6.28.2007

Pride Package: David Kopay





David Marquette Kopay (born June 28, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former American football running back in the NFL who was one of the first professional athletes to come out as gay.

Kopay was born in Chicago and attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. He entered the University of Washington in 1961 and became an All-American running back in his senior year. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He played pro football from 1964 to 1972. After he retired from the NFL, he was considered a top contender for coaching positions, but was snubbed by professional and college teams because of his sexual orientation. He eventually took over the family business selling and installing floor coverings in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. He is also a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation.

His biography, The David Kopay Story, written with Perry Dean Young, offers insights into the sexual proclivities of heterosexual football players and their homophobia. In 1986, Kopay also revealed his brief affair with Jerry Smith (1943-1986), who played for the Washington Redskins from 1965-1977 and who died of AIDS without ever having publicly come out of the closet.

Since Kopay, only two additional former NFL Players have come out as gay, Roy Simmons in 1992, and Esera Tuaolo in 2002. Kopay has been credited with inspiring these athletes to be more open about their sexual orientation.


Happy Birthday, Dave!
And thanks for being such a pioneer, ya big stud!

6.26.2007

Pride Package: Peter Paige





Peter Paige (born June 20, 1969 in West Hartford, Connecticut) is an openly gay American actor.

Perhaps best known for his role as Emmett Honeycutt on Showtime's hit series Queer as Folk,Paige's other television credits include recurring and guest star roles on Will & Grace, Time of Your Life, Girlfriends, and Caroline in the City. His very first audition in Los Angeles earned him a guest-starring role on Suddenly Susan.

Peter spent summer 2004 starring in his feature directorial debut, Say Uncle, alongside Kathy Najimy, Anthony Clark, Melanie Lynskey, and Gabrielle Union. He is also featured in Don McKellar's Childstar with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Dave Foley. Other film credits include the Showtime movie Our America (Sundance 2002), the indie film Pop, and the award-winning shorts The Four of Us and The Shooting.

Also an accomplished stage actor, Peter has appeared at major regional theatres throughout the country, most notably in world premieres at La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, and Playwrights Horizons. He has performed nearly every genre of play, from the Greeks to Shakespeare to contemporary American work. Some favorite plays on his resume include A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rivals, Secret Agents, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Pantophobia, his two-man show written and performed with Abraham Higginbotham.

Proudly out as a gay man who played one of the gayest characters of recent TV history (and who had a sexy affair on QAF with a closeted football player played by hunkalicious yet slightly dense Matt Battaglia), Paige has broken the taboo that out gay actors who, well, act gay, can't make a successful career.

For his fabulousness, kudos to Peter.

6.23.2007

Pride Package: Bob Paris




Bob Paris (born Robert Clark Paris on December 14, 1959) is a former International Federation of BodyBuilders professional bodybuilder.

Bob Paris is a writer, public speaker and civil rights activist who is also known as being the 1983 Mr. Universe winner and model who acknowledged his homosexuality in the July 1989 issue of Ironman magazine. He has graced the covers of scores of magazines worldwide.













Paris grew up in Southern Indiana in a household where hard work was the rule. He played high school football and track events. It was here that Paris first began lifting weights, leading him down the road to professional bodybuilding, where he excelled. Even 15 years after his retirement from professional competition, Bob Paris is considered one of the greatest athletes in the history of bodybuilding. Renown for both his aesthetics and artistic approach toward the sport, Bob was also a dedicated advocate for the rights of athletes and an outspoken voice in the push for drug testing at the professional level.

After Paris officially came out as a gay man in the media, he and his then-partner, Rod Jackson, became involved in gay marriage advocacy, started successful non-profits, lectured on a wide variety of gay civil rights issues, and made many television, radio, newpaper and magazine appearances. In 1995, the two separated.



Today, Bob lives with his spouse of more than ten years, on an island in the state of Washington.

In addition to his flourishing writing career, Bob Paris remains a committed civil rights advocate as well as a motivational speaker, model and actor. On October 10, 1998, he made his New York stage debut, starring at Carnegie Hall opposite Bea Arthur, Sandy Duncan and Tyne Daly in the Broadway musical, Jubilee as the character Mowgli.

