Liberace's Open Secret

For a good part of the 20th Century, homosexual performers and actors in the United States went to great pains to hide their true sexuality. Homosexuality was frowned upon in American society, to the point that it was included in the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a sociopathic personality disturbance, and sex between two people of the same sex was banned under the sodomy laws of the time. It should then come as no surprise that famed pianist, singer, and actor Liberace spent his entire life denying that he was gay. What makes Liberace's case unusual is that his costumes, style, and manner were so flamboyant that many at the time probably at least thought he was gay. Indeed, throughout his life scandal sheets and gossip magazines, both in the United States and United Kingdom, often implied he was gay.Władziu Valentino Liberace was born on May 16, 1919, in West Allis, Wisconsin. He came from a musical family. His father played French horn,…