THE JOYS OF MARRIAGE....

"FIREFLY" ALUM AND "PLAYBOY CLUB" STAR SEAN MAHER COMES OUT

Congratulations to "The Playboy Club" actor Sean Maher, who on Monday publicly announced that he is gay.

In an interview with "Entertainment Weekly," the actor best known for playing Dr. Simon Tam in he beloved sci-fi series “Firefly” said he’s never talked about his sexuality publicly and he’s never been asked about it publicly.
“But I would be lying if I said I didn’t paint a different picture,” the 36-year-old said. Privately, he’s been with his partner, Paul, for nine years. They have two children, Sophia Rose, 4, and Liam Xavier, 14 months.
Maher, who has been working steadily in Hollywood for 14 years, said his family was his biggest reason for coming out to the professional closet. “I have these beautiful children and this extraordinary family,” he told the magazine, “and to think in any way shape or form that that’s wrong or that there’s shame in that or that there’s something to hide actually turns my stomach.”

In NBC’s “The Playboy Club,” Maher plays a closeted gay man, coincidentally also named Sean, who is married to lesbian Playboy Bunny Alice (Leah Renee). Sean is a political speechwriter by day, but he and Renee also are part of an early gay rights movement called the Mattachine Society. (Check Wkipedia if you dont know what that is.) The role, created by the show’s creator, Chicagoan Chad Hodge, gave him the push to come out publicly.
“I had discussed with my partner that eventually this was something that I wanted to do, I wanted to step out publicly, declare my homosexuality and the family that we had created,” Maher said in an interview. “I didn’t know what platform it was going to be, but just reading Chad's pilot—it was almost too perfect.”
Alan Tudyk, Maher's costar on FIREFLY had a brief yet interesting Tweet about Maher's coming out:

Nuff said!
 
Funny enough, I have just gotten into FIREFLY on NetFlix.
Love the show.
Thought Sean was HOT!!! And Nathan. And Adam.....
 
CHEERS!!
"The Camera"

JOHN BARROWMAN SPEAKS ABOUT TORCHWOOD, MARRIAGE AND HIS LIFE! (PART TWO)

Continuing our interview with John Barrowman, star of Torchwood and the musical theatre stage.... John was quite forthcoming in this interview....spoke from the heart and honestly about EVERYTHING. A true class act!

So getting back to the show: This is your fourth go-round, and every time you got bumped up the BBC chain [the first series aired on BBC Three, the second on BBC Two, the third on BBC One], and now you’re a US-UK co-production. Did you have any idea that it would be this kind of ride when you started?

JB: No, I had no idea. I wanted it to be this kind of ride when we started, and my wish came true. We started off on the smallest digital channel from the BBC, we got the biggest ratings on that and moved to BBC Two, we had stellar ratings on that. Moved to BBC One, stellar ratings also. I knew they were working to push this further, but wasn’t allowed to talk about it, so when I was saying publicly my opinion that I wished there were more episodes than five, that it would be silly if we didn’t do it again, that was John Barrowman speaking, because I love Captain Jack, I love the show, I know how much the show is loved.


So I got in a little bit of shtick from people saying I was too outspoken and speaking out against the BBC – I wasn’t. I was actually just saying what my opinion was: If you have a good job, you want more of it. And fortunately, Russell and Julie, who runs the BBC, and Starz were all banding together to make it happen, and they have. So I did get my wish! I got more episodes, I got more Torchwood, I got more Captain Jack.


Work on world peace next time.
JB: [laughs] Stick me in a room with all these leaders, I tell ya – I’ll show them a thing or two. That’s what I always think they should do: Strip ’em all down and sit ’em in a room naked, see what happens. I wouldn’t want to be there, I wouldn’t want to be watching that, but it might calm things down a little.


Is the show divorced from Doctor Who now?
JB: No, we mention the Doctor in this series. Because we’re part of that world, we came from that world. You can’t deny your history. But we are a stand-alone show now. What I always say is that we separated from the mothership, but we still make references and hopefully, one day, Jack will go back to Who. That’s my opinion, not anybody else’s, but I would love to cross over with the new Doctor and just see what would happen with him and Jack.

I would have loved to have done that with [Elisabeth] Sladen – Lis always wanted to work more with me – but unfortunately that won’t happen now. Our matriarch is gone. [Sladen, beloved Doctor Who co-star and the star of the Davies-scripted Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, died April 19 after battling cancer. Barrowman and Sladen appeared together briefly during the 2008 Doctor Who series finale.]


