WATCH: WWE Legend Pat Patterson Comes Out as Gay

[William769]

The 73-year-old wrestling legend revealed he’s been living in the closet more than 50 years.



World Wrestling Entertainment veteran Pat Patterson came out as gay on the finale of the WWE network reality series Legends’ House, reports TMZ.

In an emotional reveal, the 73-year-old told his fellow wrestling legends that he had not only been keeping the secret of his sexuality away from the prying eyes of the public for more than 50 years, but that he had also had a partner for 40 of those years who died of a heart attack.

“For once in my life I’m going to be me,” Patterson told the others, adding that while it was hard to keep his secret, he was proud he survived.

“We love you, Pat,” his teary-eyed Legends mates told him, in a heartwarming show of support. “We’ve always loved you.”

Video at link. http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/people/2014/06/13/watch-wwe-legend-pat-patterson-comes-out-gay

I cannot imagine hiding that secret for 50 years. I'm glad he was finally able to come out.

[awoke_in_2003]

1. Neither can I...

the pressure must have been unbearable. K&R

[sheshe2]

2. Such a moving video.

“For once in my life I’m going to be me,”

[RKP5637]

3. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[d_b]

4. Good for him

I remember J.R. used to always make smart ass remarks about Pat. "He's single, boys" and "coming from the rear is Pat Patterson".

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/273153-bret-hart-apologizes-for-gay-comment-made-toward-pat-patterson

[valerief]

5. Good for him. I don't know anything about wrestling. I just assumed most of the wrestlers

were gay. Am I wrong? Of course, so many gay people feel the need to live in the closet. Hopefully, it won't be long before the closet is obsolete.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

7. Why would you assume "most wrestlers are gay"?

[valerief]

8. Just what I've heard from WOM over the decades. nt

[Antler]

9. Who/What is WOM?

[valerief]

10. word of mouth

[Jenoch]

17. Did your assumption that most

"...most of the wrestlers were gay." include amateur wrestlers in high school, college, and at the Olympic level?

[valerief]

25. No, just professional wrestlers. The showmen in all the wild costumes. nt

[Prophet 451]

31. You're very, very wrong

The vast majority of wrestlers are straight, many of them are married. While there are some gay people in the business, only a very few feel able to be open about it.

[valerief]

32. Okay. More WOM. nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. I hate to say this, but Pat Patterson being gay was seriously no secret....

It may have been to the casual wrestling fan, but not to anyone in the business or the hardcore fans. He and his partner used to throw huge dinners for the wrestlers when they swung thru town. Everyone knew he was gay and amazingly, in the big bad world of pro wrestling....it was no big deal and no one cared. I'm pretty sure it's been referenced in several books by pro wrestlers who are Pat's close friends. Pat is probably one of the top three most respected guys creatively in the business, and has been Vince McMahon's confidant for ages. He's also Stephanie McMahon's godfather.

[William769]

11. It's the coming out process thats important here.

[LondonReign2]

12. Indeed

The speed at which the tipping point has been achieved has been amazing. One of the best (few?) good things to happen in this country since the Shrub Reign of Error.

[William769]

13. Agreed. with one slight change on my part.

Error = Terror.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

14. I don't know, I think the fact that everyone in the wrestling business knew....

....a business that people assume is filled with the type of people who would gay bash on a daily basis (and let's be honest, there are plenty of times wrestling has creatively played on homophobic stereotypes) and you would assume would haze someone who was openly gay....and didn't to Pat Patterson is one area where pro wrestling as a community did far better than the world at large.

[Prophet 451]

34. I think it helped that...

...trying to gay bash Pat would likely end very, very badly for anyone that tried. While age has doubtless slowed him down, Pat was known as one of the toughest guys in the business during his active years.

[Iggo]

18. It's always something.

Good news is never good enough.

[Kingofalldems]

16. Yeah I knew about it 10 years ago.

[Hayabusa]

21. It was pretty much an open secret,

but I do applaud his courage to actually come out.

[Drunken Irishman]

23. From what I've seen, much of the wrestling world has been fairly progressive & open...

Of course, that's just my perception as an outsider listening to some of the wrestlers of today.