His books include Gorilla Suit, Generation Queer: A Gay Man's Quest For Hope, Love & Justice, Prime, Beyond Built: Bob Paris' Guide to Achieving the Ultimate Look, Flawless: The 10-Week Total Image Method for Transforming Your Physique, Natural Fitness and Straight From The Heart (as co-author)


For more paired nudes with Bob and Rod, photographed by Herb Ritts and Tom Bianchi,

CLICK here.

6.20.2007

Pride Package: Greg Louganis






Greg Louganis is widely regarded as the greatest diver in history. After having won a silver medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, he dominated diving competitions throughout the 1980s, winning two gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and two more at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Since his retirement from competition, he has acknowledged both his homosexuality and his status as a person living with AIDS.

Louganis was born on January 29, 1960 in San Diego to a Samoan father and a northern European mother. He was adopted at nine months and was raised in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego. He began his athletic life as a gymnast and acrobat, but switched to diving when a local coach noticed his natural talent.

Diving became an important physical and emotional outlet for Louganis, an arena in which he could succeed at a time when he was ridiculed for his skin color, his interest in dance, his undiagnosed dyslexia, and his apparent homosexuality. Suffering from depression in his adolescence, Louganis attempted suicide several times, smoked and took drugs, and denied his sexual attraction toward men.

Louganis emerged as a diving phenomenon when he was a teenager. He demonstrated not simply strength and technical proficiency, but also an unusual grace, a combination of qualities that were to become his trademark.

At the 1971 AAU Junior Olympics competition, Louganis caught the attention of legendary diving coach Dr. Sammy Lee. Dr. Lee coached him to a surprise silver medal in platform diving and a sixth place finish in springboard diving at the 1976 Olympics.

Louganis began to explore his sexual orientation in 1978, when he started college at the University of Miami, where he majored in drama. He quickly became favored to win medals at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, but the American boycott of those games ended that dream.

In 1981, he began preparing for the 1984 Games. He transferred to the University of California at Irvine to train under coach Ron O'Brien.

In diving competitions, Louganis began to dominate the sport internationally. In the 1982 World Championships, where he swept both springboard and platform titles, he became the first diver in international competition to be awarded perfect scores by all seven judges.

At the 1984 Olympics, he became the first male diver since 1928 to win gold medals in both the platform and springboard events. In 1984, he was honored with the Sullivan Award as the country's outstanding amateur athlete; and in 1986, he was awarded the Jesse Owens International Trophy.

In his personal life, however, Louganis was less successful. He entered into several relationships, none of which lasted long, then initiated an abusive relationship with his manager, who controlled his finances and his life.

Following the 1984 Olympics, Louganis ended the relationship with his manager (who later died of AIDS), pursued an acting career with modest success, and began the process of coming out publicly as a gay man.







In 1987, he posed for Playgirl magazine (with no frontal shots.)
Early in 1988, Louganis tested positive for HIV, but decided nevertheless to compete in the Seoul Olympics. In a heroic performance, he again won gold medals in both the platform and springboard competitions. But his triumph would later be tarnished by controversy.

Had his HIV-status been widely known, Louganis' second to last springboard dive could have caused an international incident. He misjudged his distance from the diving board and hit it with his head. The doctor who stitched his bleeding wound was not told that the diver was HIV-positive and did not wear gloves or take appropriate precautions.

Although the risk of HIV-transmission was small, and the doctor was in fact not infected, the incident was nevertheless regrettable and underlined the danger of athletes not disclosing their HIV-status to appropriate officials.

Although Louganis' homosexuality had been an open secret in the diving and gay communities for years, he came out officially at the 1994 Gay Games in New York City. A year later, in a nationally televised interview with Barbara Walters, he also publicly revealed his HIV-status. The revelation that he was HIV-positive during the Seoul Olympics sparked discussion about the ethics of concealing one's HIV-status during sports competitions.

Since 1995, Louganis has been a visible figure in the gay and lesbian community. His autobiography, written with Eric Marcus, Breaking the Surface, became a best-seller and the basis of a television movie.

Greg has since written about raising dogs, appeared at fundraisers for HIV prevention in the Asian Pacific Gay communities, and made other celebrity appearances, while for the most part, living a quieter life.

Here's to Greg, one of the greatest athletes in the world.

6.19.2007

Pride Package: Tab Hunter




For years, Tab Hunter was sold as a little girl's dream; the young romantic ingenue with a secret. Surf flicks, tearjerkers, fortunately many opportunities for shirtlessness kept Tab Hunter a box office success.

