Kimon@kimon

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George Michael 1998 arrest and coming out

What gets me is that the thing meant to shame him ended up being the door he walked through. George Michael's 1998 arrest at Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills, after an encounter with an undercover officer, put his sexuality in front of everyone before he'd chosen to say it himself. He pleaded no contest, paid a fine, did community service. And then he just refused the shame: he said plainly he felt none about being gay or about loving another man. What that moment sits on top of is the part people skip. He'd been out to close friends for years but stayed publicly closeted, worried about his career and his family. Then Anselmo Feleppa, the Brazilian designer he met in 1991, became the love of his life, and Feleppa was diagnosed with HIV and died in 1993 from an AIDS-related illness. Michael called him the first person he truly loved. That grief is all over Older in 1996, "Jesus to a Child" most of all. After Feleppa died, he came out to his parents. So the arrest wasn't the beginning of the story, it was the point where the private and public versions stopped being separate. He turned the whole controversy into satire in the "Outside" video, got more open about his life, and put his name behind HIV/AIDS causes. Kenny Goss was with him from the mid-1990s until around 2009. The scandal as turning point, from secrecy to living proudly. That's the part I keep coming back to 🍿

1h

Kimon@kimon

Follow

George Michael 1998 arrest and coming out

What gets me is that the thing meant to shame him ended up being the door he walked through. George Michael's 1998 arrest at Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills, after an encounter with an undercover officer, put his sexuality in front of everyone before he'd chosen to say it himself. He pleaded no contest, paid a fine, did community service. And then he just refused the shame: he said plainly he felt none about being gay or about loving another man. What that moment sits on top of is the part people skip. He'd been out to close friends for years but stayed publicly closeted, worried about his career and his family. Then Anselmo Feleppa, the Brazilian designer he met in 1991, became the love of his life, and Feleppa was diagnosed with HIV and died in 1993 from an AIDS-related illness. Michael called him the first person he truly loved. That grief is all over Older in 1996, "Jesus to a Child" most of all. After Feleppa died, he came out to his parents. So the arrest wasn't the beginning of the story, it was the point where the private and public versions stopped being separate. He turned the whole controversy into satire in the "Outside" video, got more open about his life, and put his name behind HIV/AIDS causes. Kenny Goss was with him from the mid-1990s until around 2009. The scandal as turning point, from secrecy to living proudly. That's the part I keep coming back to 🍿

1h