In a recent interview with the UK’s Guardian, openly gay actor Rupert Everett may come off as a bitter queen, but as usual, the media has missed the point. In fact, I believe he has delivered one of the bravest commentaries on the gay double standard in Hollywood that we’ve seen in a long time (that’s including loser Adam Lambert).

“I think, all in all,” says Everett, 50, of his closeted colleagues. “I’m probably much happier than they are. I may not be as rich or successful, but at least I’m vaguely free to be myself.”

The media has definitely been quick to jump to Everett’s backhanded advice to closeted actors. “It’s not that advisable to be honest. It’s not very easy,” says the “Best Friend’s Wedding” star. “And, honestly, I would not advise any actor necessarily, if he was really thinking of his career, to come out.”

Here’s the thing: No, it’s not easy to be out. Gay people are forced to risk their relationships, their safety and their livelihood by purely being themselves. That has nothing to do with homosexuals, though. It has way more to do with how straight people have chosen to make our lives difficult. For celebrities, the risk may be multiplied a hundred times, because they not only risk all the same things we do, but their coming out process will take place in the public eye.

That’s exactly why they must come out. Celebrities have something us plebians don’t have: The ability to get their message out to millions of people. That’s important when the kid in Duluth, Minn., who has no friends, scary Christian parents, and a bottle of sleeping pills feels so alien that killing himself is easier than living as an out gay man.

Everett, who has been out for 25 years, has been honest: he may not be getting the leading man roles or have as much money in the bank as his more famous closeted colleagues, but at least he’s not cowering in the back house with the pool boy or calling in some crack whore to teabag him when his famous actress wife is on-set. And, let’s face it: Rupert isn’t hurting for cash, either.

Related:

Photos, from top: Rupert’s brilliance. Credit: Guardian; In “Shrek the Third,” Rupert Everett voices Prince Charming. Credit: HipHollywood