Aaron Schock Is Not A Knight Bachelor-- But Cliff Richard Is

It's not a big deal-- at least not a public big deal-- that Arizona State University football player Edward "Chip" Sarafin came out, and very matter of factly, in a magazine article. He had already told his team mates, family and friends. After the magazine article was published, Ray Anderson, the school's athletic director, said, "The entire athletics department is extremely proud of Chip and is unequivocally supportive of him. His undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering, his pursuit of a master's in the same field, his research involving football-related concussions, and his heavy involvement in the community with both youth sports in Arizona and the Tillman Scholars embodies all the characteristics that set our student-athletes apart and allows our university to maintain an environment of inclusiveness and progression." The team's coach, Todd Graham, added that Chip's "commitment to service is unmatched and it is clear he is on his way to leading a successful life after his playing career, a goal that I have for every student-athlete. Diversity and acceptance are two of the pillars of our program, and he has full support from his teammates and the coaching staff." End of the public part of this story.

So what's it got to do with the wretched Cliff Richard video from the absolutely putrid The Young Ones film (1961) up top? Sir Cliff-- a Knight Bachelor-- is a different kind of gay man from a very different time and a very different society. Back in his day, it was usually a career death sentence for gay people to come out of the closet. On the other hand, if you were relatively well-behaved and closeted, society tended to support gays who were rich, politically powerful and public celebrities. "Everyone" knew Cliff Richard was gay-- oh, not his fans, of course, but everyone in the business and in the media.

He made Wonder Bread look less white and he was the most inauthentic excuse for rock'n'roll the poor Brits could come up with. "Let's find someone who seems like Elvis but without… you know… a penis." Voila! Cliff Richard was confected. He was a huge manufactured superstar who sold millions and millions and millions of records. Eventually, the Beatles, the Who and the Stones came along and many Brits caught on to what real rock'n'roll was. There was no real future for Ken Dolls like Cliff in that genre. "Move It" was a #1 hit song in 1960, but the advent of The Beatles put the brakes on his career and on this kind of fake garbage passing for pop culture.



So Cliff made a shrewd career choice: born again Christianity. He even wound up as the well-compensated opening act for Billy Graham on some of his Crusades. And what an opportunity to prey on young boys who were conditioned to obey authority figures… like Billy Graham's opening act?

Some Cliff Richard quotes worth keeping in mind before we get into why the 73 year old gentleman is in the news today: "I've always maintained I'm the most radical rock-and-roll singer Britain has ever seen. I was the only one who didn't spit or swear or sleep around. I didn't do drugs. I didn't get drunk. I didn't indulge in soulless sex. And I've always felt comfortable with the decisions I've taken."

Every now and then a cheeky journalist would ask him about his homosexuality. He would deny it as aggressively as Liberace or Aaron Schock. From the 1970s: "It's untrue. People are very unfair with their criticism and their judgements. I've had girlfriends. But people seem to think that if a bloke doesn't sleep around he must be gay. Marriage is a very special thing to me. I'm certainly not going to do it just to make other people feel satisfied."

He's always maintained that revelations about him being in the closet and about his affairs with other males have been "very painful." In 1992, he said: "Even if I got married tomorrow there would be a group of people who would believe what they wanted to believe. All that counts is what your family and friends know and they all trust and respect me. What the people outside think, I have no control over." Four years later he said: "I'm aware of the rumors, but I am not gay" and in 1997, he said: "People who are single shouldn't have to be second-class citizens-- we needn't be embarrassed or feel guilty about it, we all have a role to play." Although he claimed in his autobiography that "sex is not one of the things that drives me," he eventually had a for-public-consumption fake "love affair" with Olivia Newton John (then in her lesbian phase). By 2001 he was living relatively openly with his lover, John McElynn but still denying he was gay. He finally stopped the homophobia about a decade ago and even endorsed same-sex marriage.

This afternoon the police raided one of his homes-- this one in Sunningdale, Berkshire-- looking or evidence of a sexual assault on a 15 year old boy backstage at a Billy Graham crusade event in Sheffield in 1985. He's still denying. He's had many decades to perfect that act: "For many months I have been aware of allegations against me of historic impropriety which have been circulating online. The allegations are completely false. Up until now I have chosen not to dignify the false allegations with a response, as it would just give them more oxygen. However, the police attended my apartment in Berkshire today without notice, except it would appear to the press. I am not presently in the UK but it goes without saying that I will cooperate fully should the police wish to speak to me. Beyond stating that today's allegation is completely false it would not be appropriate to say anything further until the police investigation has concluded."

The "apartment" Sir Cliff mentioned is a palace on 20 acres of manicured grounds that includes tennis courts, a health spa and a swimming pool. He has many lovely homes. But no amount of wealth and luxury can wipe out the horrors of a life in the closet. So wonderful that that particular form of mental illness is on its last legs-- except among Republican Party congressmen, of course.