9 Vincent MinnelliĪs famous as he was for marrying Judy Garland, and fathering superstar Liza Minelli, stage and film director Vincent Minnelli was one of the most (heterosexually) married gay men in Hollywood history. He married David Furnish in 2005 after a 12-year courtship, and they have two children. The marriage ended in 1988 after just 4 years and John came out as gay, and soon became one of the most vocal supporters of gay rights in the world. While it seem preposterous that John would try to pass himself off as straight after years of gender bending performances, announcing he was bisexual in 1976, and cranking out endless song lyrics heavily laced with double entendres, he did just that by marrying Renate Blauel, a German recording engineer, in 1984. Hudson is credited with bringing the AIDS epidemic to the forefront and gaining the attention and research it deserved. After his death from AIDS-related complications in 1985 at age 60, his long-time lover Marc Christian successfully sued his estate. Hudson never discussed his sexuality, although many of his co-stars claimed he was gay. When Hudson was 30 years old, he married Phyllis Gates, a union that lasted 3 years, until 1958.
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He was the top male box office draw in the '50s, starring with such icons as Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day in dramas and comedies. Women swooned at the mere sight of 6'3" ruggedly handsome leading man Rock Hudson. Some unions were more amicable than others, and some sadly included spouses that allegedly had no idea they were being bamboozled. In today's progressive society, it may seem like much ado about nothing, but only 50 or 60 years ago, many gay men married, some multiple times, to keep up appearances they deemed vital to their careers moving forward. This practice also frequently led to gay men and women marrying their beards. In fact, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the term "beard" was a North American term that referred to "a woman who accompanied a homosexual man as an escort to a social occasion in order to help conceal his homosexuality." The term, which became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, was also used for men who married lesbians for the same type of deception. Marrying women was an easy and common practice to "prove" heterosexuality. With all the flamboyance, adultery, and excessive behavior associated with Hollywood celebrities, actors and musicians, many gay men felt compelled to hide their sexuality for fear of being blackballed and their careers ruined. Not long before we celebrated the turn of the 21st century in 2000, there was still a stigma in many circles against gay people…and not just in conservative areas of the country.