Yet a tabloid in the 50s outed him even then. He didn't formally come out until 2005, when he released his autobiography.

But we knew a long time ago, didn't we? Even before his sort of comeback in John Waters' Polyester!



an excerpt from an interview a few years back:

"Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star," an autobiography written with Eddie Muller, in which Mr. Hunter chronicles his life in public as America's golden boy and his life in private as a gay man, will be published by Algonquin Books. As Mr. Hunter stepped out with starlets like Ms. [Natalie] Wood in movies, magazines and Hollywood night spots, he pursued relationships with actors like Anthony Perkins, who eventually stopped seeing him, married and later died of AIDS.


Mr. Hunter, like many celebrities who become international obsessions, is fairly simple in person. At 74, he says he prefers horses to people. He can swear with the best of them. He has lived quietly in a small cottage in this small town outside Santa Barbara for 12 years with his partner of 23 years, Allan Glaser, a producer. Oprah Winfrey has a place down the hill, 42 acres that she paid $55 million for, but that's entertainment. Nicely kept 230SL's buzz among the old-growth olive-grove roads like hornets. No one pretends that Montecito is Middle America.

There's more to life than success, Mr. Hunter said last week, sitting in his garden with Mr. Glaser, talking about being Tab Hunter. One of their two whippets, Olivia, chewed on an acorn by his chair. Mr. Hunter has an actor's habit of holding one's eye with consequence as he answers questions, as if it were a camera.

"Rock? No," he said, asked if he had had sex with Rock Hudson, one of Hollywood's other A-list homosexuals in the 1950's. "Not my type." Mr. Hudson and Mr. Hunter shared an agent, Henry Willson, who was known as the gay Svengali for the beefcake stars he created.


...Mr. Hunter said that Hollywood in the 1950's had its version of "Don't ask, don't tell," which was "Don't complain, don't explain." Or, let the studio take care of you, and let the public draw its conclusions.

"There was a lot written about my sexuality, and the press was pretty darn cruel, but people believe what they want to believe," he said. What moviegoers wanted to hold in their hearts were the boy-next-door marines, cowboys and swoon-bait sweethearts he portrayed.



He was also rumored to have had affairs with other guys, but remains discreet. The photos alleging to be of him nude, and being blown, are not his, but shown anyway.



Here's to Tab, which isn't even his name. Better late than never!

6.16.2007

Pride Package: Robert Gant


Born and raised in Tampa, Florida July 13 1968 as Robert Gonzalez, in just a few years, Robert Gant has gone from real-life Ivy Leaguer and barrister-in-training to portraying the Good Humor Man, a sexy handyman, the all-around nice guy, an offbeat high school vice principal... and most recently, a professor of literature and gay studies.

Gant began acting and performing at a young age. He appeared in a national TV commercial for Cheerios cereal in the fifth grade and did a soft-shoe routine at age 11 with legendary comedian Bob Hope as part of a USO show. In high school, Robert ("Bobby") was involved in a variety of extracurricular activities. He sang in a barbershop quartet, appeared in the school's theatrical productions (including "Grease"), and played football.


Gant remained active in theatrical and musical endeavors in college but had his eyes set on becoming an attorney. He studied pre-law at the University of Pennsylvania, earning his undergrad degree in 1990. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, in 1993 and took a job in Los Angeles with a law firm.

When the LA branch of the firm closed in 1994, Gant remained in California to pursue an acting career. At first, he landed small roles and guest appearances on several television programs, including My So-Called Life, Step by Step, Melrose Place, Friends, and Ellen.

In 1996, Robert was selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants to reprise the role of the Good Humor Man; he donned a white suit and black bow tie, drove a Good Humor ice cream truck, and sang and danced in a series of commercials for the Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream Company. He also appeared in commercials for Coors Light beer, Saturn cars, and Hanes underwear (with Michael Jordan). He also made a straight softcore movie - faking sex with -shock- a woman!




Robert later had recurring guest star roles on Caroline in the City, as Caroline's (Lea Thompson's) boyfriend Trevor, and on Popular, as Vice Principal (and then Principal) Calvin Krupps of Kennedy (as in "Jackie O") High School. In Spring 2002, he joined the cast of Queer as Folk as Ben Bruckner, a professor of literature and gay studies who develops a romantic relationship with one of the show's main characters, Michael (played by Hal Sparks). Gant's film credits include Cityscrapes: Los Angeles, Jane Street, The Contract, Fits and Starts, and the TV movie, Bitter Vengeance.

