Finally! I can write something provocative without the world's tweens and teens threatening me with bodily harm. Harry Potter's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is gay. Gay gay gay gay gaaaaaaaaaay. And you can't flame me in the comments section because J.K. Rowling herself said so. So there.

Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels, outed the ol' wizard when she appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York last Friday on the final stop of her U.S. book tour. "I always thought of Dumbledore as gay" was the revelation that made the audience collectively gasp--then subsequently erupt into wild applause. Responding to the enthusiastic reaction, Rowling added, "If I'd known it would make you so happy, I would have announced it years ago!"

Editor's Note: When QueerSighted friend and reader Dave Rogowski told me he was seeing David Sedaris read live and in person last weekend, I asked him for a full report to share here.



David Sedaris' wit is like a fabulous martini, served dry, dirty and with a twist. He brought his hilarious social commentary to George Washington University 's Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. With his unique voice full of quirky character, he navigated the sold-out audience through an undulating sea of emotional ups and downs. He has a unique ability to cause listeners to emit both laughter and tears during a single short story.

You've undoubtedly heard him as a regular guest on NPR or contributor to Chicago Public Radio's famed 'This American Life.' He's the author of many books including 'Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,' 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' and 'Naked.'

Holding a #2 yellow pencil and sipping water during pauses, Sedaris read new essays, answered some questions and also signed his books for fans. I highly recommend seeing him in person. I've read his books and listened to them over and over on CD, but seeing and hearing Sedaris in person was unrivaled. The written word does not have the impact of his spoken cadence and audience reaction adds another dimension to the experience.

Most of us see nothing funny in our daily routines, but life through Sedaris' eyes focuses on the humor in everyday occurrences. No one is ever safe from his piercing eyes and sharp tongue. From his grandmother's loud gaseous emission during dinner to adults crying on an airplane, Sedaris shies away from nothing.

Having lived my entire adult life in big cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles and pretty much only traveling to New York City and back, I tend to be a bit naive when it comes to all the states nestled in between this country's two coasts. Accuse me of geographical prejudice, but, when I think of states like, say, Utah, I usually think they're places with homophobia oozing out of every single crack on every single sidewalk. While these states surely aren't as liberal as their blue counterparts, I am reminded time and again that it's not nearly as grim as I paint it out to be in my paranoid mind.

My friend Scott Heim, who is the author of Mysterious Skin (which was later adapted into a film by Gregg Araki and previously adapted for the stage by yours truly), just pointed out on his blog that a Salt Lake City library seems to be okay with gay.

If you're like me, you are finding it very difficult to keep track of Republican and Evangelical sex scandals. Goodness, they just keep screwing and screwing up faster than my aged brain cells can synapse. Well, fret no more! The naughty liberals over at Nation Books have felt your frustration and on October 28 their newest title, The Brotherhood of the Disappearing Pants: A Field Guide to Conservative Sex Scandals will be available nationwide. You can, of course, pre-order this essential reading immediately on amazon.com or bn.com or any number of other vendors. The fun in that, I find, is that it's like buying it twice, once on-line and then once when it comes. It's a double shop.

The publisher boasts that this remarkable treatise on right wing penis antics will list over 60--yup 60--conservative Republicans and Evangelicals who diddled in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Among the star-studded heroes of the carnal and the libidinous will be Mark Foley, Bob Packwood, Tim Hutchinson and Ted Haggard. Stick it in your pack pocket and just yank it out whenever you feel the need for a little right wing erotica.

The publisher does point out that the hero of their story, taking top honors in bad behavior ,is our own beloved Mark Foley. According to this new guide, "The [Republican] party was undoubtedly hurt most (at least as far as scandals are concerned) by Congressman Mark Foley's tireless efforts both to establish a national child predator database and to keep his own name off of it. "

"Foley managed to drown an already foundering party, proving yet again that, when it comes to politics, there's nothing the public remembers and reacts to quite like a lurid sex scandal. But while Foley's prominence thrust the story into the media spotlight, his is just the tip of a very large, very phallic iceberg. Indeed, there's far more to the conservative creep-fest than the high-profile Foley scandal, Clarence Thomas's Dadaistic come-ons, and Bill OReilly's many chickpea-related indiscretions.

Over the years, conservatives across the country have spun webs of deception, hypocrisy, and grotesque lechery that have shot so many holes in their pretensions of moral superiority, it's a wonder they can even mouth the words "family values" without getting laughed out of the bordello.

It's enough, at least, to fill a book."

