Gay rapper Tori Fixx

Trick Trick, the rapper who emerged from obscurity last week in a blaze of PR-oriented homophobia by noting that he didn't want gay people buying his album with their "faggot money", is getting some opposition from the gay hip-hop community.

Whether the homophobia is real or a stunt to get attention for a little-known artist remains to be seen (if that were true, would he be a fauxmophobe?), but it is unacceptable either way.  Trailblazing gay rappers Deadlee and Tori Fixx aren’t having any of Trick Trick’s homophobia, real or imagined, with Tori Fixx telling Allhiphop.com, "It’s most peculiar that a straight man has so much time to be focused on us other folks, yet alone a group of people he so-called hates. But I surely hope no same-gender loving person supports this record."

More on the controversy, after the jump. 

                
Lipstick Jungle's Matt Lauria

Just when the smoke is starting to clear on the whole Grey’s Anatomy fiasco, gay visibility on TV takes another hit as NBC pulls the plug on Lipstick Jungle.

Having successfully survived the faceoff with the similarly-themed Cashmere Mafia which was axed by ABC last season (and featured a lesbian storyline of its own), Lipstick failed to take off in its sophomore season ... which is too bad because this one had plenty in store for the gays this season. Even though the blink-and-you-may-miss-him gay assistant Roy (Matt Lauria) was somewhat of an afterthought on the show, his absence will still be missed as we lose yet another gay character on TV.

And of course, we also have out actor Cheyenne Jackson's appearance on the show to worry about. Let's hope the net doesn't pull the plug before that one airs.

Full Disclosure: Yes, my name is Rob Smith and I like older men. I like their confidence, the fact that they’ve grown into their looks, and the fact that they’re generally more put together than some of us younger guys. If I had to date another 26-year-old, I’d probably shoot myself. I don’t even know how my boyfriend deals with me sometimes!

The guys on this list epitomize what is great about older men in a lot of different ways. Some are downright sexy, some are devastatingly handsome, and some have a “hotness” that comes from a combination of the two plus a regal charm that only men of a certain age seem to be able to pull off.

So enough with High School Musical twinks and stick-thin underwear models, this one’s about the real men and those of us that love them!

The colors are changing, the air is more crisp, and the hinges on closet doors everywhere are getting ready to burst wide open. Yes, National Coming Out Day is here (October 11), that special time when gays all over the globe grab their literal or figurative cojones and declare their queerness to whoever cares to listen. While many are lucky enough to have their coming out met with a shrug or a hug, some have a harder time, and still others are compelled to continue a life in the closet.

Last year, Lyle did a nice piece highlighting some of the more heartwarming gay coming out stories that we’ve seen in television and film, but this year we‘re going to do something different. This year more than ever, gay visibility is a game-changer, and one of the strongest tools we have to combat discrimination, so pardon us if this year's discussion is a tad more cautionary. 

Coming out is hard for anyone, but these characters found that the alternative can often be even harder. These are the guys who didn’t come out soon enough.

                                    Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) in The Talented Mr. Ripley

Life was hard for that gawky young sociopath Tom Ripley, for not only did he have to lie, cheat, and manipulate in order to gain access to high society, he had to keep his deepest desires under wraps. Although he wasn’t without his share of attention from women, there was only one person for him. While Jude Law’s Dickie Greenleaf had a certain feminine charm, he was definitely all man, and Mr. Ripley definitely took notice.

Their scene in which Greenleaf bathes in front of Tom is fraught with all kinds of erotic tension, and right then and there Tom’s love that dare not speak its name is practically on the verge of shouting it, which of course would end his ascent into the upper-class. Unable to deal, he follows the logical thought process of a repressed gay sociopath, proceeding to murder the object of his affection in order to steal his identity and, ultimately, his life. Simple enough, right?

Perhaps it was ... until he then had to murder Peter Smith-Kingsley (Jack Davenport), the one man who fell in love with him, just so that he could cover up all of his previous discretions. Wow … what a tangled web and all that. I think the moral here is that coming out, even in the 50‘s, would‘ve been infinitely easier than all the murder, backstabbing, and identity-theft it took just to cover up the gay, don’t you think?

                                      Vito Spatafore (Joseph R. Gannascoli) in The Sopranos

Vito Spatafore’s life of organized crime, murder, and generally antisocial behavior made him one of the gang in his world, well, that is until his head was caught popping up from another guy’s lap in the pre-work hours at a construction site. And then there was that time some other members of the mob “family” caught him walking from a gay club holding hands with another guy.