In August of 2002 he came out as a gay actor in the Advocate. He's since worked with Chad Allen to create a film production company that focuses on gay stories.

And he's got a hot smokin' bod!!

6.13.2007

Pride Package: Chad Allen




Chad Allen got outed after being on Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman for a few years. Already contemplating coming out, he was then outed by some queen who sold their pool party pics of him smooching his boyfriend to a tabloid.

Since then, he's maintained a successful career acting, and producing movies for one of those gay cable stations. They're murder mysteries, which I don't care for, but there's some beefcake in them, and Chad does a good job.

Check out his Official Fan Site for more updates on movies and things Chad's making. Here's to Chad, out gay handsome and my Pride Package of the day!


6.11.2007

John John, Bi bi






How nice of the New York Post's Page Six gossip column to publish what I and many other gays in the know, er, knew, way back in the 80s.


Gorgeous (sadly now deceased) John F. Kennedy, Jr. was bisexual.

In "American Legacy," one of JFK Jr.'s closest pals from Brown University, Rob Littell, tells author C. David Heymann that during the summer of 1988, Kennedy and the Material Girl stopped off at a "cheap, dinky" Chicago hotel for a secret rendezvous during which they planned to finally go all the way.

"They were working their way around the bases, and as they rounded third and headed for home, she asked him if he had any protection. He didn't, so now they began discussing how they were going to get a hold of a prophylactic," Littell tells the author.

"She was still legally married to Sean Penn, and he had a steady girlfriend . . . They were afraid of being busted. They couldn't very well just meander into a pharmacy and ask for a pack of Trojans. They were too well known . . . To John's great chagrin, the relationship was never completed."



Another claim in the book, sure to infuriate the Kennedy clan and their friends who believe Heymann's sources are dubious, is that JFK Jr. had numerous bisexual encounters.

Transsexual Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn, who met the hunk at Studio 54, tells the author: "I know he was attracted to me because when we danced he played with my a - - and stuff. He kissed me on the dance floor, and I kissed him back."

Another acquaintance, French physical therapist Jean Christian Massard, who went clubbing with JFK Jr. in the late '80s, claims, "He confided - and I believed him - that he'd had several flings with men."


Well, Holly Woodlawn would come on to a fire hydrant, so I don't care about her. But it was fairly well known that John John had a penchant for slim young Asian and Latino guys, several of whom he dated and played football with in Central Park. I saw him, as did others, at gay clubs, but that doesn't mean anything.

The fact is, John Jr. is one of my blog's of LGBT month, whether naysayers like it or not.

In 1997, when John John posed (tastefully, i.e. no frontal) for his own George magazine, he wrote, while commenting about his more openly philandering relatives:

About himself, JFK Jr., who is shown contemplating an apple dangling above his head in the revealing photo, writes, "I've learned a lot about temptation recently, but that doesn't make me desire any less."




Interesting things about John John:

His father's funeral fell on John's third birthday, November 25, 1963. The historical photograph of John saluting his father's casket was taken that day. When John appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1986) in 1996, he told Oprah Winfrey that as an adult, he had no recollection of the funeral.

On September 7, 1995, Cindy Crawford appeared on the first cover of his short-lived magazine "George" attired as George Washington in a white wig and revolutionary garb

He broke the Kennedy family tradition of attending Harvard when he decided to attend Brown University.

John, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister Lauren were all cremated and their ashes scattered off the coast of Martha's Vineyard from the USS John F. Kennedy Naval ship, where the ship was on training duty.

Before he died, Al Gore was considering him to be his running mate, even though he had no previous political experience.


Brave enough to show off his body on Martha's Vineyard.

Brave enough to visit his father's once enemy, accused of killing him, too, Fidel Castro, when we all know it had more to do with local Texan talent, right Georgie?



"It's hard for me to talk about a legacy or a mystique. It's my family. It's my mother. It's my sister. It's my father. We're a family like any other. We look out for one another. The fact that there have been difficulties and hardships, or obstacles, makes us closer." --Vogue magazine, 1993

(When asked what he thought about being voted "Sexiest Man Alive 1988" by People Magazine) "People could say a lot worse things about you than you're really attractive and you look good in a bathing suit."

A great beautful man, who could have gone far, if only...