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  WINDY CITY TIMES

Billy Masters
Special to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Billy Masters
2014-09-30

This article shared 3365 times since Tue Sep 30, 2014
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"I am not gay, with the exception of him. He is an angel. He's not a terrestrial mortal. This is someone who has fallen from the stars and occasionally treats us to his image on these flickering images in the silver screen."—Dax Shepard tells Ellen DeGeneres about his love for Brad Pitt. I don't believe he's ever been as effusive about his wife, Kristen Bell.

Although I didn't sample any Turkish Delights during my time in Istanbul, I did encounter some very skittish gay men. One asked me, in his quaint broken English, "Are you on The Grind?" After further questioning, I ascertained he wanted to know if I was on Grindr, the popular hook-up app. Although I do have a Grindr account, I don't have it installed on my current phone. "Why?" I asked the man. "Will I find you there?" Not only would I not find my little piece of halva on Grindr—I wouldn't find ANY Turks there. Why not? The Turkish Criminal Court banned the app last year as part of a "protective measure." LGBT activists are trying to overturn the measure, arguing that the move is simply an attempt to suppress gay rights. What I found more intriguing is that a number of other apps—Manhunt, Adam4Adam, Scruff—are all easily accessible in the country.

Liam Payne wants you to know that although he's not gay, he's also not homophobic. The latest One Direction gay brouhaha started when someone posted grainy stills allegedly taken from a homemade gay sex tape—purportedly starring Liam. Payne took it in stride, tweeting, "Wow as if people think that weird photo going around is actually me lol think id rather tweet a full frontal than have people look at that." Moments later, he added the following: "I'm 100% not homophobic. But I'm also 100% not gay so when somebody says I am I'm gunna say I'm not which does not make me a homophobe." Got it.

Someone else who ain't gay is Joe Manganiello. However, it's not an issue for him—a quiet confidence that comes with banging Sofia Vergara, no doubt. Last week, the hunky actor received the Ally for Equality Award from the Seattle chapter of the Human Rights Campaign. In his speech, he reaffirmed his commitment to equality: "If I'm being completely honest, there's a small part of me that felt weird about accepting an award just because I think that everyone should be treated the same—that each individual be allowed the basic human right to love whomever their heart wants to love without fear or hatred or prejudice."

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan just officiated her first same-sex wedding. The ceremony in Maryland took place between Kagan's former clerk Mitchell Reich and his partner Patrick Pearsal. Kagan joins Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as Supreme Court justices who have officiated gay weddings.

Congratulations to Cheyenne Jackson, who married his beau Jason Landau last week in Encino, California ( spitting distance from the compound of that other Jackson family ). It should be noted that in the short time that gay marriage has been legal, this is Cheyenne's second wedding. Some of us haven't even been on a second date!

The story behind the scenes of the hit Orange is the New Black gives the onscreen drama a run for its money. When she began writing for the show, Lauren Morelli slowly came to the realization that she was a lesbian. "While it certainly would have been disorienting to begin to question my sexuality after three decades of knowing myself, it was particularly blinding because I'd gotten married only a few months before," she said. "It's now a punch in the gut every time I have to say, 'I'm getting divorced because I'm gay.'" Just another case of life imitating art: Lauren and her hubby got a divorce. But there was more. She added, "I went through it all on set. I fell in love with a woman, and I watched my life play out on screen." That woman is Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey Washington on the show.

After current "Hedwig" Andrew Rannells leaves the show, it'll continue to be in pretty good hands. It's just been announced that our very own Michael C. Hall will be slipping into the high heels starting Oct. 16. The dashing and dexterous devil is slated to stay with the Broadway hit until Jan. 4.

Nate Berkus has just announced that he'll soon be hearing the pitter-pat of little feet around the house—and I don't mean those of his hunky hubby, Jeremiah Brent. The couple is expecting a child—and they aren't even showing! Berkus wrote, "While we can't share much, we can say that thanks to a surrogate and the support of those we love we will officially be a family in the spring of 2015."

But wait, there's more baby news. Tyler Perry is also expecting a child. But that's not the shocking part. Here's how the announcement is worded: "Tyler Perry and his longtime girlfriend, Gelila Bekele, are expecting their first child together." Huh? I guess anything is possible these days. Even Michael Jackson had a kid ... several, in fact.

Our "Ask Billy" question comes from Victor in Miami: "There's been lots of rumors about Colton Haynes from Arrow. So, is he or isn't he?"

He is. Wasn't that simple? Of course, I should say I believe he is, since he's never made any definitive statements about it one way or the other. At the very least, we know he's supportive of gays given the photo he posted with his gay brother, his partner and their child. As for Colton, he recently did a revealing photo shoot for VMan, which, while not in the category of his legendary XY shoot, is worthy of posting on BillyMasters.com .

When we're showing old and new pics of people, it's definitely time to end yet another column. You'll find all that and more on www.BillyMasters.com—the site where it's always Throwback Thursday. Before wrapping up, I must acknowledge the passing of another Hollywood legend. Without question, Skip E. Lowe was an eccentric. The world at large may have known him as the inspiration for Martin Short's Jiminy Glick. But to many of us, he was a dear, sweet man who carved out a unique niche for himself in this business we call show. He will be missed. If you have a question for me, send it along to Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before I tell you what it's like in a Turkish prison. Until next time, remember, one man's filth is another man's bible.


This article shared 3365 times since Tue Sep 30, 2014
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