Gay community hails Foster's halting Globes speech

NEW YORK (AP) - Was it a proud revelation, or an impassioned case for privacy? A coming-out speech, or a why-SHOULD-I-come-out speech? Too little and too late, or just enough?

Jodie Foster's rambling, fascinating and intensely personal remarks at the Golden Globes were not merely the watercooler moment of the ceremony. They were a big moment for the gay community, and many advocates - though not all - were cheering her on Monday for finally referring publicly to her sexual orientation, albeit in her own particular way.

While some were criticising the actress for not uttering the words "gay" or "lesbian", and for waiting decades to come out at all, others were saying she deserved to come out in any way she chose, and with any words she happened to favour.

"No doubt, she was partly speaking in code, and she may never have wrapped her words around the fact that she is a lesbian," said Mr Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a national gay rights group. "But everyone watching clearly understood that she was communicating to people that she is gay. She is to be congratulated, no matter how awkward or inarticulate it may have seemed to some. It took an awful lot of courage."