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   From: travk@comcast.net   
      
   5. Lance Bass   
      
   When Lance Bass was part of N’Sync, he had to pretend that he   
   was straight so that he and his fellow group members could be   
   marketed as heartthrobs to teenage girls. According to the   
   former teen idol, coming out really slowed down his career. “I   
   definitely felt coming out really hurt pretty much all of the   
   products I was working on at the time. They canceled a bunch of   
   the stuff…and that really set me back for years,” Bass said.   
      
   4. Rupert Everett   
      
   Rupert Everett has made numerous comments over the years about   
   how coming out as a gay actor ruined his career in Hollywood. He   
   came out 20 years ago and, according to him, since then he has   
   only been offered supporting roles – no lead parts. The “My Best   
   Friend’s Wedding” star has gone so far as to recommend that   
   other gay actors don’t come out. “It just doesn’t work and   
   you’re going to hit a brick wall at some point. You’re going to   
   manage to make it roll for a certain amount of time, but at the   
   first sign of failure, they’ll cut you right off,” Everett said.   
      
   3. Adam Lambert   
      
   When Adam Lambert came out of the closet, Gene Simmons publicly   
   announced that the “American Idol” runner up had ended his   
   career with that admission. “He’s enormously talented, best   
   talent American Idol has had, but I think he killed his career   
   because now the conversation is not about his talent but about   
   his sexual preference. You’re forcing people to deal with issues   
   they may not be interested in. Life is unfair, and the masses   
   don’t all live in L.A. They live in Wisconsin and Nebraska, and   
   you’re on crack if you think the same rules apply there.”   
      
   2. Ellen Degeneres   
      
   Ellen Degeneres publically came out in 1997 on the cover of Time   
   magazine. Being television’s first openly gay star wasn’t easy.   
   When her television persona came out on her self-titled sitcom,   
   42 million people tuned in; however, ratings fell soon after and   
   the show was cancelled the following year. “I tried to   
   incorporate educational things about what people actually go   
   through when they’re coming out, and it wasn’t funny,” she told   
   the New York Times. “Because it’s not funny.” Ellen took a long   
   hiatus after her show was cancelled but managed to revive her   
   career several years later. Today, she’s known as one of the   
   most successful talk show hosts and businesswomen on TV.   
      
   1. Anne Heche   
      
   During the ‘90s, Anne Heche was one of Hollywood’s budding   
   leading ladies. She co-starred in a number of high profile   
   movies with some of Hollywood’s most recognized talent.   
   Unfortunately, as soon as she became involved romantically with   
   Ellen Degeneres, her prospects of becoming a leading lady were   
   dashed. According to Heche, people told her that she wasn’t   
   getting jobs because she was gay. “How could that destroy my   
   career? I still can’t wrap my head around it,” she said.   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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