Our featured honoree of the day from the "School Days"–themed 2009 Out 100 -- this year's look at the 100 gay, lesbian, and trans people who made an impact in both gay and mainstream culture -- is Kelly McGillis.
McGillis’s coming out last April created an outsize media storm. The 52-year-old star of Top Gun and The Accusedrevealed she was a lesbian to SheWired.com, unleashing a torrent of support from around the globe. McGillis, who also starred on The L Word as a closeted army colonel trying a “don’t ask, don’t tell” case, emphatically said she is “done with the man thing.” A sexual icon for millions of straight boys who grew up in the 1980s, McGillis became another iconic example of the significance of sexual honesty later in life. This winter she will star in a U.K. tour of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.
During the coming days we'll continue to roll out more honorees from the 2009 Out 100 -- shot by renowned photographer Jason Bell -- until the full portfolio is revealed in stores and online in mid-November. Keep checking back for a new honorees and in the meantime check out the 2008 Out 100 here.
Here is an exclusive first look at the 2009 Out 100: our collection of the 100 gay men, women, and trans people who have made 2009 a year to remember. In the coming days we'll reveal the rest of the honorees, including the directors, writers, Broadway producers, musicians and stars who have shaped popular art and culture; the bravest young voices, the dedicated campaigners, the openly gay politicians and lobbyists who've brought us this far; and the ordinary LGBT people who have inspired us with their extraordinary actions.
This year's theme is a gentle nod to the days that shaped, delighted, and terrified us all and made us who we are today -- school days. We've dubbed Chaz Bono (above, shot by Jason Bell) "Most Likely To Reinvent." The only child of Cher and Sonny Bono, Chaz has a long history in queer activism. After coming out in the April 1995 issue of The Advocate, he went on to write for the magazine, serve as a high-profile spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, became entertainment media director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and penned two books centered on LGBT issues. After several years under the radar, Bono broke news in June that he had begun FTM gender reassignment surgery.
Thursday evening, October 29, Entertainment Tonight will begin airing Bono's first interview since he revealed he is transitioning. After you've watched the preview here, check your local listings for channels and times to catch Mary Hart's full chat with Chaz.
Thursday night Charlize Theron let a female fan put her money where the actress's mouth is -- literally. During a live auction for charity OnexOne in San Francisco, Theron took to the stage to offer a 2010 trip to South Africa, including World Cup tickets, a safari, and a chance to meet Nelson Mandela. When the bidding lost its momentum at $37,000, Theron jokingly berated the crowd saying, "For fucks
sake! You can do better. There is no way I am
leaving here with Jeremy Piven getting a higher bid [he had just raised $280,000]. I've got tits for
God's sake."
To lessen the gap, she offered a 7-second kiss for $130,000 to a male bidder. "Swine flu is going around. This is high risk kissing!"
she told him. After another man bid $135,000, a woman offered $140,000 and won a 20-second kiss from Theron, who laughed, "My boyfriend is not here tonight." Not that he would have minded even if he were there -- straight men love watching this sort of thing, don't they?
It’s
hard for us to imagine -- especially when reflecting on a year that saw the
legalization of gay marriage in Iowa and the release of both Brüno and Milk -- that the word “homosexual” was
banned from Hollywood as recently as 50 years ago. So it was with incredulity
and the stonewashed thrill of watching something that had once been illegal in
the U.S., that I rented Victim, a lesser-known British film from 1961, directed by Basil
Dearden. Victim
is notable in the timeline of gay cinema because it’s the first English
language motion picture to -- gasp! -- include the word “homosexual.”
But
what was gay film like before “homosexuality”? To find out, I watched another
1961 classic, The Children’s Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. The film
focuses on two schoolteachers whose careers, and livelihoods, are threatened
when a particularly vindictive schoolgirl spreads a rumor that the two women
are involved, or “different,” as the film poster’s tagline reads. While
lesbianism, or accused lesbianism, is essentially the main source of stress for
the two heroines, the words “lesbian” and “homosexual” never actually make an
appearance in the film’s script. It would’ve been illegal at the time, as the
Hays Code hadn’t yet begun to shed its embargos on sexual portrayal. (That
code, which regulated films with a laundry list of moral restrictions, would
become obsolete by 1968 when the MPAA adopted the film rating system that is
used today.)
"I've never played a gay character, and for me that was such an
incredible challenge. And I said, "As long as you write her with
absolute depth and she's well rounded, and there's no stereotypes, and
she's a real person — then yes, let's go for it." Being an Asian woman in this
business, I have had to deal with a lot of adversities...So I relate a lot to Camille's character, because I think being a woman
who's also gay in an environment where she has to be the head of a
department -- she's an IOA officer, head of the human resources
department, and she is in charge in a man's world. So it's a really
great challenge."
"I've never ever labeled myself. But having said that, I've never
limited my life. I've never limited who I sleep with… Call me
whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me."
-- Singer Mika finally, officially coming out -- after years of remaining mum on his sexuality -- in Dutch magazine Gay and Night.
"Ultimately, Stewie will be gay or a very unhappy
repressed heterosexual. It also explains why he’s so hellbent on
killing [his mother, Lois] and taking over the world: He has a lot of
aggression, which comes from confusion and uncertainty about his
orientation."
-- Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane outing the 1-year-old cartoon character Stewie last week. The brilliant Hadley Freeman responds to the new wave of conservatism rearing its ugly head on Family Guy in a column appearing on The Guardian's website today.
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