For U.S. television, Captain Jack is something of an anomaly – we have a handful of queer characters, but not many action heroes. Does he stand out less among the characters on UK TV?
JB: It’s just part of the landscape, I think. We don’t really make an issue out of it. I’m not the first person on American television who’s a bisexual character, but there are a lot of characters represented. I’m quoting what Russell has said, I’m sure there’s others out there, but it’s the first time that a bisexual hero has been played by an openly gay man. There’s no heroes out there where the men [who play them] are openly gay. And that’s just what it is, really, but it’s not an issue in the UK, even when it started.

I remember the episode of Doctor Who where I kiss the Doctor, it just kind of came and went, and no one made an issue out of it. No one said anything; the newspapers actually kind of missed it, and we didn’t make it a big sensational thing out of it. I don’t think it will be an issue over here, and if it is – well, excuse me, but change the fucking channel. [laughs] Do you know what I mean?


It’s just that queer characters are all over the American TV landscape, but they tend to be lawyers, or they’re in comedies. We don’t get a lot of derring-do.
JB: No, you don’t, but it’s time we do. What people have to remember is that I’m a gay man at home and in the outside world, and at work I’m a hero. I don’t bring my personal life into the – well, actually, this sounds stupid, but I have sex with men, Captain Jack has sex with men, so maybe I do bring my personal life into it. [laughs] But I’ve played heterosexual characters, I’ve played ingénues, I’ve played the lead characters in most of the shows I’ve been in, and most of them have been straight. So this is actually something different for me, in a way. Listen, it will be interesting to see how it takes, and I’m sure I’ll get some kind of … people will always complain about something.



Gareth (Ianto) and John at a Comic Con where they are always asked to kiss!!!



And actually, if anyone has sailed these waters in American TV, it’s Starz with Spartacus.
JB: Correct, and thank god for Starz. We’re so glad to be with such a good network, because they’re the ones who break the boundaries a little bit more than the others. A lot of people were worried that we were going to be watered-down when we went to American, but we’re actually not – we’re even edgier than before. There’s some really great sex scenes with Jack and some men, and it’s really portrayed truthfully and honestly, it’s fantastic. People who complain, generally, are the people who don’t even watch the damn show.


And I’ve had first-hand experience with that in the UK, where they’ve complained about something I’ve done, and you go and read what they said, and you know they’ve not read the article, they didn’t listen to the radio show, and they’ve not seen the TV show. They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

That’s the nature of the internet commenter. It’s great that Russell has maintained so much control over the show, because Showtime recently aired Episodes over here. I don’t know if you saw it, but it’s about two creators of a British hit show having everything changed in the U.S. version. And that’s happened to a lot of UK talent when their shows have crossed the pond.
JB: Well one thing you have to remember is that we’re a collaboration between the BBC Worldwide, and also BBC One with Starz. We still have the heart and essence of what’s made Torchwood so special, and we still have that. And we have everything that’s even edgier on top of that. So the soul of the show has not changed. I can guarantee to the audience who’s going to watch it because they’re staunch fans, they’re gonna know what they’re looking at.


Had you been much of a sci-fi fan before this gig?
JB: Oh god, yeah! I grew up on Star Wars, I still have all my Star Wars toys – actually, I gave them to my nephew Turner, he looks after them now. The original Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, Star Trek, um, Thunderbirds, even coming up into the new era of V, I remember the original miniseries. And Doctor Who! I was a Doctor Who baby; I grew up watching Sarah Jane as one of the assistants, Tom Baker, John Pertwee, all the Doctors of that time. I used to stay up and watch PBS, because that’s where you got Doctor Who. I’m a fan-geek, and I’m proud, and I love it. To this day, I still download shows I can’t watch when they’re airing. I still have Battlestar Galactica to get through, the new series. But it’s great, one of the directors from that, we’ve worked with her here.


Do you see an end to Torchwood?
JB: Well obviously, there will be an end to it at some point, but you know, I’m not ready for it to end. Touch wood, what I’d love to have happen is we do four or five more series, keep going strong, and then finish, and then maybe a year after, do a movie. I don’t know what I’ll look like, you know…


Playing an immortal can be a drag.
JB: Exactly! I am gonna get older, so we have to figure something out. But I would be happy – although I do other entertainment stuff, I do other TV shows, I do books with my sister for young teenagers, I’ve got my music – if someone were to say to me, you’re only going to play Captain Jack for the rest of your career, I would be completely content. I love him, I love the show, I love what we stand for, I love what he stands for, and I love coming to work every day. It’s a thrill.


