Today is the birthday of American writer BRET EASTON ELLIS. His books include: Less than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, The Informers, Glamorama, and Lunar Park. When asked an interview in 2002 whether or not he was gay, Ellis explained that he does not identify himself as gay or straight. He explained that he is comfortable to be thought of as Gay, bisexual or heterosexual and that he enjoys playing with his persona, identifying variously as Gay, straight and bi to different people over the years.

In a 1999 interview, the author puts forward that his reticence to definitively label his sexuality (in his own words, he is “very coy and weird about it”) is for “artistic reasons”, because “if people knew that I was straight, they’d read [my books] in a different way. If they knew I was gay, ‘Psycho‘ would be read as a different book.” In an interview with Robert F. Coleman, Bret refers to his as an “indeterminate sexuality”, and said “any other interviewer out there will get a different answer and it just depends on the mood I am in”.

In a 2011 interview Ellis again states that his answers to questions about his sexuality have varied from interviewer to interviewer, citing an example where his reticence to refuse the label “bi” had him and it was published that way. “I think the last time I slept with a woman was five or six years ago, so the bi thing can only be played out so long,” he clarifies. “But I still use it, I still say it.” In responding to Dan Savage’s It Gets Better campaign, aimed at preventing suicide among LGBT youth, Ellis tweeted “Not to bum everyone out, but can we get a reality check here? It gets worse.”

Maybe for you, Bret. Maybe just for you.