The effects of openly gay celebrities in the media is usually followed by significant negative consequences. Whenever sexual or gender ideas of a celebrity are deviated from, the fanbase of the celebrity mainly disappears or stops paying attention to future works and the forefront of celebrity news usually is brief in keeping its focus on a new gay celebrity before their career crashes.
At this stage in our society's development, there is no good reason for a gay celebrity to stay in the closet. Those who choose to stay in the closet are really only doing themselves a disservice, as their sexual orientation will one day become public knowledge. And when that happens, the fact that they kept it hidden for so long will really hurt them.
No, there is not an onus on gay celebrities to come out of the closet. Gay celebrities deserve the right to their own privacy. While it can certainly be inspiring when a gay celebrity shows the courage to come out of the closet, that decision should be the celebrity's, influenced by no one else.
No one should have to come out of the closet. Everyone’s
private life ought to be his or her own, especially as an escape from public
life. However, certain tabloids and some websites have made a policy of speculating
about the private lives of well-known celebrities, to increase their readership
or page views. In circumstances like those, some celebrities have chosen to
come out of the closet themselves, so that they can control the time, place and
manner of their outing.
I don't really think there's an onus any longer. There might have been in the past. Look at the general indifference to Ellen Page announcing she was a lesbian. People thought it was mildly interesting, and then went on with the rest of their days. We have passed the point where a celebrity's sexual orientation is an issue or something they must announce.