Vito wasn’t just a murderous thug, he was a closeted gay murderous thug which was somehow infinitely more unacceptable to his coworkers in organized crime than the bullet-riddled corpses and badly beaten bodies he left in his wake while working. Fearing for his life, he fled to New Hampshire, and while most gay boys learn enough social skills to avoid sucker-punching guys who try to kiss them, Vito never learned this lesson.

Luckily, his cruisy new love interest Johnny didn’t bruise or offend easily, and Vito got his first boyfriend and a shot at a new life. Unluckily for Vito, he couldn’t handle it, and left the first man to love him and drunkenly drove to New Jersey where he was accosted and beaten to death by his mob cohorts. Yikes. I bet you thought your coming out story was rough. Coming out sooner would’ve saved this one the trouble of seriously considering the mob as a viable career path. For some reason, I think he would’ve been a great florist.

More cautionary fellas after the break...

Nathan Lee Graham as Rey-Rey in Wig Out!

Theater queens and house ball enthusiasts look out, because there is something special coming up just for you right off-Broadway.  

Wig Out!is a new off-Broadway play that takes its cues from the underground ball scene made somewhat famous by the classic film Paris is Burning, and if the NY Times review is any indication, it promises an utterly fabulous night at the theater. 

Taking place during a drag-ball face-off between two rival “houses” (competitive groups of mostly black and Latino gays who engage in vogueing face-offs), the play features a slew of NY theatre actors, with the most well-known faces being Dexter’s Erik King as the father of the House of Light and DanielT. Booth, who appears as the mother of the House of Di’Abolique and has previously appeared on Project Runway under the stage name “Sweetie”.  

Although the Times review is practically a rave, the reviews for the show in the New York press have been decidedly mixed, with the general consensus being that the show is more entertaining when its characters are at battle. However, the play itself represents a great deal of progress, as it presents a subculture of the gay scene that is generally given very little attention. 

Erik King and Glenn Davis in Wig Out!
            

In a previous post, I detailed my first excursion into the ball world, and it is a vibrant and thrilling one filled with characters and personalities that seemingly live and breathe for the scene. The fact that these people with all of their complexities, hopes, dreams, and sexual fluidity are now given a voice on the New York stage is quite thrilling, and seems to be indicative of the renaissance that is giving rise to different voices and faces on and off-Broadway. 

With the bisexual black leads in the Tony Award-winning Passing Strange and the gay and ethnically-diverse cast of characters of Wig Out!, a movement seems to be underway in today’s theater. The stuffiness and overdone themes of Broadway’s past seem to be giving way to a vibrant future filled with different stories, new faces, and edgier themes. Wig Out! definitely seems to be leading the charge to this future, and I, for one, will be checking this show out the first chance I get. It seems like anyone who is looking for something fresh and different in live theater should do the same.

For more info and tickets, check out the Vineyard Theatre website.

                      
Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm search for a decent storyline

This past Sunday’s season premiere of Desperate Housewives saw our fab ladies leap five years into the future with decidedly different results.

And while the show was its usual witty self, AfterElton.com is about the gays, and Wisteria Lane's fellas were nearly nonexistent this episode. Aside from a nearly silent Andrew and an admittedly perfectly-timed bit from the gay couple Bob and Lee (in a scene featuring Gale Harold in boxer-briefs), our resident gays were kept largely in the background during the heavily-hyped opener.

A year ago, openly gay writer/creator Mark Cherry generated a great deal of excitement when he announced that some gays would be moving to Wisteria Lane, leaving the show’s gay fan base abuzz thinking of what shenanigans our new gays would get themselves into. Would we be seeing a bitchy gay equivalent of Heather Locklear to throw our Wives into a frenzy? How about a hot bisexual stud to give the ladies (and some of their husbands) a run for their money?

Alas, the point is virtually moot since the gays we got seem to amount to little more than some diversity window dressing for the show.

Shawn Pyfrom and Ryan Carnes kept gay fans' attention a few seasons back

Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm’s Bob and Lee are a perfectly stable, perfectly attractive, and ... well, perfectly boring onscreen couple, and too often they’re shifted to the background to act as foils for some of the larger characters on the show.

Even Shawn Pyfrom’s Andrew, once the promiscuous gay badboy of the show (who once even slept with his mother’s then-boyfriend!) has been thoroughly declawed into a boring, asexual shadow of his old self. Long gone are the days of Andrew’s delicious villainy and his even more delicious man-capades with the likes of Ryan Carnes, having been sadly replaced by robo-Andrew in a suit, acting as Bree’s manager with nary a boyfriend or potential love interest in sight.

