Stars speak out against outing...

The decision by Out Magazine to feature Anderson Cooper and Jodie Foster on their cover as out celebrities remains a hot topic. Out In Hollywood spoke with several famous actors and athletes over the weekend at the GLAAD Awards and at the Q-MeCon Queer Media and Entertainment Conference. Here is what some them had to say:

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA (tennis legend): "Outing is against my religion but I think politicians that speak double-speak -who say one thing and do another - should be outed. But as far as celebrities, you cannot out people. It's not right. They need to do it in their own time and their own time frame. That's the only way to be because it changes your life too much, still. But again, the more of us who come out, the less it changes the next person's life. I don't know much about Anderson Cooper and I never read his book. If you leave [being gay] out that's one thing, but if you try to say that you are straight then that's a problem."

WILSON CRUZ (out actor): I think it defeats the purpose and I'm against it. When we start outing people, we start talking about shame because you're putting them in a position of having to defend their sexuality. So when people come out on their own, they are doing it from a position of pride. I want people to come out, but I want them to come out on their own terms and I want them to use it as an opportunity to educate people about the fact that there's nothing to be ashamed of. We have plenty of enemies and I think when we start start feeding on each other, it's a sad day."

JOHN AMAECHI (out former NBA player) : "t's innappropriate. We can't have it both ways. It can't be a personal journey that is supposed to be an enlightening and rewarding experience to come out and yet at the same time we are also going to hijack other people's personal process and turn it into something political. That's how it works. Let people do it in their own time. I understand there are people in positions of great power, and perhaps people who could make great differences for LGBT people. But it is not our place to hijack their process."

ALEC MAPA (out actor/comic): "I'm all for outing evangelical preachers who are preaching against homosexuality and keeping us from our rights. And if you are a closeted politican and you are actively campaigning against gay people, then you deserve to be outed in the most publicly humiliating way possible. I'm out for those kinds of people. But I think that whether or not you decide to come out is a very private thing, it's a very personal thing. I knew that I made that choice really early on and it was something that I had to be comfortable with. And, of course, everybody knew to begin with anyway so it was hardly a surprise.
"It is getting kind of ugly. I think it's the technology, the information is immediately available now. In the 50s, with Rock Hudson, you could keep a story buried. Now, Michael Richards gets caught with a camera phone and in one minute, it's the shot heard around the world. I think it's really indicative of the information age that we're in right now. It's instantanious."

CHARLIE DAVID (out actor): "I think the coming out process is such an individual journey for each of us and we have to respect that. I'm personally not one to rip someone out of the closet."

ROBERT GANT (out actor/producer): "I'd love to see everyone out, living their truth. But we don't know what our neighbor's journey is." When Gant told his mother he was going to come out on the cover of The Advocate Magazine, she said: "Why don't you just shoot us in the heart with a rifle first?"

DAVE KOZ (out musician): For me, I would have much preferred the way it happened. I got to choose when I wanted to do it. It's such a personal thing. But as you can tell [he motions over to Lance Bass and Neil Patrick Harris nearby on the red carpet], they seem to be OK with [being outed]. Ulitmately, the best thing is...somebody truly being who they are and being OK with it and their career goes on. Ultimately, hopefully there won't have to be this outing and everyone will say, 'Hey, this is who I am, let the cards fall where they may. That's the way it was for me. I fretted about it for years. If I could have bottled the energy that I spent thinking about coming out, it would have been a lot of bottles.When I finally did, it was the biggest non-event. Nothing changed but everything got better."

REX LEE (out actor): I'm very uncomfortable with it. I think people should come out at their own pace. I think if I had been forced to come out before I was ready, it might have been a disaster. I'm out now, and I'm proud of that. But it took me awhile ot get there."

JASON LEWIS (actor, portrayed gay on "Brothers & Sisters"): "I think if it's a person's choice to go there then great. But it's like anything where if someone isn't feeling comfortable about making that change in their life, you really shouldn't shove people in a direction they're not ready for."

CHAD ALLEN (out actor/producer): "It frustrates me to no end...i see how hurtful it can be. We are a better world when we give each other space and love to go at our own pace." But Allen says he is encouraged that "we have actors now coming out what seems like every week and they get to say, 'I'm gay, OK Perez Hilton? Let me get on with my work."