LILY TOMLIN - TOMLIN BITTER SHE MISSED THE CHANCE TO BE A GAY PIONEER

TOMLIN BITTER SHE MISSED THE CHANCE TO BE A GAY PIONEER

Gay actress LILY TOMLIN regrets not 'coming out' 30 years ago, because she missed the chance to become the first openly-lesbian star.
Tomlin was offered the chance to come out of the closet in a Time magazine article in 1975, but she refused, and kept her sexuality a secret until after comedienne Ellen DeGeneres exposed her lesbian status in 1997.
The 68-year-old actress says, "In some ways I regret that I didn't do it."
But she explains the real reason behind her decision not to give Time magazine the gay scoop in the mid-1970s: "(I was) insulted that they thought I would do it just to get the cover."