London-based Aussie-born singer/songwriter Darren Hayes, in a Gay Times interview quoted by Digital Spy, rants about mainstream coverage of gay issues and personalities.
“I have a whole issue about mainstream pop and certainly television culture, and how damaging that is in terms of dumbing down being gay. All those clichés about being gay I think are really limiting whereas in reality it’s just a trait, it’s like eye colour or hair colour, it’s a physical trait. Being gay is somehow an indulgent choice? It infuriates me. You’re either Graham Norton or George Michael getting arrested in parks and I’m neither of those things.”
Hayes aimed some of his most particular criticism at the popular US sitcoms like Will and Grace, saying “I think it appeals to the lowest common denominator that basically there are two types of gay men, the slut, or there’s the straight acting guy.”
Hayes was, with keyboardist Daniel Jones, the enormously successful pop group, Savage Garden. From their base in Australia they launched worldwide hits in the late 1990s inluding “Truly Madly Deeply,” “I Knew I Loved You,” and “The Animal Song.” After the group split in 2001 Hayes embarked on a successful solo career. He’s sold more than 25 million records and is the third most popular Australian musical export after INXS and Kylie Minogue.
In 1994, Hayes married a childhood sweetheart, makeup artist Colby Taylor. But there was a dark cloud hovering over his pop stardom. “My whole career as a big commercial pop artist was fed through self-hatred, basically. It was all about escapism in a fraudulent way. I became a pop star because I knew I had to become something extraordinary to escape.”
Hayes and Taylor were divorced in 2000. Hayes started coming out to his friends. On June 19, 2006 he formed a civil partnership with Richard Cullen.
Hayes finds his new work embraces the redemptive power of love and comes with a real upbeat edge that wasn’t possible before he came out.
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago at 8:02 am. 0 comments
Donna Williams was diagnosed as psychotic at age two, but it wasn’t until she was in her 20s that she was found to be autistic. She has since written several best-selling books on autism from an insider’s perspective. In a recent American Chroncle article she describes herself as “a monogamous bisexual living in a straight marriage who generally feels like a gay man in a woman’s body.” Read more about this fascinating personality.
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago at 8:48 am. 0 comments
Nude photos have surfaced of Lola Van Vorst, leading contender in Australia’s Next Top Model show. Though now she has a girlfriend (Chadwicks’ model Lyndsay Anne, 23), she blames an ex-boyfriend. The photos are due to be published in Famous. Confidential quotes Lola’s reaction to the media firestorm: “I’m not embarrassed about the photos, it’s just the thought that he’s gone and done this. In my mind I never thought I would be on a show like this and that they would come out.”
Search this site (or select the “Models” category in the sidebar) for more about Lola, Ruby, Myf, and Catherine.
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago at 8:38 am. 0 comments
Three years ago Will was a woman. After a double mastectomy and hormone treatments he’s about to change the gender on his birth certificate to “male” in anticipation of joining the Victorian (Australia) Country Football League. As former Magpies captain Nathan Buckley told him, “Don’t be afraid to be yourself.” VCFL president Glenn Scott promises to help educate his players to accept Will, who says, “I’m just an ordinary guy who wants to play football.” Read More
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 10:48 pm. 0 comments
He was famous for impersonating women like Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Marlene Dietrich, and lived many years with his partner and manager Jack Hanson, but Danny La Rue was coy about his sexuality until late in life. He was also known for appearances in the “Mr Bean” movies, and was awarded an OBE in 2002. Danny La Rue has died at age 81 in Kent. Read More
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 9:01 am. 0 comments
DJ/MTV personality Ruby Rose, visiting Los Angeles for Fashion Week, knows what the paparazzi like. The 23-year-old MTV VJ, who came out when she was 12, continued her string of public kisses with Australian supermodels Myf Shepherd and Catherine McNeil. Read More
Ruby Rose
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