To every lesbian alive in the 70s and 80s, your gaydar was right. On Friday, teen idol Kristy McNichol came out. Pause for the sound of lesbians everywhere screaming, “I KNEW IT!” Yes, the lesbian equivalent of David Cassidy is, in fact, a lesbian. Still, it’s a wonder anyone with eyes was surprised by this news. I mean, come on.
Now, as celebratory and vindicated as this news makes me feel, I must confess that Kristy wasn’t necessarily my girl crush back in the day. I was too young to enjoy her teen movie queen years. And then I never watched her later TV resurgence. Quite frankly, I was more of a Nancy McKeon girl, myself. (p.s. Nancy, if you feel like making any late-in-life announcements, a grateful nation of lesbians will thank you.) But Kristy’s announcement is still just fantastic news, as is her reasoning, which her publicist told People magazine was to “be open about who I am” and hopes her coming out “can help kids who need support.” Granted, the kids being bullied probably are too young to know who the hell Kristy McNichol is. But that doesn’t matter because every coming out makes a difference, every coming out helps make the world a little better. No matter early or late in life, it all helps. Kristy, who is 49, has been with her partner for the last 20 years. Nicely done, darling.
And, speaking of darling, how prescient did “Little Darlings” turn out to be? I swear, Kristy in that black tank top turned a whole generations of teens into baby dykes. Also, Kristy and Cynthia Nixon were both in that movie and turned out to be gay. If Tatum O'Neal comes out then perhaps we were wrong all along – it is contagious.
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