Housewives also all too often also ignores the complexities of gay relationships in the rush to portray the stoic Bob as “husband” and the slightly more fabulous Lee as “wife“, particularly in a cringe-worthy 2007 subplot in which the couple fight and are sent to opposing camps (Lee with the wives and Bob with the husbands) for advice.

While a great deal of network execs are patting themselves on the back due to the new GLAAD media report about gay characters on television, it seems somewhat counterproductive that while there are more gay characters on television than at any other time in history, they are too often asexual background caricatures, which is unfortunately what our two gays on Wisteria Lane have turned out to be.

"We're here! We're queer! We're boring!"
 

So what’s the deal here? Obviously the network that has embraced gay marriages and transgender extramarital affairs in its other soapy dramas doesn’t suffer from prudishness, so I’m going to chalk this one up to that common dramatic problem of too many characters, too little time. The show is called Desperate Housewives, so the title characters will always be the main focus, but is it too much to ask for the gay characters to at least be allowed to mix it up as well as the regulars?

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that gay audiences are sick of sacrificing good writing, direction, and acting in order to stomach the few shows that exist that put us in the thick of things (I’ll never tell, but feel free to guess). It’s unfortunate that a show as gleefully camp as Desperate Housewives can’t or won’t allow its gay characters to engage in the same over the top antics as its leads.

Some say the revolution has begun with the increasing ubiquity of gay characters on television, but I say it will be complete when our gays are able to backstab and bed-hop with the best of them. I’m waiting for that day to dawn on Wisteria Lane, but judging by the Season 5 premiere, it’ll be a long time coming.

David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris on the Emmy Awards red carpet

Is being an out gay actor still an issue in Hollywood? Gay actors like Neil Patrick Harris and TR Knight are currently flourishing on television and testing the boundaries of that age-old argument, but will we ever have an openly gay star on the level of a Tom Cruise or Will Smith?

That’s the topic at hand in an article that appeared in Sunday’s edition of the New York Times that takes an in-depth look at the changing landscape for gay actors in Hollywood. Much has been made about the recent GLAAD report that found over 80 LGBT characters on television for the fall season, and even though a great deal of them play second fiddle to the straight leads, their presence still represents a dramatic change in the approach to being an out actor.

Gay publicist Howard Brageman is quoted as saying “We’ve gone from the revolution to the evolution”, and while that is in some ways true, Hollywood still has a great deal of evolving to do. Gays in the media now are arguably as visible as we’ve been at any other time in history, but the “revolution” doesn’t seem to extend beyond television. While television stars like Harris and Knight can play straight characters by day and walk the red carpet with their partners at night, that luxury doesn’t seem to extend to their movie-star counterparts. Internet chatter and innuendo on some of our big stars is deafening, yet we’ve still yet to see one take the next step and come out.

We are still, in the words of USC media professional Larry Gross, “Waiting for the Jackie Robinson moment”. Whether or not this moment ever truly comes is a question that won’t be answered for some time, but the article also highlights some promising new developments surrounding young actors like Fringe’s Jasika Nicole, who are defying the closet and maintaining successful careers. 

                                                     Out Noah's Arc star Daryl Stephens

The question really isn’t whether or not there are gay actors in Hollywood (anyone who has ever had any interaction with theatre geeks knows that it’s nearly impossible for all those ‘mos to get lost in translation on the way to the Walk of Fame), but rather when they will start to take their tentative steps out of the closet.

Three of our most well-known out actors (Harris, Knight, and Chad Allen) were outed or nearly outed by some form of tabloid intervention, so their coming out (while honorable and noteworthy) was less bold than, say, an actor who did so with no provocation while promoting a $100 million movie which bore his name above the title.

The first steps out of the closet from actors like the aforementioned as well as now officially out Noah’s Arc actor Daryl Stephens serve to show that the closet foundation is rattling, but the movement is still waiting for a big, splashy movie-star pioneer to open the door to the future of openly-gay actors in Hollywood.

Of course, we follow this topic rather closely here day-to-day, so the article wasn't much of a bombshell. Did anyone catch the article and have any thoughts? Share in the comments! 

