Somehow, when Nate Archibald from Gossip Girl can't answer a question correctly about countries and uh, fashion, it somehow comes off adorable and charming. A certain governor from Alaska could have used this video of Chace Crawford answering a Grazia Guy Fashion Quiz as a template for how to field inquiries by Katie Couric.
P.S.: Everyone knows that Milan is a fashion capital. Chase is obviously feigning ignorance to try to dispel those gay rumors. Because, come on. Tokyo??
Here's the newly elected Martin Heinrich, Democrat from New Mexico. He joins folks like Connecticut's Jim Himes, and Colorado's silver fox Mark Udall in making The Hill a much, much sexier place to conduct official business.
Patrick Dempsey appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show yesterday and, yes, the conversation turned to actress Brooke Smith's recent axing from ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
Some suspect ABC gave Smith the boot because her on-screen lesbian relationship was getting a bit too serious. Dempsey gave no credence to those rumors — not because they're not true, but because network executives told him what to say:
The year's drawing to a close, which means it's time for gay glossy Out to celebrate 100 homo movers-and-shakers who made 2008 so damn great!
The journos over there are slowly leaking some of their honorees, including Rachel Maddow, who tops the list. And with good reason - Maddow's catapulted to fame as a pundit over at MSNBC, which in turn gave her a prime time slot. Well done, Maddow.
British journalist John Gapper received loads of criticism yesterday after describing Rachel Maddow as a "chirpy gay liberal." Feeling a unfairly attacked, Gapper took to his blog today to explain his comments, which he says were woefully misconstrued:
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has been a tireless crusader for gay rights. It was he who, way back in 2000, began issuing marriage licenses in San Francisco.
Though those marriages were later annulled by the state, California's Supreme Court this year ruled that gay folk should, in fact, have the right to marry, a decision that spurred the right to launch Proposition 8, which would reverse the Court's ruling. Again, Newsom's been campaigning against that measure and just this week shored up support against conservative "extremists."
Obviously the right doesn't like Newsom very much and have been using him as the poster child for gay-friendly politicians. This means, of course, that should Proposition 8 pass, Newsom's ubiquitous image may take some of the blame.
Oh, it gets better:
Awww, actor Dustin Milligan's an absolutely contrite doll!
Milligan, whom some of you may recognize as the heartthrob Ethan on 90210, once recorded some sort of video in which he described Elvis as the "king of homos," which obviously isn't true. Everyone knows that's Elton.
Anyway, Milligan's given the joke some thought and now feels totally bad about it, so he's written another blog apologizing to all the gays and straights and everyone in-between:
Ellen's tearing up the activist scene.
The lesbian funny lady this week released a video urging voters to vote "no" on California's Proposition 8, which - as you should know by now - would overturn gay marriage in the Golden State.
The commercial is all well and good, but Ms. DeGeneres has only just started. The No On 8 campaign informs us that the comedienne has used her own cash to buy up television time to further spread her progressive message:
Here's something Tom Cruise won't be watching in the near future: filmmaker Ian Halperin's His Highness Hollywood.
You may recall Halperin's name from his book, Hollywood Undercover, in which he infiltrates Scientology to expose the group's anti-gay agenda. Highness takes that mission one step further to explore the trials and tribulations of being a gay actor in Hollywood.
Why can't McDonald's be straight with the gays?
The American Family Association last week claimed victory in a boycott against McDonald's, which the right-wing organization claimed endorsed same-sex rights because their vice-president of communications, a gay man Richard Ellis, donated to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. McDonald's was also once listed as a sponsor of a NGLCC event.
The queer connections rubbed the AFA the wrong way, of course, but they're now insisting McDonald's crumbled under conservative pressure and has committed to their cause. McDonald's, however, refuses to agree - or disagree - with the AFA's take.
The only people still talking about Clay Aiken's coming out are Clay Aiken and his crazed Claymates (and now us). The singer took to his fan site to speak out about his People magazine cover and assure those crazy Bible thumpers that he's still the same ol' G.
We'll post the full diatribe after the jump, but for those of you who don't care enough to take three hours to read it, we'll sum it up for you: Clay somehow panders to his few "OMG this changes everything" fans without sounding hateful or condescending.
Model Ben Massing sent us a note this week insisting he's not a homophobe, charges he incurred after suing gay magazine Genre for running sexually suggestive pictures of him without his permission. Wrote Massing via an attorney:
Numerous media outlets focused on the fact that the images appear in a publication geared toward the gay community. Based upon these reports, some have mischaracterized me as homophobic, which could not be further from the truth.
We were beginning to feel a bit bad about this Massing business, but then we obtained a copy of his lawsuit against Genre and photographer Rick Day and it's one of the most blatantly homophobic documents we've read in a long, long time.
For all five of our readers who follow Gossip Girl, Details magazine shot a beautiful cover of the show's leading men, along with an in-depth interview with each. To make a long story short: Ed Westwick and Chace Crawford totally love each other in a not-gay-bromance kind of way (maybe), Penn Badgley is kind of an ass and thinks he's better than you, and all the boys love Christian Bale. We knew we loved these guys for a reason.
For years public figures have used the "friend" excuse to defend themselves against accusations of bigotry. We've all heard it - "I'm not a homophobe. Some of my best friends are gay."
Sarah Palin definitely played that card in 2006, when she told an Alaskan newspaper that though she supported her state's potential ban on same-sex marriage, she's not against the gays: "Palin said she's not out to judge anyone and has good friends who are gay, but that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment."
Yet, in the weeks since John McCain picked Palin as his running mate, however, there's been nary a mention of any queer chums coming out for Palin. Not a single homo has spoken out against media scrutiny and said, "Leave Palin Alone!" And it makes Dan Savage sad.
Clay Aiken coming out of the very shallow closet for People magazine did not earn the singer the multimillions that are typical when negotiating front page deals. While magazines and glossies engage in bitter bidding wars to get a first glimpse of Brangelina's spawn (the final payout was $14.5 million), Aiken's own cover earned the singer around $500k, which is half of what even non-celeb Jamie Lynn Spears was able to negotiate for selling the first pics of her illegitimate child to OK!.
And Clay's cover had both homosexuality admission AND baby pics!
Sign of the depressing economy or gay glass ceiling? More lukewarm responses, after the jump:
CONTINUED »
"This is a gut wrenching day for The ClayNation. Somebody wake me up, I hope it's a dream."
-Users on a Clay Aiken message board, responding to the news that Aiken is a giant homo
More of the Clayziness, after the jump:
Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono have had their squabbles in the past, but the musical legends are in agreement about one thing: author Philip Norman's gone too far.
Norman's new book, John Lennon: The Life, claims Lennon wanted to have sex with both his own mother and McCartney. And Ono and McCartney are pissed:
We have to admit, our gaydar went off as soon as we saw Todd Palin, husband of potential Republican vice-president Sarah Palin.
Perhaps Palin's not gay, but he bears a striking resemblance to gay porn star Vinnie D'Angelo.
THEN: Fidel Castro, in a 1965 interview, decried the gay threat, telling American journalist Lee Lockwood, “Young people should not be in the hands of homosexuals."
NOW: Last February, after 49-years in power, long-time leader Fidel Castro stepped aside and handed the presidency to his brother, Raul. Though still all in the family, many see Raul's ascension as a positive move for the island, a sign that the communist government could evolve. A little over a month later, Mariela Castro, the president's daughter and leader of the government-backed Center for Sexual Diversity (CENESEX), took a progressive step when she called on the government to rewrite the 70s-era Family Code and pave the way for civil unions.
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