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Last week at this time, T.R. Knight was just one of the many not-so-well-known young actors on prime-time television. But after making headlines Thursday by coming out publicly as a gay man, the "Grey's Anatomy" star's profile has definitely risen -- especially with Gay.com members.
Not only did Knight win Gay.com's "Prime time's hottest doctors" poll by pulling in 32 percent of the vote (and beating out co-star and fellow hunk Eric Dane), his coming out was the hot topic of discussion last week on the Gay.com message boards.
Here's what you said!
tango_ak2001It shouldn't be big deal, but every time a public person comes out, I get a thrill. Good for you, T.R. Maybe some day being gay won't be a cause for concern and no one will have to "come out."
BTW . . . I almost fell out of my chair when Eric Dane (McSteamy) walked out of the bathroom.
Rockfan05The reason this is such a good thing is because TR Knight is actually a very good actor. Sure, knowing he's gay in real life is a great thing, but what's even better is that his real-life sexuality will hopefully have no impact on his playing his character on the show.
There are certain openly gay actors who, in my opinion, have a certain quality/charisma that could make them prime-time leading men playing gay or straight characters.
For instance, look at Robert Gant. He's gay in real life, played a great gay character on "QAF," but I could absolutely see him playing, say, a straight father of three very convincingly on a prime-time sitcom.
My point is that some openly gay actors -- and I think T.R. Knight is one of them -- have enough acting talent that their real-life sexuality wouldn't interfere with them continuing to get mainstream roles. The more this happens, the better it is for all of us. Way to go, T.R.!
busybilly
Ever since I started watching the show I liked T.R. (simple, not overplayed or staged ) -- he was being himself. Hot and handsome in his own way and I like it ( I like it a lot). I'm glad that you have joined the family. Keep doing what your doing because you're red hot in my book .
NTXgypsy
Kudos to T.R. Knight for coming out! I think it's great that these celebrities are feeling more comfortable and confident to be open about their sexuality. It really shouldn't matter what they do in their personal lives . . . but we're dealing with the str8t community, after all (grin)! T.R. and the actor from "Special Victims Unit" are phenomenal actors -- gay, str8t, blue or green!! Proud moment for us all.
AdamKSTJ
McDreamy, McSteamy and now McQueenie! U rock George!
surrealfeel
Glad to see another actor on a major TV show coming out. This is another step toward social acceptance across America. This role will hopefully demonstrate that we're NOT the stereotypical "interior decorating/makeover fag" or "freak of nature that God has to change." We're just regular people, amongst society, quietly doing our jobs, paying our mortgage, and living among the masses.
Limoman52
I was hoping T.R. was gay, but didn't think it would happen. When I read about his "coming out" (just this evening), I asked myself if he would come out on the show as well, or did I miss something? Is he only gay on TV or only in real life but not on the show? i am tho confuthed! I would also like to see Eric on "CSI" to come out; he has to be gay!
The frontrunner in the race for New York State governor drew thunderous applause and a standing ovation Thursday night as he declared same-sex marriage a civil right. Elliot Spitzer has been a longtime supporter of equal marriage and has voiced that support throughout the campaign, but in his speech to about 1,000 people at the Empire State Pride Agenda's annual dinner Thursday he went further suggesting he would author legislation and send it to the Legislature if he is elected in November.
"No New Yorker should be deprived of the right to marry the person of their choice, regardless of gender," the Democrat who is currently Attorney General said.
"This is not about forcing any religion to perform or recognize gay marriage. It's simply about permitting gay and lesbian couples the right to live in stable, long-term married relationships."
It brought the crowd, that included a large number of state and local lawmakers, to their feet.
Spitzer also said that the rights of churches which do not support same-sex marriage must be protected.
"We must protect the rights of people of faith and their institutions," he said. "If I'm elected next month, I will make sure the government does not infringe on religious choice and practice. This, too, is a sacred civil right - part of the pantheon of values that define and protects all civil rights.
That he will be elected is virtually assured. Spitzer enjoys a 50-point lead over his Republican opponent, John Faso. Faso opposes same-sex marriage but has said he would support domestic partner law.
In July the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, ruled that same-sex couples do not have a constitutional right to marry. It said that the issue, however, could be taken up by the Legislature.
Bills coming before the Legislature are usually penned by members of the Assembly or the Senate, but in New York governor's regularly write their own legislation, called Program Bills which are then filed by members.