The new fall season brings with it fresh shows, new drama, and some fantastic eye-candy for us to obsess over. That said, I've decided to put together a group of my favorites in the hopes of inspiring a little debate. No matter what your flavor is, we've got it all, and you may find a few unexpected treats within the group. Have at it! Agree, disagree, add to or subtract from the list. These guys (in no particular order) are my faves of the Fall 2008 TV season. Who are yours?

Joshua Jackson

The days of the Creek are with us no longer, as Joshua Jackson leaves his teenybopper days behind him and launches into full-fledged leading man mode as a paranormal investigator on the new Fox show Fringe. I had the pleasure of meeting this one at the Fox upfront party earlier this year, and, trust me, he's even better-looking in person. He's got the tall, classy, personable vibe going on, and the extent of his attractiveness isn't most easily seen through the airwaves. I expect this one to be a controversial pick.

Sendhil Ramamurthy

While Milo and Adrian get all the Heroes love, I've had my eye on this cutie for quite some time. Anybody who caught the jaw-dropping season premiere (and his first ever shirt-doffing scene) just found out what I've known for a while: this Hero is smokin' hot. Perhaps that's why he always seems to be glistening under a sheen of sweat. The best part? His Heroes accent is faked for the cameras. Imagine the possibilities...

Brokeback Mountain stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger

A few years back, Brokeback Mountain was all the rage, doing record-breaking box office for a gay-themed movie, winning countless awards (although, controversially, not that Best Picture Oscar), and finally showcasing the true talent of the late Heath Ledger, who had previously been squandering them on teen movies and horror genre fare.

The film also captured the minds of many who seem to have taken its ambiguous ending as a starting point for a great deal of fan-fiction. Brokeback slash fic can be seen all over the internet,and ranges from heartwarming (Jack returns to Ennis and they live happily ever after, awwwww) to sensual (extended and, um, detailed descriptions of their many trysts at that mountain).

However, after hearing the recent statements from author Annie Proulx on the fan-fiction she receives, it sounds as if she may want to take a tire iron to all those aspiring writers.  In a interview with the Washington Post's Bob Hughes to promote her newest short-story collection Fine the Way It Is (snap!), Proulx describes the Brokeback Mountain phenomenon as ”the source of constant irritation in my private life”, and then proceeds (as only a writer can do) to lay the verbal smackdown on the “ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites” she is sent by overzealous fans who dare attempt to extend the story.

While these two quotes are snarky enough, they don’t do the deliciousness of the full response justice, so I’ve included it here for you:

Yours, truly and Viva Hollywood's Jainmy Martinez

Considering that my two-episode stint on a VH1 reality show (I Want to Work for Diddy) leaves me at least ten huge notches from reaching the Z-list, I was pretty shocked when I was approached about modeling in the AM/NY Reality Runway fashion show here in New York City. 

I mean, seriously?  Me, a model?  Being the pessimist that I am, my mind could only think of the potential disasters at hand.  What if nobody knows who I am?  What if I fall?  Also, and most importantly:  what if the clothes are ugly? 

Confused about what answer to give, I approached one of my closest friends for advice.  When I saw that she could barely contain her laughter, my mission was clear:  I was going to rock the runway, and just maybe I'd be plucked directly off of the runway by a powerful modeling agent and this would be just the break I needed to jumpstart my career in international high-fashion modeling.

Or maybe not. 

Real World: Key West castmember Paula "Walnuts" Meronek gets a fitting backstage

As the day approached, I was nervous, excited, and a little dumbfounded that I qualified as a celebrity.  To me, celebrities have always been at least people who have done something besides submit themselves to the judgment of others on national TV, but then again we live in a world where tons of people are famous for absolutely nothing, so far be it for me to exclude myself from addition to that list.

America's Next Top Model vet Shandi Sullivan rocks the DJ Booth

The event was held at a trendy club on the trendy Lower East Side of New York, an area I generally avoid like the zombie-like hipsters that frequent it avoid smiling. After taking my decidedly z-list transportation of the M103 New York City bus to the location, I began what would end up being about two hours of waiting for my fitting. 

I started to panic.  What if I fell?  What if I froze?  What if, dear God, the clothes are ugly?  (Yes, again.) As all of these different scenarios ran through my mind, I tried frantically to recall every piece of modeling info that I've learned from cycles 1-238 of America's Next Top Model:  Smile with your eyes!  Back straight!  Don't stomp!  OK, so this wasn't exactly the Dior show at Bryant Park, but if I was going to have a chance of getting discovered by a major agent and starting my new life as an international high-fashion model, I needed all the help I could get...