Talk:Neil Sedaka
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[edit] LGBT musician?
I recently looked back over the editing history of this article and noticed that someone had briefly classified Neil Sedaka as an LGBT musician. That interested me, because I have listened to and read about Sedaka for years and he has always seemed very feminine to me. I think it is pretty clear that Sedaka is romantically attracted to females, but I have never been able to find any information about his seemingly effeminate nature. Does he just seem that way to a few of us? Or does he (or possibly she) seem that way to a lot of people?
To the person who classified him as an LGBT musician: if you happen to see this, please explain your reasoning for doing so. I apologize to anyone who finds this offensive, but seeing this really sparked my curiosity.
Andrea Parton 19:24, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
- A very interesting observation. I thought back in the 70s, when I first heard "Laughter in the Rain" and was unfamiliar with Neil Sedaka, that it was a woman singing! Obviously not. He does seem a little effeminate, but that doesn't make him any gayer than Jack Benny, who certainly wasn't. Neil is married with children, which doesn't necessarily prove anything either, but it's a clue. Labeling on the basis of behavior is risky. Who'd have thought Rock Hudson was gay? Yet with Liberace it was no surprise. Unless Neil himself has publicly "come out", I think it's best that it was reverted. Someone once labeled Jim Nabors that way, too. I don't think he's ever "come out" either, and I reverted it myself. Not that there's anything wrong with it. :) Wahkeenah 00:54, 1 December 2005 (UTC)
- Yes, Neil Sedaka is married with children and I really never thought he was gay. If he seems effeminate to both of us, and likely a lot of other people as well, I guess he could be considered transgender by a broad definition of the term, but he might be offended if people described him that way. Eddie Izzard once described hirself as a "male lesbian," but again, Neil Sedaka might be offended by that term. I think that unless Neil comes out as gay, bi, or trans, we can leave our speculation as it is and not mention anything about it in the main article. Andrea Parton 23:43, 18 December 2005 (UTC)
- In fact, labeling someone as possibly swinging one way or the other, solely based on his personality characteristics, is steretyping and bigotry, as I see it. I concur with your take on this. P.S. Any relation to Dolly? And how many times a day do you get asked that question? Wahkeenah 02:07, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
I never conclusively labeled Neil Sedaka to be anything and I will not suggest any more labels for him. It is also very possible that he does not consider himself to be a member of the LGBT community at all, and I agree that people should not be labeled based on their apparent personality. And some people don't like labels at all. Lily Tomlin has even said that she wishes no one had to identify as being of a certain sexual orientation.
I know that the titles of some of Neil's songs like "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" and "Steppin' Out" have become popular phrases in the LGBT community, but that doesn't mean that Neil is LGBT himself. I guess that could make Neil classifiable as a 'gay icon,' but most of the people in that category are better known than Neil Sedaka, and so I don't really know if that would be appropriate. What does everyone else think about classifying Neil as a 'gay icon' or about mentioning this in the main article. I am only considering mentioning the use of Neil's song titles as phrases in the gay community, not any speculation that Neil is LGBT.
Lesley Gore only recently came out as lesbian, but really, I was not surprised. In an interview shortly after she came out, she said she felt like the record industry was still largely homophobic. There probably are many musicians who are already well-known and who will come out as LGBT in the future. But I agree with you that it is probably better not to publicly speculate which ones they will be. After all, it seems like the majority of celebrities have had someone speculate at some time or another that they were gay. For a few of them, like Richard Gere and Dolly Parton, the rumors become widespread, and it probably creates difficulties for such celebrities. So I do not want my questions and comments on this talk page to become the basis for a widespread rumor about Neil Sedaka, and if anyone thinks that any of this discussion should be taken down, I will be glad to consider doing so.
To answer your question, Wahkeenah, no I am not related to Dolly, but I do like her music and her personality, as well as the music and personality of Neil Sedaka and dozens of other musicians.
Andrea Parton 05:14, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
LGBT? He may or may not be G, or even B, but he's certainly not L, or T.
