"Of course Shirley is going to be in denial re his sexuality. This denial is what made lots of people have issues. They were shut out of society.... Shirley could not publicly identify himself as a gay man."
A gay man who has an ex-wife and is saying his being on tour was what broke up his marriage is a gay man in denial to more than just the general public. It went without saying that he had to be closeted back then, but if he knew he was gay, his wife was either a "beard" -- knowingly, which must have had monetary compensations; or unknowingly, which is despicable -- or he was trying to lie to himself. Or maybe when he had the wife he was just really conflicted and didn't know how he felt. 🤷🏼♀️
Since Dr. Shirley is gone, we likely will never know. But again, he obviously had to be as closeted as Caesar Romero back then. They were usually called "confirmed bachelors" once upon a time, and folks just assumed they discretely had affairs -- also something one didn't used to announce to the public. Frank Sinatra got arrested for adultery long, long ago. So Shirley could have easily never gotten married, and no one would have thought a thing of it -- except maybe his family, who seemed to have some hang-ups about him. They're probably the reason he got married. And that would still leave the question open as to whether he was honest with himself and the lady, hoped to find happiness with her, or just used her as a "beard."
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