CBS ‘Early Show’ Newsflash: Okay to Be Gay in Hollywood

At the top of the 7:30AM half hour of Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez teased an upcoming segment on Hollywood celebrities coming out: " Ahead this morning, two young stars come out of the closet. We'll talk about whether Hollywood has changed its attitude towards gays." While that headline suggested controversy, in the later segment correspondent Michelle Gillen declared: "‘out’ is apparently ‘in’," and no voices of dissent from family values advocates were presented.

Gillen reported that: "With celebrities such as Ellen Degeneres and Grey's Anatomy's T.R. Knight openly out and TV shows with gay or lesbian characters proving popular in recent years, coming out won't necessarily kill a career...Some celebrities who stars were fading have gotten a career boost after going public about being gay." Gillen then quoted CBS News correspondent Itay Hod, who is gay, on the issue: "The landscape is changing. There's no question that even Hollywood is going a little more gay and a little more liberal when it comes to your sexuality...Well, a lot of it has to do with the fact that society's changing, you know? We're -- the new generation doesn't really care that much."

Here is the full transcript of the segment:

7:30AM TEASER:

MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Ahead this morning, two young stars come out of the closet. We'll talk about whether Hollywood has changed its attitude towards gays.

7:41AM SEGMENT:

HARRY SMITH: This week, two young stars went public with their sexual orientation. So how has Hollywood reacted? Here's CBS News correspondent Michelle Gillen.

MICHELLE GILLEN: For months, rumors have swirled around Lindsay Lohan's relationship with D.J. Samantha Ronson. On Monday, Lohan called the syndicated radio program 'Love Line' and told the D.J. Ted Stryker that she and Ronson have been dating.

TED STRYKER: You and Smantha have been going out for how long now?

LINDSAY LOHAN: [Laughing]

STRYKER: Like two years, one year, five months, two months?

LOHAN: A long, very long time.

GILLEN: On the cover of the latest 'People' magazine, former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is seen holding his son with the headline, 'Yes, I'm Gay.'

ITAY HOD: The landscape is changing. There's no question that even Hollywood is going a little more gay and a little more liberal when it comes to your sexuality.

GILLEN: With celebrities such as Ellen Degeneres and Grey's Anatomy's T.R. Knight openly out and TV shows with gay or lesbian characters proving popular in recent years, coming out won't necessarily kill a career.

HOD: Well, a lot of it has to do with the fact that society's changing, you know? We're -- the new generation doesn't really care that much.

GILLEN: Some celebrities who stars were fading have gotten a career boost after going public about being gay. Clay Aiken rejoined the cast of 'Spamlot' on Broadway. Lance Bass is on this season's 'Dancing With The Stars." Neal Patrick Harris, who plays a womanizing man-about-town on 'How I Met Your Mother' remains a high profile star since he was outed by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.

PEREZ HILTON: It's a very personal decision to announce your homosexuality or not announce it. However, if you're a celebrity or a politician in this day and age you know what you're getting into, so you have to be prepared for the public talking about your private life. It's par for the course.

GILLEN: Now that 'out' is apparently 'in'. Michelle Gillen, CBS News, New York.