I’m going to be the first to admit that I don’t know a damned thing about the ins and outs of the NFL.
So I’ve heard from a few sports types that Chris Kluwe’s being let go from the Minnesota Vikings had nothing to do with his LGBT activism. It was all about salary caps and a subpar season last year.
I still don’t quite believe it.
But whatever.
Here’s the good news: Chris has been signed by the Oakland Raiders!
There had apparently been interested from the Cleveland Browns as well.
I thought he was just some hot underwear model with a lot of tattoos married to one of the Spice Girls.
Oh, of course I know he plays soccer – I’m just more interested in his underwear!
This is from The New York Times: David Beckham, the English midfielder who combined devastating free kicks, dashing good looks and savvy marketing to become one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, announced Thursday that he would retire from soccer at season’s end.
Beckham, 38, has played his final season for Paris St.-Germain, adding a French league championship to the ones he won in England with Manchester United, in Spain with Real Madrid and in the United States with the Los Angeles Galaxy. His achievements on the field and smart branding by his camp and the shoe company Adidas made him an icon of his generation and a household name everywhere the game is played.
“If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy,” Beckham said in a statement. “I’m fortunate to have realized those dreams.”
Beckham’s glory years came at Manchester United, where he won six Premier League titles, two F.A. Cups and the 1999 Champions League title under Manager Alex Ferguson, who coincidentally also retired this month. He joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2003 in a blockbuster transfer worth $45 million.
His next move was to the Los Angeles Galaxy, in 2007, where his mere presence lifted the profile of then-struggling Major League Soccer. And while he angered fans with two off-season loans to A.C. Milan in Italy, he delivered two league championships before leaving last year.
Beckham also made 115 appearances for England, a record for an outfield player, and represented his country in three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006).
Dreamboat Matthew Morrison is partnering with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in support of LGBT equality.
Partial proceeds from the pre-sale of his new studio album, Where It All Began, will benefit HRC.
“I’m thrilled to join HRC in their vital work to bring full equality to all Americans,” Matthew said in a statement. “At this decisive moment, when there is so much work still ahead, I’m standing with HRC and LGBT people across the country until this fight is won.”
The album will be released on June 4 and features an assortment of classic standards, many of which were first made famous in Broadway musicals.
The record marks the first release from 222 Records, the newly formed label from Adam Levine.
“It was so great working with Matthew on Where It All Began. He is an amazing artist and we are longtime friends,” Levine said in a statement. “We’re both huge supporters of the LGBT community and I’m glad that partial proceeds from the pre-sale of this album will go toward such a great cause.”
Matthew has also today released a video for HRC’s Americans for Marriage Equality campaign.
“Not only is Matthew a brilliant musical talent, but perhaps more importantly he is a fantastic human being,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.” “His support for equality at this critical time in our nation’s history is something that is important to all fair minded Americans.”
Originally posted April 2, 2009 – updated with additional photos
I like Reese Witherspoon but I’m a little bitter that she has stolen the heart of my perfect movie star man, Jake Gyllenhaal.
Jake is a dreamboat, pure and simple.
I’ve never met him but did get to speak with him on the phone briefly on the morning that the Academy Award nominations were announced in 2006. Jake was nominated for best supporting actor for his performance as Heath Ledger’s lover in Brokeback Mountain.
Jake has proven to be selective about his roles and has been superb in Donnie Darko, Jarhead (pictured above), Zodiac and was the best thing about Rendition.
His next film is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
I chatted with Shane Bitney Crone at the GLAAD Media Awards in LA last month and was so deeply moved after our conversation that I gave him a heartfelt hug.
He’s been through so much.
But he’s a strong gay man who after losing the love of his life, Tom Bridegroom, in a tragic fall, he decided not to remain silent about the horrendous way he was treated by Tom’s family and by the hospital where Tom was taken.
First he made the YouTube video It Could Happen to You which has led to the documentary Bridegroom.
‘Since I posted the YouTube video, for the past year I’ve been working on the documentary,” Shane says. ‘It’s hard you know. It just depends on the day. This has definitely been like a healing process for me and it’s good that something so tragic led to something that’s positive.’
Check out the full interview which I have posted over at Gay Star News.
This is episode six of the addictive web series on LOGO TV written and directed by Kit Williamson who is also one of the stars. How smart he was to write in a love scene with gorgeous Sean Maher!
Van Hansis, Constance Wu, John Halbach,Matthew McKelligon and the hilarious Stephen Guarino also star. And in this episode is David Blue who played Marc’s boyfriend on several episodes of Ugly Betty.
Ran into actor Ian Buchanan at The Abbey yesterday!
I was excited to see him and wanted to say hi. But first, I quickly tried to remember what the heck I had written about him when I featured him as a Morning Man in March!
Turns out the most gushy I got was when I wrote: “I saw Ian on the last two episodes of the web series Old Dogs & New Tricks where he was smiling and looking so sexy. Now I have a mad crush on him.”
Not too bad, coulda been worse!