Will you ever do a musical episode?
JB: I’d love to. I don’t know if Russell’s game for it, but I’d love to do one. We’d have to be on a planet where music controls everything, or is the only mode of communication. I would have no problem. But I think we’d have to dub Eve [Myles’] voice, she’s not a singer. [laughs]

She could always talk her way through like Rex Harrison.
JB: Kai [Owen] would be great. Alexa [Havins]? Not so sure. Mekhi [Phifer]? He’s a great rapper. So we’ve got every demographic covered.


Any final thoughts?
JB: Thank you to everyone for all the support you’ve given me over the years, and to all the people who hit the website and put me in the top five every year in the best gay men out there poll, I really appreciate it and I’m proud to represent the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender community, and I will always do that, no matter what. Anyone who doesn’t have a voice will always have a voice through me.

IS DAVID HYDE PIERCE THE PERFECT HOST?

David Hyde Pierce stars as an exceptional entertainer in The Perfect Host, but will the Frasier alum ever be the perfect spokesman for the gay community?

“My life is an open book, but don’t expect me to read it to you,” David Hyde Pierce famously quipped in an interview while starring as Frasier’s prissily neurotic Dr. Niles Crane, a role that earned him a record 11 consecutive Emmy nominations and four wins.
That private library card expired in 2007, when Pierce began speaking publicly about his longtime partner, Brian Hargrove, whom he married in California during the brief window in 2008 before Proposition 8 passed. Although the Tony-winning Broadway performer can’t reveal much about his character in Nick Tomnay’s The Perfect Host, which is in theaters today, he graciously opens the door on a discussion about not overdoing gay press, not pleasing everyone, and not singing with Helen Reddy.

In The Perfect Host you star as Warwick, a Los Angeles bachelor who unwittingly invites in a dangerous criminal as he makes preparations to host a dinner party. Because of the various twists involved, it’s a challenging film to talk about beyond that. How are you handling that in interviews?
It’s tricky. I have to put a lot of faith in the interviewer that they won’t publish stuff that gives too much away. Even though I know that people talk about everything anyway with the Internet, I still like to hold on to the possibility of surprise.


Suffice it to say, Warwick is a nutjob — and certainly unlike any character you’ve played before. Were you actively trying to play against type?
I don’t know about that, but I’m just not interested when people send me scripts that are similar to stuff I’ve already done — especially the kind of character that I played for years on Frasier. Because that character was so much in the public eye, that’s the kind of character I get sent a lot; frankly, the writing is usually nowhere near as good as it was on Frasier, so there’s not much motivation to do them. With this film, I loved the script, the story, the twists, the suspense, and all that, and the character was really a feast for an actor. And not only is he very different, so I get to do different things, but also he starts out not all that different, so it lures the audience into thinking, Oh, right, we’ve seen this guy before. Maybe that’s part of the fun of having me play the part.


Your writer and director, Nick Tomnay, doesn’t have a lot of experience as a filmmaker. As an established actor, do you see that as a risk?
I have to take that on a case-by-case basis. In this situation, he’d also made a short film called The Host, on which The Perfect Host is based, so I got to see that as an example of his work. Yes, this is actually his first feature film, but even in that short I could see that he’s very assured and a great stylist with a wonderful sense of humor. He’s able to do both dark and funny at the same time, and that gave me great confidence in him. Plus we met a couple of times before my agreeing to do the movie, and we really hit it off. I respect him and like him a lot.

Helen Reddy plays Warwick’s nosy neighbor. That must’ve been a treat, especially considering she rarely acts and hasn’t done a film in more than 20 years.
She was just wonderful. She’s so sweet, so loving, and she had a very warm, nurturing presence, which was a wonderful thing to have around on a short, very intense, low-budget shooting schedule. We had a good time.


Did anyone break into “I Am Woman” around the craft services table?
It sort of went without singing. But once in a while, I’d think, Wow, I’m in a scene with Helen Reddy.


