Patti LuPone Called Antigay for Saying Lindsey Graham Should Come Out

Broadway icon Patti LuPone is being called homophobic for tweeting that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham should "just bite the bullet and come out."

LuPone made the comment Thursday, in a week in which the Republican senator from South Carolina defended Donald Trump's racist tweets about four congresswomen of color and even doubled down on them by calling the women communists. Graham, who ran against Trump for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, has switched from being a critic of Trump to one of his staunchest defenders.

There has been speculation for years that Graham is gay; for the record, he says he's not. He is not a big supporter of LGBTQ causes, although he doesn't tend to spew homophobic and transphobic rhetoric the way some Republicans do. LuPone is a longtime LGBTQ ally.

Just the same, her tweet is being denounced as homophobic, with some critics claiming it shows liberal hypocrisy regarding the LGBTQ community.

But she has some defenders.

LuPone has so far issued no further comment on the tweet. Graham does not appear to have commented either.