My QueerSighted guest post, 'High School Musical 2': Chock Full of Gay, generated so much traffic and so many comments (1,800+) that I was tempted to make this--my very first entry as an official member of the QueerSighted team--as controversial as possible by writing something like "The Little Mermaid Was a Big Lesbian" or "Donald Duck Bottoms for Dollars." But I know better than to court controversy on purpose. It's wiser to offend people unwittingly--that way, I can claim ignorance and escape persecution relatively unscathed.

So I will instead use my first QueerSighted post to stake my claim as this blog's resident nerd by expressing my excitement about DoorQ.com, a new website for gay fans of everything related to sci-fi, horror, and fantasy. Launching this Halloween, DoorQ.com (pronounced "dork," as pointed out to me by the far more perceptive Kenneth Hill, this blog's managing editor) will provide news, reviews, and interviews, as well as original fiction, comics, and short films. And as if that weren't enough to satiate your inner gay geek, the site will also have a slew of social networking features like personal profiles, forums, chat rooms, and matchmaking tools--'cuz nerds need lovin' too!

John F. Kennedy is one of the most studied and written-about presidents of the 20th century. Aside from the remaining mysteries surrounding his assassination, there is little that is unknown about the life of the thirty-fifth president of the United States. Or so we thought.

A book I recently devoured while on vacation sheds new light on JFK, a rainbow-colored light, you might say, which surprises most people who learn of it because it illuminates a story about a beloved president that has heretofore never been told. It's been hidden from history, or at least overlooked by every biography ever written about JFK.

In 'Jack and Lem,' published by Avalon, writer David Pitts sets about uncovering the story of Jack Kennedy and his closest and dearest friend in the world for 30 years, Lem Billings -- a gay man.

The two met while at prep school in the 1930s and from that point on were inseparable until the day Jack Kennedy was killed. Pitts worked for two years to persuade Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to grant him research access to documents that have been locked away for decades. Letters between the two friends, recorded phone calls, and even an 800+ page transcription of an oral history that Lem Billings gave after the death of the president. Pitts also combed through hundreds of photographs never seen by the public, many of which he was allowed to publish in the book, and interviewed anyone and everyone he could who knew Jack and Lem so he could tell, as accurately as possible, the story of a president and his gay best friend.

This well-told account paints a tender, moving portrait of what the author calls "an extraordinary friendship," the details of which enchant and move the reader. Anecdotes about Lem having his own room in the White House, how Jackie Kennedy dealt with having a third person in her marriage and other bits of lost history aren't taught in any school text books, but they are told in this book -- for the first time.

David Pitts and I talked recently. Here's what he had to say.

Kenneth Hill -- How would you characterize the friendship between JFK and Lem Billings?

David Pitts - The way I would characterize it is that is was a very close, deep, friendship across sexual orientation lines.

KH -- How did you first learn about it?

DP - I first learned about the friendship from reading JFK books. I am such a Kennedy fan that I read most of the new JFK books that came out over the years. Lem was mentioned in some, but there was always very little information about him -- usually one or two pages -- and I just became curious about, well, who exactly is this guy? And that's how this book that I wrote came about.


KH - How did you find out who he was?

OK, QueerSighters. I have to admit something. Deep breath, here goes: I heart Anthony Rapp (photo below). There, I said it.

From his movie roles in 'Adventures in Babysitting,' 'School Ties' and 'A Beautiful Mind' (among many others) to his Earth-shattering and career-defining role as filmmaker Mark Cohen in the original cast of the late Jonathan Larson's Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, 'Rent,' Anthony is one class-act of an actor with tremendous talent who's also captured a loyal and rather large fan base. And for the first time since he left 'Rent' on Broadway, he's back!

Now, I have my own history with 'Rent' and, well, it's kind of embarrassing. (Whatever.)

Some quick hits: I once saw the show twice in one day. (I know. Ridic.) The first day the 'Rent' $20 ticket giveaway switched from an overnight event to a lottery, I won and Anthony called my name. (MY name!) And I've discussed at length with friends what might be going through his head during Act Two when he has to sit silently on stage through two songs. (I mean, does he want to take a little snooze?)

Mind you, that was all when I was younger going through, what I call, my "Rent Phase."

But even now, I have to tell you, I was excited – and just a tad nervous – to climb the stairs backstage at The Nederlander Theatre and then sit down with the actor before a recent show in his dressing room.

What would I ask?
Would I stay composed?
Would I make a fool of myself?

You be the judge ... after the jump.

Earlier this month The History Channel premiered a critically-acclaimed documentary on the origins, emergence and enduring legacy of the most important and influential counter-culture movement in American history, the Hippies. I must assume that the producers, sensitive to The History Channel's lucrative middle and high school market, determined that they were better served in terms of DVD sales potential by a de-gayed version of the truth. Having been a part of the 60s phenomenon, I found the documentary to be well-done and very much evocative of the time and place--right down to the fact that like the media and the establishment of the time, The History Channel decided to pretend that gay men and women simply didn't exist.

