taken extreme measures to avoid speculation, in case it harmed his career.
Let's talk about Stephen Gately now!
... saying he helped cover up the late singer's sexuality during his early days in the boyband. Walsh, who managed the band between 1993 and 2008, told Radio 2’s Paper Cuts series that Gately was scared that his career would be over if he came out as gay
"He was dreading all of his life that this was going to ruin his career," Walsh explained. "He was in the end [outed] by The Sun but it didn't matter, in fact it was the best thing for him, he was free then, he had nothing to hide."
The newly- reinstated X Factor judge went on to admit that he fed stories to the press during the band's rise to fame, and that he personally took a hand in covering up Gately's sexuality. "I knew they needed stories and I helped them with the stories++
++sometimes I made up the stories," he said. "I married Stephen Gately off to so many people, because Stephen didn’t want anyone to know he was gay at the start."
For this thread I focused on boybands- well you know why! But it just comes to say that closeting is a thing in Hollywood. If I were to make a thread about the multiple artists who had to hide their sexuality I'd be writing for 100 hours or probably more++
++ than that. Don't ever assume someone's sexuality. Don't ever assume that closeting isnt a thing in Hollywood. Labels just want to make money and most of the time the songs and albums are targeted towards teenage girls so men have to hide their sexuality for the sake of++
++ their career. I will make another thread later covering female artists who have had to hide their sexuality as well. I didn't not want to make this thread even longer. Thank you for reading.
Also please don't let this flop... It took me so long to put this together 
Artists I wrote about in this thread: Ricky Martin, George Shelley, Lance Bass, Olly Alexander, Stephen Gately. Feel free to look them up for yourselves if you have any doubts.