Turns out Ian had seen the post and thanked me for writing it. He also could not have been nicer!
An Emmy winner for The Bold and The Beautiful, Ian recently resurfaced on General Hospital as Duke, one of his most famous roles. He’s also a cast member on Days of Our Lives, Port Charles and Twin Peaks.
Was so happy to learn that Murray Bartlett has been cast as one of the stars of the upcoming HBO series about a group of friends navigating life as gay men in San Francisco.
It doesn’t have a title yet but it also stars Jonathan Groff and is expected to debut sometime next year.
I first became aware of handsome Murray two years ago when August, a feature film in which he stars, screened at Outfest. Boy, he was just too sexy for words in this film.
Murray is probably best known for his role as Cyrus Foley on the CBS soap Guiding Light which was canceled in 2009. He had joined the show after finishing the Australian tour of The Boy From Oz with Hugh Jackman.
While in his native Australia, Murray also appeared regularly on the Australian television series Headland. His other television work includes appearances on All My Children as well as White Collar, Farscape and McLead’s Daughters.
Murray graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in his hometown of Sydney.
Can’t believe it’s less than a month until LA Pride!
It’s always such a great weekend and the highlight for me in the Sunday parade down Santa Monica Boulevard which this year will be held on June 9.
Christopher Street West, the organization behind LA Pride, has announced this year’s honorees and I think it is a stellar group!
They include:
GEORGE MOSCONE ALLY AWARD | Brendon Ayanbadejo: A straight ally, Ayanbadejo has spoken out in favor of marriage equality and encouraged fellow professional athletes to do the same. The George Moscone Ally Award celebrates straight allies who make a difference within the LGBT community.
PERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD | U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-41st District):Takano’s election last November made him the first openly gay, non-white member of Congress. The Person Of The Year Award is given to an individual who, for the past year, has had a major impact working for the betterment of the entire LGBT community.
MORRIS KIGHT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD | Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl: Rosendahl is the first openly gay male member on the council and the highest-ranked openly gay official in Los Angeles and is leaving office in June.
To read the full list of honorees, go over to WeHoVille.com!
Well, I certainly am looking forward to seeing this one!
HBO has ordered eight episodes of an untitled dramedy about three gay friends in San Francisco who ‘explore the fun and sometimes overwhelming options available to a new generation of gay men.’
The star attraction is Jonathan Groff, the out star who we know best from Broadway’s Spring Awakenings and TV’s Glee and Boss.
He also happens to be dating Zachary Quinto!
But I’m also thrilled to see that another one of the leads is Murray Bartlett, the onetime Guiding Light cast member who was so good in the gay indie flick August a few years ago.
The other star announced is Frankie J. Alvarez who this year appeared in three episodes of Smash.
The series that is based on an idea from a screenplay by Michael Lannan called Lorimer. Production will begin next fall in San Francisco with the series debuting sometime next year.
Love the stuff that pops up on YouTube. This MADtv Bewitched parody is called BeBitched and it’s a fun twist on the beloved sitcom from the 60s and 70s.
Sean Maher @Sean_M_Maher Saw Richard Simmons at Whole Foods. Aerobic short shorts et al. Dropped my phone, groceries and wallet. Is that a case of star struckness?
This great star could just be basking in the glow of her current Broadway success (Tony nominated for the music to Kinky Boots) but she continues to use to her fame to speak out on social issues – like HIV awareness.
‘The biggest challenge today is that people don’t think HIV is that much of an issue anymore,’ Lauper tells The Advocate in an interview published today. ‘While the drug therapies have done an incredible job of keeping people with HIV alive, it is an arduous journey for people taking the drugs. The side effects are significant.’
‘The public does not see HIV as a death sentence anymore,’ she adds. ‘We need to continue to reinvest in prevention efforts and to put all the resources we can into ending the epidemic.’
The Grammy and Emmy winner came to fame in the mid-1980s when the AIDS crisis was at its peak and what she saw then has stayed with her and led to a lifetime of activism.
‘One of my very dear friends, Gregory, passed away in 1986 from AIDS,’ she says. ‘He lived in the apartment upstairs with his partner. We tried to help him through it all as best we could. It was a very scary time. So many people in my life and in the music industry were dying, and not nearly enough was being done by our government at the time to help.’
Lauper adds: ‘Having never been a person who was afraid to speak up, I knew I had to help make some noise and do whatever I could to make a difference. You fight fear and ignorance through education and awareness.’
Rob Marciano, now co-host of Entertainment Tonight, was still a CNN weather anchor when first featured as a Morning Man on Feb. 22, 2010. Here’s an encore of that post:
There are not many guys who are able to divert my attention away from that silver fox Anderson Cooper but CNN news and weather anchor Rob Marciano certainly is one of them.
This movie star handsome man, a correspondent for Anderson Cooper 360, has worked for CNN since 2003 and gained attention for his contributions to the network’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina. By that time, he
served as chief meteorologist for KATU-TV and 750 KXL News Radio in Portland, Oregon. From 1994-1997, he
worked as morning and then chief meteorologist for KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Rob began his TV career as a weather anchor for WVIT Connecticut News 30 in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Before embarking on a career in television Rob spent three years living and working in New York City as an Equity Sales Trader. When he’s not chasing storms, Rob enjoys the outdoors through skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and playing golf, according to his CNN bio.
