Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

With NBA Center Jason Collins coming out this week, we finally have the much-anticipated first openly gay male athlete in a major American team sport. The last wall of the old city of secrecy that has surrounded gay public figures for centuries is about to crumble away — or is it? Despite the obvious differences between show business and professional sports, the long and rocky road that's been traveled by gay performers who have chosen to come out is a reminder that there has been nothing instant or easy about this change.

It is almost hard to believe now how different the scenario was for gay celebrities when being openly gay in Hollywood meant career suicide. Today, stories of the outrageous lengths to which actors went to remain closeted, of false front marriages of convenience — ala Rock Hudson's union with Phyllis Gates, his agent's (and longtime lover's) secretary — are relics of a bygone era. We will see a reminder of that era come May 26, when HBO will present Steven Soderbergh's "Behind the Candelabra," the story of flamboyant entertainer Liberace — with Michael Douglas as the bejeweled, mink and pompadour-sporting pianist and Matt Damon as his secret lover, Scott Thorson. That movie would simply not have been made a generation ago.

In a matter of a few years, during the 1980s and '90s, the word gay went mainstream in entertainment. It was big news in 1996 when "Friends" came up with its "The One With the Lesbian Wedding" episode, wherein conservative political leader Newt Gingrich's real-life sister, openly gay Candice Gingrich, played the minister who performed a wedding ceremony for Ross's ex-wife and her girlfriend. 1998 marked the premiere of one of the first primetime shows putting a positive light on homosexuality, the ever so popular "Will & Grace," which helped pave the way for comedy shows including "Modern Family" and "The New Normal." Cable dramas including "HBO's" "Queer as Folk" and Showtime's "The L Word" took story material to new levels.

Ellen DeGeneres, of course, is the face that comes most quickly to mind of those who've risked their professional lives to live honestly. As you may recall, she received bomb threats for her bold decision to reveal her sexuality on her sitcom "Ellen" in 1997 — and a year later her show was cancelled.

"It destroyed me," said DeGeneres, looking back. She noted that after years of trying to make audiences happy and wanting desperately to be loved — "that's why anybody gets into this business" — it was stunning to find herself hated.

She subsequently pulled off one of the greatest show business comebacks of all time — including her talk show that garnered 12 Emmy nominations its first season alone. Today, wife Portia De Rossi by her side, she has shelves full of Emmys and other awards, continues with her CoverGirl Olay cosmetics spokesmodel role, has a massive loyal fan base, and they're making a Pixar flick centered on everybody's forgetful fish — "Finding Dory"! Indeed, Ellen is making audiences happy and is unquestionably loved in a way few public figures are ever loved.

Despite the changes, though, the hardships faced by "out" public figures linger. Rupert Everett, who came out more than 20 years ago, said that doing so had ruined his chances of playing lead roles and relegated him to supporting player status. In a December, 2009 interview, he said, "Honestly, I would not advise any actor necessarily, if he was really thinking of his career, to come out. ... The fact is that you could not be, and still cannot be, a 25-year-old homosexual trying to make it in the British film business or the American film business or even the Italian film business.

"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.

"And I'm sick of saying: 'Yes, it's probably my own fault.' Because I've always tried to make it work, and when it stops working somewhere, I try to make it work somewhere else."

Perhaps, if Everett were setting out on his career today, he would find an easier road. Looking back, we see breakthrough after breakthrough — though quite often, there is a "yes, but ... " attached.

The openly gay Neil Patrick Harris' long-running, Emmy-garnering portrayal of womanizing Barney Stinson on "How I Met Your Mother" quite clearly works for viewers. Yes, but that's a comedy. The big screen has been full of gay romantic characters. Yes, but nearly all have been played by straight actors. No less than four actors received Academy Awards nominations for portraying gay characters in 2005. Yes, but they were all straight: Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal for "Brokeback Mountain," Philip Seymour Hoffman for "Capote" and Felicity Huffman for "Transamerica."

All the positive response to Jason Collins' Sports Illustrated cover story and essay — from the president of the United States through scores of notables in athletics, politics and entertainment, through everyday fans — appears to show that maybe, just maybe, that last wall of secrecy will be less of a big deal for gay athletes than has been feared. Will there be a "yes, but ... "? We can only hope not.

COPYRIGHT 2013 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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