In fact, producing a documentary on Hippies without any reference to the role and pervasive influence of queers would be like producing a documentary on Elizabethan England and ignoring the fact that the Queen was a woman.

In the full light of 2007, this was a breathtaking omission on the part The History Channel and it's parent company, A&E. The documentary was happy to show footage of naked women, bodies covered in painted flowers, romping through the festivals and communes; there was ample discussion and visuals of various sexual configurations--as long as women were involved; but persons and events critical to the time who were gay or gay important were simply ignored. This might not have been such an outrageous omission if not for the fact that the sexuality of the male heterosexual players was broadly discussed as critical to the story line.

Good day, readers.

I'm continuing my quest to provide you with some tips on how to do Fire Island on the cheap. Last week I shared with y'all a video spoof on how to get something for nothing, homosexual-style. But this week, I'm here to give you proof that it really CAN be done.

Meet 33-year-old writer/actor, Jesse Archer (left), who makes an excursion every summer to Fire Island for a weekend that includes partying, sunning and sexing.


But what it DOESN'T include is a bed. That's because Jesse has started his own makeshift 'Fire Island Survivor' weekend (where anyone can join him on said parties, sunning and sexing). The catch is that you have to rough it and sleep on the beach.

That's right: No share. No hotel. Just the sand.

I caught up with Jesse to decipher his weekend, as well as talk about his very funny book and upcoming movie. Read about it -- and see some more sexy photos of Jesse -- after the jump.

Howdy, readers!

At this month's NewFest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, over 250 amazing movies were shown from 33 countries.

I met a lot of the movies' actors, directors and writers – but I was doubly thrilled to sit down with the producers of the extraordinary and inspiring documentary, 'Emile Norman: By His Own Design,' Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker. (You might know them from a teeny-tiny show called 'L.A. Law.')



The three of us sat down in a midtown office before their movie's premiere and discussed "La Law," food, Italy and artist Emile Norman ...

Read the whole kit and kaboodle ... after the jump.

The Tony Award-winning musical, 'Spamalot,' is one of Broadway's biggest and funniest shows. And the cause for much of the laughter is out actor and author, Martin Moran. And while he's been getting rave reviews for his performance, what some people might not realize is that he's the same Martin Moran who two years ago published one of our community's most compelling memoirs.



Martin wrote the inspiring, candid and gripping autobiography, 'The Tricky Part.' Some of you may have read it, but the book deserves to be in the spotlight again here, not least because Moran still performs the work as a one-man play on stages across the country.

I sat down with Martin at New York's Edison Café before a recent performance where we discussed his childhood, coming out, the book and, of course, his current gig in 'Spamalot.'

Read the interview after the jump ...

The mainstream media, the queer media and the queer blogosphere are yet again in a feeding frenzy since last night over the Undying Monster From New Jersey. Say what you will about James McGreevey but he is unique in having made a sustainable industry out of coming out. When did this all start? I can barely remember. 1894? 1605? Anyhow, this latest foray into the headlines is somewhere in between soooooooooooooooo gay and way too gay.

Either way, it's delicious. I feel like I just downed a Four Seasons restaurant hot chocolate souffle, a box of freshly made Neuhaus champagne and chocolate truffles and a Frrrozen Hot Chocolate from New York's Serendipity Cafe. Yum. Just when I was ready to bet my eternal soul that the McGreevey Wars couldn't get any more ridiculous, they do.

Last night, I made ice cream. That's not the important part of this post. But, I just wanted to get that out there. I made home made ice cream, and it was good. My friend, Keith, and I ate said ice cream, while watching The Broken Hearts Club. We watched it because -

1. Kai had never seen it.

and

2. I sort of have a thing for Timothy Olyphant and Dean Cain.

Although, who doesn't have a thing for Dean Cain, right? But, as worthy a topic as Timothy Olyphant or Dean Cain are, even they aren't the important part of this post. So, then, what is...?

The newbie character in The Broken Hearts Club, the one that worked with Zach Braff's character at Structure. The guy who didn't know he was gay. He's the important part of this post, or rather, Keith's and my convsation about him.

Keith's position being that it was completely bogus that newbie guy didn't know he was gay.

Keith says - "He knew. And he knew for a long time. That's just something you know. You know when you're in pre-school."

Nicky says - "Maybe he didn't know. I didn't know, and I definitely didn't know in pre-school, I didn't even know in high school."

There's a whole book on this subject...

Someday, I may read that book, in the meantime, let me ask you - When did you know?

More...

When I Knew [harpercollins.com]

After The Show [oprah.com]

Stories of Self Awareness and Gay Culture [npr.org]