The expression 'openly gay' should be dropped because it implies there is something shameful about being gay.
Irish actor Andrew Scott this week said it is time to get "rid of the expression openly gay" warning that it connects sexuality to ideas of shame.
The actor who appears in All of Us Strangers, a film about a budding romance between two men, said the term isn't used in any other context.
"It's an expression that we actually only ever hear in the media," Scott told a Hollywood Reporter roundtable.
"You are never at a party and you say, 'This is my openly gay friend'.
"Why do we put 'openly' in front of that adjective? You don't say you're openly Irish or you're openly left-handed."
@hollywoodreporter #andrewscott pitches why everyone should stop saying "openly gay" during the #thrroundtable for actors | watch the full #offscript ♬ original sound - The Hollywood Reporter
On Newstalk Breakfast Dublin Gay Theatre Festival Founder Brian Merriman said he wants to see the phrase phased out.
"It implies that there's something shameful about it but also something to be hidden," he said.
"There's a two-pronged thing here - first of all, the actor is openly gay and if they're playing opposite a straight actor you'll find their publicity departments flooding you with stories about the straight actor and his girlfriend, his wife, his children throughout the whole thing.
"In Strictly [Come Dancing] with Layton and Nikita, there was an article every day about Nikita's girlfriend.
"Danny Miller's come back to Emmerdale as a gay character, but there's stories about his wife and his child etc.
'We've come a long way'
Mr Merriman said there is still pressure on people in the entertainment industry.
"Young fellas in boybands, everybody in boybands has to be available to have a girlfriend," he said.
"There's very few of them; the same with sport, soccer players etc.
"I think we've come a long, long way in the debate.
"If you see All of Us Strangers and you just said to anybody, 'One of those actors is gay', you wouldn't be able to tell the difference".
Mr Merriman said it shouldn't matter who actors sleep with.
"We don't know who most straight people are dating in the entertainment industry, but it is essential if they play gay that you do that - or it's essential to describe the gay actor as openly gay," he said.
"I think Andrew Scott makes a really good point, that the debate... has moved on so much now the publicity departments need to just chill out about all of this.
"I run a gay threatre festival but it's gay-themed, and I never ask who the actor's sleep with as long as they're doing the stories properly," he added.
All of Us Strangers is in cinemas from Friday January 26th.
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