I’ve read that you and your husband, Brian Hargrove, enjoy hosting parties at home. Do you fancy yourself a perfect host?
We don’t host very often, so wherever you read that, it was kind of a lie. We have friends over occasionally. I’m far from perfect, but Brian’s a great cook, and he has a great ease about having people over. It’s never a big deal for him, so that makes it comfortable for everyone.


It’s been wonderful to hear you open up about Brian and your relationship in the last few years. Yet, when a gay celebrity makes the transition from privately gay to publicly gay, LGBT media has a long tradition of welcoming them to the family, if you will, with a certain amount of fanfare, major features, and often cover stories. But to this day you still haven’t done a great deal of major gay press. Has that been a conscious decision on your part?
Yeah, it’s been an absolutely conscious decision. I’ve done some gay press, and I’ve been interviewed for The Advocate before, but part of my approach to being gay in public has always been that it shouldn’t be a big deal, so I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. But there came a point when I realized that that could be confused with being ashamed or being afraid, and I never wanted to give that impression. I’ve tried to maintain that balance between living my life and not going out of my way to have any fanfare about it. That’s all. Nothing against any gay publications, and certainly I respect The Advocate, but I was always trying to show a different side, a different way of living life that would still be OK.

When you spoke with Jujamcyn Theaters president Jordan Roth at New York City’s 92nd Street Y last year, you said that you had felt bullied into coming out — “like the bully on the playground was pushing your face in the dirt saying, ‘Say it, say it, say it,’” you described it. I wondered if you saw the gay media as a bully in your situation.
Actually, it had nothing to do with gay media. Earlier in my career, when I’d be talking about completely unrelated subjects, people would feel that it was OK to try to get into my private life, not even sexuality but with politics, family. I’d always been a private person about every aspect of my life, and I didn’t see why I had to change that just because I was an actor. Most of us weren’t trained to be public figures, so you sort of learn these things in public as you go along. There came a point [in 2007] when I doing an interview with an Associated Press interviewer, and he wasn’t asking me about anything related to being gay, and that’s why I opened up about Brian, about moving to California because he wanted to purse a career in writing, and stuff like that. As I said, I didn’t want to inadvertently continue to give the impression that I was in any way trying to hide anything, but I also wanted to be able to talk about it in my own way and on my own terms.


How did you perceive the response from the gay community after you came out?
It was a little bit of a shock at first, but it was amazing the array of reactions I got from the gay community. Some people were very supportive, some people said that I had been outed, some people said it was about time, some people said it was too late, and some people just said, “Who cares?” That’s when I realized that you have to do it for yourself, because you can’t please everyone.


What advice would you give you an actor on the fence about coming out?
I would advise anyone not to come out immediately, but whenever you’re ready and feel safe that you can, you’ll be glad you did. However it ended up happening for me, because I was completely honest and because I did come out — even though I resisted that phrase for so many years — I feel I’m a better person, and I’m better able to do everything I do both in my private life and in my professional life.


Since you began speaking publicly about your partner and your marriage — notably as a guest on The View — have you felt pressure from gay rights groups or from gay people in general to be a mouthpiece for the community?
I’ve spoken out about marriage because I believe in it. It’s very personal for me, and I’ve been very lucky to be a part of that. I’ve worked with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS for as long as I’ve been an actor. So no, I don’t feel pressured. I feel like I’m able to do what I always would’ve done. I just try to stand up for what I believe in.

Your name was repeatedly brought up after last year’s controversial Newsweek article, which sparked a debate about whether gay actors couldn’t convincingly play straight roles. I kept expecting you to sound off on the subject at some point, but you never did.
I thought it was stupid and didn’t deserve much time. I talk about what’s important to me, and that was just ridiculous.


On a lighter note, it was recently reported that filmmaker David Wain is planning a prequel to Wet Hot American Summer, in which you starred as a kooky astrophysics professor. Would you participate?
I love David, and I think he’s quite talented, so I’d be happy to work with him anytime.

You’ll make your directorial debut this fall with It Shoulda Been You, a new musical cowritten by your husband, at New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse. Tyne Daly, Richard Kline, Edward Hibbert, and Harriet Harris are set to star. Are you nervous? Do you know what you’re getting into?
I am not nervous because I don’t know what I’m getting into. But I have a great cast, I have wonderful designers, and it’s a really beautiful show, so I’m excited. I just hope I don’t screw it up.

FAMOUS GAY COUPLE WILL MARRY!!!!!

YES!!