[Prophet 451]

35. Sort-of

Wrestling used to be very homophobic (and racist) back in the NWA days. When Vince went national with the WWF, all those prejudices got squashed in service of making money. Vince made it very, very clear to everyone that, if you could draw money for him, he didn't give a damn what you did in your private life. That's had both good and bad effects in that, while it led to Vince turning a blind eye to the rampant drug abuse in his locker room during the Eighties and Nineties, it also meant that gay bashing or hazing his gay stars wouldn't be tolerated.

Pat was retired by the time Vince went national but he's known as the best finish guy in the business (i.e. the guy who helps you plan how the match ends), something which has helped Vince draw hundreds of millions of dollars. Vince also respects toughness and, during his active years, Pat was one of the toughest around.

These days, wrestling has seen the same generational shift as the general public. Polling shows that the younger someone is, the more likely they are to be accepting of gay people. Well, wrestling is very much a young man's game. It's rare for a worker to perform beyond their early Forties and most of the WWE locker room are in their Thirties. The result is that when Chris Kanyon came out, few cared (Kanyon, sadly, killed himself; likely because he was a bipolar sufferer who kept skipping his meds) and when Darren Young came out recently, Vince, Triple H and Stephanie, the three most powerful people in the business, were strongly supportive of him and would probably be pushing (heavily promoting) him if he hadn't gone down with a serious injury fairly soon thereafter.

[OutNow]

30. It was well known by WWWF fans decades ago

I've always been a leftie politically and also a huge fan of pro wrestling, something my comrades found bizarre. But hey, whatever. Back in the day when the WWWF had a talk show that included Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes, Pat Patterson was often on the show and it was obvious that he was gay and it was no big deal. But it's still a good thing that he came out.

[Prophet 451]

36. My brother!

Satan's Name, it's nice to meet a leftie who's also a big wrestling fan. I often despair of finding intelligent lefties in the wrestling fanbase.

[Prophet 451]

33. He actually came out twenty years ago

The article is misquoting what happened in that episode.

[Cha]

15. Release! Freedom! Congratulations, Pat Patterson!

Mahalo, William~

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. Now have Pat ROBERTSON come out and that would be epic.

[azurnoir]

20. That's wonderful

I would expect his fans show the same support as his team mates

[blkmusclmachine]

22. ,

,

[xchrom]

24. du rec.

[RandySF]

26. Wow

I never saw him wrestle, but I remember him as a commentator (and ring choreographer) back in the 80's with the WWF.

[Prophet 451]

37. He's still doing it

Pat is known as the best "finish man" (the guy who helps you choreograph the end of a match) in the business and is still doing it to this day. And, for the record, Pat was an incredible performer in his prime.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

38. He also brought the Royal Rumble to the WWF

The best match IMHO.

[Prophet 451]

39. Can't disagree

Year after year, the Rumble is an hour or so of consistent action every year and an excellent tool for getting a performer noticed.

[Turbineguy]

27. Hah!

At first blush, I read "Pat Robertson".

[Warpy]

28. Good for him. Maybe someday "that's so gay" will refer

to being the toughest tough guy around.

Every athlete who comes out helps that happen.

I'm just so sorry he lost his partner suddenly before he came out.

[Prophet 451]

29. Um, he came out years ago

I watched the episode and what he actually said was that he came out at 54. Since he's now 73, his orientation has been well known to everyone for nearly twenty years (and wasn't that big a secret prior to that). The revelation was that he'd had a partner for much of that time. That, we didn't know about because Pat is one of those people who keeps his private life private.

[joshcryer]

40. I watched the episode too.

That segment was about "public knowledge information" within that specific group of people. Apparently they didn't know each other well enough to know about details of each others lives. They just did their job and went home, never really got to know the background of the people around the table. Some people lost loved ones, some had other tragedies (one had a kidney failure and his wife replaced it). All stuff you'd probably know if you were friends but not something you announce publicly.

So basically he wanted that specific group of people to know his personal struggle and I think it was an honest, genuine moment between those guys.

[Prophet 451]

41. OK, looking at it that way...

...I take your point. I think it was an incredible and moving story (I'll admit to having a lump in my throat when he talked about losing his partner) and the response of overwhelming love and support was extremely touching.

Incidentally, WWE has confirmed that the show is getting a second season.

[joshcryer]

42. I think the best take away about the "legends" is powerful.

The "legends" at this point in time, are 20-30 years ago, when I was a kid! I think that somewhat puts Pat's confession into perspective.