Democrats control the Assembly in Albany but Republicans have a firm grip on the Senate, something that is unlikely to change next month.
Just prior to Thursday night's speech by Spitzer, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) announced his support for equal marriage legislation.
US Senator Russ Feingold also addressed the Pride Agenda dinner, voicing his support for gay marriage. The Wisconsin Democrat is one of four US Senators who have come out for gay marriage. The others are Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), and Lincoln Chafee (R-Rhode Island).
Although grown men dressing up in tights and rolling around on top of each other half naked may seem like the perfect back drop for a gay athlete to emerge from, professional wrestling is far from what many think of as a gay friendly sport.
After two years of retirement, Chris Klucsarits, known to the wrestling community as Chris Kanyon, decided that he needed to help change that image and wanted to leave the façade of the of the characters that he portrayed in the ring behind.
Early this year Kanyon announced that he was tired of “living in the closet” and went public with his homosexuality - creating a scandal for himself and for professional wrestling.
Born on January 4, 1970 in Queens, New York, Chris has always been extremely active in sports and even earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Buffalo.
After graduation, the 6’3 Kanyon moved to Manhattan and begin training for a career as a professional wrestler in 1992. He quickly acclimated to the techniques and was soon receiving job offers.
His first major outing was with the former World Wrestling Federation as a “jobber”.
If you weren’t aware already, Professional wrestling is a mostly scripted sporting event, which often has little to do with the Olympic level sport that bares the same name. Jobber’s are athletes hired to “take a dive” to the more established characters on the circuit. Kanyon, however, thrived in his loser status and was quickly seen as a potential future superstar who could win matches and headline the shows.
After intense training and as scripted, Kanyon was repackaged and became a regular player in the World Championship Wrestling Circuit, eventual winning the Tag Team title with his partner Diamond Dallas Page. The duo went on to claim the top prizes at The WWF championships as well, and Kanyon became an identifiable face to wrestling fans.
With his substantial wrestling background and growing success in the ring, Kanyon soon found his way to Hollywood where he began working as a stuntman and stunt coordinator.
Assisting on such films as The Jesse Ventura Story and Ready to Rumble where he played stunt double for Oliver Platt, Kanyon’s star seemed to be on the rise. As a performer he had gained many successes, but his personal life was forced to take a back seat to his ringside persona.
In February 2003, that story began to change when organisers set up a match between Kanyon and the Undertaker, in which Kanyon would come out of a closet dressed as “Boy George” and sing in an effeminate voice in front of the entire audience before becoming the fall guy in the match.
At the time, Chris Kanyon himself had mentioned that he was thinking about coming out of the closet and felt that the mockery showcase that he was being portrayed in was a way of silencing him. In 2004 after his story lines began to diminish, Kanyon was officially released from his contract and forced into retirement. Behind the scenes, however, there were speculations that he was, in fact, let go from the wrestling world because he was gay.
Free from the restrictions placed on him by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) who had helped create him, Kanyon held a press conference early this year to publicly announce that the character he portrayed was in fact a homosexual. Again Kanyon separated his public persona from his private life by refusing to confirm that he, himself, was gay.
It wasn’t until a month later that Kanyon would confirm those rumours at a separate event. Kanyon quoted that the “main reason for the month long ambiguity between the sexuality of the character, Kanyon, and the sexuality of me, Chris Klucsarits, the person portraying the character, [was] to get the buzz started and to try and get some anticipation built up. I was hoping to sign with Vince McMahon's WWE or Spike TV/ Jeff Jarrett/Panda Energy's NWA TNA wrestling group before making the official announcement that I, Chris Klucsarits, was gay, so that I could possibly get more publicity.”
Many fans criticised the decision to use “coming out” as a way of gaining publicity, but in a world where you are only as relevant as your last story line, Kanyon felt that this was his only remaining move to get back into the sport that he loved.
The publicity stunt didn’t work and no offers were made to sign him to any of the wrestling formats. Many members in the WWE community, whom he was close to, maintained that he was not made any offers because he was a homosexual.
Kanyon said that “(he) didn’t want to believe that (he) was fired for being gay,” however, “I have made several attempts to contact Vince McMahon,” the head of the WWE, “to find out if what I have heard was true or not. If I found out from him that it was true, I would have to move on with my life. I would really have no hard feelings.”