Thanks to Governor Cuomo and the legislation allowing same sex marriage, two world famous hometown New Yorkers can finally get married!!

Bert and Ernie have lived together for over 30 years. In that time they have been through numerous adventures and trials and tribulations.

But now, Bert and Ernie are about to take their relationship to the next level!

"We are looking forward to bathtime and playing with the rubber duckies....together!" Ernie exclaimed.

Bert quickly stated, "Im just looking forward to finally pushing our beds together!"

NEW YORK FINALLY SAYS "I DO!!!!"

In a historic vote with far-reaching implications, the New York State Senate passed the marriage equality bill Friday, making New York the sixth and most populous state in addition to Washington, D.C., to offer civil marriage for same-sex couples.



The 33-29 vote, including four Republicans, came at the end of the legislative session and capped a dramatic week in Albany, where loud protests for and against the bill, many based in religious belief, filled the hallways outside the Senate chamber and the majority conference room at the state capitol. New York became the first state with a Republican-controlled legislative body to pass a marriage equality bill, following passage multiple times in the Democratic-controlled state Assembly since 2007.


The marriage equality law will take effect 30 days after being signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Home to almost 20 million people and the nation’s largest city, New York will double the number of Americans living in a state with marriage equality and bring international attention to the latest chapter in the gay rights movement. The development appears destined to become a national turning point, with litigation pending in the federal court system and legislation under consideration in other states while public opinion trends toward majority support for marriage equality, according to recent polls.


In the immediate future, the vote in New York would seem to demand a response from President Barack Obama, who continues to evolve on his marriage equality position. In an address to gay Democratic donors at a major Pride Month fund-raiser in Manhattan Thursday, he said he supported equal rights for couples but stopped short of supporting gay marriage.


The Senate vote in New York caps an intensely coordinated, bipartisan campaign under the direction of Gov. Cuomo that raised an estimated $2 million, more than half of it from Republican-affiliated donors. The governor worked with New Yorkers United for Marriage, a bipartisan coalition of five LGBT organizations: Human Rights Campaign, Empire State Pride Agenda, Log Cabin Republicans, Marriage Equality New York, and Freedom To Marry.


Such coordination, let alone victory, seemed nearly unimaginable less than two years ago, when in December 2009 the marriage equality bill failed in the then Democratic-controlled Senate by a vote of 24 to 38, with no Republicans in support. Since that time, Republicans regained control of the Senate and gay donors helped unseat three senators, two Democrats and one Republican, who voted against the bill, replacing them with yes votes to bring the measure six votes of passing of passing at the start of this year.


The marriage equality push found a champion in Cuomo, a popular Democratic governor and former attorney general who took office in January. Under the supervision of his office, the New Yorkers United for Marriage coalition formed this spring, pulling together resources in a way never before seen on the state level to execute a unified communications, field and lobbying campaign targeting voters and undecided state senators.


Following months of quiet preparation, the campaign launched publicly in April and quickly coalesced its message around a poll that showed 58% of New Yorkers, a historic majority, supported the legalization of same-sex marriage. Business, labor and religious leaders spoke in support, while a range of celebrities, sports figures, everyday New Yorkers, and elected officials, including former president Bill Clinton, endorsed the effort. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered a public speech on the topic, in addition to lobbying and fund-raising.


Powerful forces of opposition also converged in New York. The Catholic Church and the National Organization for Marriage lobbied against the marriage equality bill, and the influential Conservative Party of New York State vowed to withhold its endorsement from any Republican lawmaker who supported the proposal. In the end, their efforts failed, although concerns within the Republican Senate conference resulted in a week-long negotiation over religious protections that at times seemed to threaten the bill’s prospects.


Long in development, momentum for marriage equality seemed to take hold in the second-to-last week of the legislative session, when three undecided Democratic state senators who voted no in 2009 announced they would support the bill, bringing every member of their conference on board except the avowedly antigay Ruben Diaz Sr. Soon after, James Alesi, the first Republican state senator to support the bill, joined them, followed by his colleague Roy McDonald.


The total number of senators in support of the bill stood at 31, just one vote shy of passage until the last moment, when the Republican conference under the leadership of Sen. Dean Skelos announced it would bring the measure to the floor for a vote.


Two more Republican votes, from Stephen Saland and Mark Grisanti, remained unrevealed until the floor debate, adding to the suspense as Pride weekend began in New York City.