So why weather? Rob explained it all in an interview with VMan: “I’ve been a lifelong weather geek. I would drive my parents crazy. I knew exactly when every weather guy was on every channel, and I would switch back and forth trying to get them all. I learned early on that meteorology isn’t an exact science—telling your teacher you didn’t do your homework because the weatherman said it was going to snow doesn’t really work.”
No wonder Barbara Walters was annoyed when those retirement stories cropped up a few months ago – she obviously wanted to share the news herself and in doing so, remind everyone just what a television news legend she is.
Her announcement on The View this morning featured a more than five-minute tribute to her stories career during which she has been in television – continuously – for more than 50 years.
During that time, she’s interviewed just about every world leader, just about every Hollywood icon, every sitting US president, and plenty of infamous people including Monica Lewinsky which, strangely, was the highest-rared interview of her career and the one she seems most proud of.
All I can remember from that interview is Lewinsky’s odd, slicked back hair.
It’s going to be a long goodbye with Barbara not going off the air for another year or so. She will continue to do The View and her specials for ABC until then.
The State Senate today passed a marriage equality bill (House of Reps did so last week) and Gov. Mark Dayton will sign the bill into law on the steps of the capitol on tomorrow.
You can read my story over at Gay Star News - I listened to more than three hours of the hearing which meant it was equal parts heartening and maddening.
I just wonder what Mary Richards would have thought it all. The single gal portrayed by Mary Tyler Moore came to Minneapolis for a new start and became a liberated woman who made it after all.
My guess is that upon hearing the news and having it lead the WJM newscast, Mary would’ve tossed her hat in the air.
Have never seen this before but it popped up on my YouTube page today. It’s so random and wonderful. The year is 1975 and a Mahogany-era Diana Ross is a guest on The Tonight Show.
I do not know the context here but she’s pregnant with her third daughter, Chudney, and host Johnny Carson hands her a microphone and she sings all of the Supremes classic Baby Love sitting down.
Since it is just Diana with no frills basically, it really makes you appreciate her sparkle and her unique and special voice that is on so many hits.
Well, Will’s cute cousin JJ, just home from being kicked out of boarding school, has no problem with Will and Sonny being a couple as he runs into them at the coffee house.
Nick Fallon, of course, is another matter.
Rafe is beat up and in the hospital. Will and Sonny, in about five seconds, decide that Nick might be behind it since he was acting funny, had motive, and somehow had the muffin Gabi wanted that Rafe was supposed to deliver.
Nick is annoyed by their insinuation and says to Will: ‘I’ve absolutely had it with you and your fancy pants lover boy.’
Days of our Lives stars Freddie Smith (Sonny) and Nathan Owens (Cameron) were captured between takes at their recent NOH8 photo shoot.
On Days, Sonny is in a relationship with Will Horton and is the boyfriend we all want – loyal, smart and cute!
Cameron is a doctor who was moonlighting as a make stripper but, unfortunately, seems to have given up one of his jobs – the one that requires him to rip his clothes off and show us his rockin’ bod!
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I’m going to be the first to admit that I don’t know a damned thing about the ins and outs of the NFL.
What a minute – David Beckham plays soccer?
Dreamboat Matthew Morrison is partnering with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in support of LGBT equality.
Originally posted April 2, 2009 – updated with additional photos
I chatted with Shane Bitney Crone at the GLAAD Media Awards in LA last month and was so deeply moved after our conversation that I gave him a heartfelt hug.
Ran into actor Ian Buchanan at The Abbey yesterday!
Was so happy to learn that Murray Bartlett has been cast as one of the stars of the upcoming HBO series about a group of friends navigating life as gay men in San Francisco.
And you thought today was just Tuesday?
Can’t believe it’s less than a month until LA Pride!
Well, I certainly am looking forward to seeing this one!
Sean Maher @Sean_M_Maher 
Chely Wright @chelywright 
Thank God for people like Cyndi Lauper.
Rob Marciano, now co-host of Entertainment Tonight, was still a CNN weather anchor when first featured as a Morning Man on Feb. 22, 2010. Here’s an encore of that post:
So why weather? Rob explained it all in an interview with VMan: “I’ve been a lifelong weather geek. I would drive my parents crazy. I knew exactly when every weather guy was on every channel, and I would switch back and forth trying to get them all. I learned early on that meteorology isn’t an exact science—telling your teacher you didn’t do your homework because the weatherman said it was going to snow doesn’t really work.”
Well, Will’s cute cousin JJ, just home from being kicked out of boarding school, has no problem with Will and Sonny being a couple as he runs into them at the coffee house.
Days of our Lives stars Freddie Smith (Sonny) and Nathan Owens (Cameron) were captured between takes at their recent NOH8 photo shoot.