For now, McMahon and the WWE are not responding to any allegations and have generally remained firm that Kanyon was let go because his contract had ended and his character had run its course. Currently there have been no plans to reinstate Kanyon into the WWE, but in the constantly dramatic and spectacle filled world of professional wrestling, things can change at the drop of a knee.
Taipei Pride’s annual parade drew up to 10,000 participants last Saturday. In the US, a new HIV/AIDS prevention campaign by the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center creates controversy. Still on HIV, two studies have shown that practicing regular genital hygiene in males may reduce the risk of HIV infection.
Touted as Asia’s largest event of its kind, Taipei Pride’s annual parade drew up to 10,000 participants to walk the distance between Songshan Cigarette Factory and Huashan Culture Park last Saturday. After a string of forums, exhibitions, and workshops, the parade marked the culmination of Taipei Pride Festival which begun two weeks ago with a flag-raising ceremony in front of Taipei City Hall.
Under the theme “Go Together,” LGBT participants were urged to participate with friends and family. The crowd marched down Zhongxiao E. Road, one of the city’s main commercial arteries.
A giant rainbow flag held aloft by numerous volunteers led the procession, followed by cars sponsored by local clubs and organisations, of which many featured family-oriented themes. 2Her Publishing’s “Lesbian Kitchen,” for example, featured women pushing shopping carts to emphasise domestic bliss, while elsewhere the gay group “Water Boys” wore tan-baring speedos to subvert local stereotypes equating gays to anemic drug addicts.
The atmosphere was decidedly festive despite overcast skies, with much flag-waving and dancing as the crowd wound its way westwards.
“We are here to show that being gay is nothing to be ashamed of, and that we can and will show our faces!” said Sylvia Chen, one of the participants who joined the parade to support her friends.
Indeed, while allowed only a single lane of road, the procession drew the rapt attention of weekend shoppers and workers alike, most of who halted in their tracks to watch. Nor were the participants limited to local Taiwanese. To be found amongst the crowd were language students from the National Taiwan Normal University, English teachers from Canada, and activists from Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
When asked what he thought of the parade, Kyle Belzer, a teacher from Detroit, Michigan, said that while the parade was expectedly much smaller than equivalents in cities such as New York or Chicago, he was surprised at the number of people participating. “This being still a pretty conservative country, I wasn’t expecting this many people,” he said, conceding too that the final numbers may be even higher than meets the eye given the length of the route. At this rate, he added with wry amusement, “the government might just have to close down the entire road next year.”
The parade, though the most visible and publicised event, was hardly the only to be held in conjunction with Taipei Pride that day. At Huashan Culture Park, organisers publicly wed four lesbian couples, a first in Asia for collective gay weddings. Holding the ceremony was a pastor from the Tong Kuang Light House Presbyterian Church, with Wang Ping, secretary-general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association, and JJ Lai, owner of the city’s iconic Gin Gin Bookstore, acting as emcees.
The four couples, wearing wedding dresses and tuxedos, exchanged vows as the thousand-strong crowd cheered on, a number of which held signs such as “Happily Married” or “Lesbians Unite.” Though gay marriages are still illegal in Taiwan, the ceremony was held in full accordance to the rituals of a Christian wedding, complete with witnesses and a tossing of the bridal bouquets.
After the wedding, the main actors of upcoming gay film Eternal Summer made an appearance, followed by a drag rendition of Chicago as performed by local artists Da-Bing and Xiao-Bing.
Elsewhere in the park, the city government’s Department of Civil Affairs continued its “Gay Impressions” art exhibition, of which highlights included prints by Hong Kong artist Lily Lau and Jiang Jing-Fang’s photo documentary of drag queens. The park’s “Art Boulevard,” on the other hand, played host to the Rainbow Market, a bazaar with stalls selling everything from gay literature to handicrafts.
Despite original plans to have the day end with a music festival, organisers had to cancel at the last minute citing poor ticket sales and financial reasons. Originally intended to provide an incentive to stay post-wedding and performances, the music festival was to have featured local DJ’s and separate floors for gays and lesbians. Judging by the number of people thronging the market stalls way past its stated closing – the organisers need not have worried. – Philip Hwang, Taipei.
Last week at this time, T.R. Knight was just one of the many not-so-well-known young actors on prime-time television. But after making headlines Thursday by coming out publicly as a gay man, the "Grey's Anatomy" star's profile has definitely risen -- especially with Gay.com members. 
