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Uncle Tom Award #1: Todd Graff
Uncle Tom was the slave in the Louisa May Alcott novel who agred with his slavery and did everything he could to aid and abet his masters. The Uncle Tom Awards go to gay/lesbian actors, writers,...
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The Culkin Brothers: Always Mistaken for Gay
Quick -- which of the Culkin brothers is this?Hard to tell, isn't it?The Culkin Dynasty began with Home Alone (1990), a Christmas movie about a young boy (10-year old Macaulay Culkin) accidentally left...
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Rockford Files: Buddy of the Week
When I went to graduate school in Bloomington, Indiana in 1982, everyone kept assuming I was from Rockford, Illinois, and therefore a big fan of The Rockford Files (1974-80). It was useless to point...
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The Gay Invaders
September 12, 1967, a Tuesday night. We usually watch The Red Skelton Show at 7:30 -- or rather, my parents watch while I play in the other room, but my friend Doug is staying over, so he gets to...
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Paul and Rocky: Somebody Down Here Likes Me
Paul Newman and James Dean met in 1952, when they were studying at the famous Actors Studio in New York. They began a passionate affair. But there were problems from the start: Paul didn't like...
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The Gay Ghost of Davenport House
One night in the summer of 1977, after my junior year in high school, my friend Darry took me to a stand-up comedy show at Augustana College. Afterwards we drove onto Arsenal Island, to the Davenport...
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The Shada Brothers
Speaking of Adventure Time,there are three Shada brothers who are acting, modeling, singing and generally making the world a better place for gay teens.Jeremy (born 1997) is the youngest, but has been...
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Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby: Bodybuilder and Buddy
Speaking of bodybuilder buddies, when Bill Bixby finished his gay subtext series My Favorite Martian and The Courtship of Eddie's Father, he cashed in on the 1970s superhero craze in The Incredible...
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Victorious: Almost a Gay Victory
Like all tv programs aimed at a juvenile audience, Nickelodeon's Victorious (2010-2013) was set in a decidedly gay-free world: a high school for the performing arts in Hollywood (yeah, right, I'll...
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ICarly: Gay Villains and Bisexual Brothers
The Nickelodeon teencom has a mixed record. Drake and Josh, Zoey 101, and Victorious are masterpieces of gay subtext. What I Like About You and Wendell and Vinnie are undefatigably heterosexist....
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Rod Taylor: Ignoring the Girl
When I was a kid, we drove 300 miles east to Indiana two or three times a year to visit my parents' many relatives. My Aunt Mavis, who lived in a trailer on my grandfather's farm, was deeply into...
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North Dallas Forty: The Gay Locker Room
Take arch-conservative Nick Nolte, who starred in the heterosexist classic Who'll Stop the Rain (1978), and would go on to partner with the arch-homophobe Eddie Murphy in 48 Hours (1982), and play a...
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Chuck & Buck: The Most Homophobic Movie since Cruising
Some movies you go into expecting homophobia -- any comedy about young adult slackers, anything directed by Ron Howard, anything starring Will Smith. But sometimes the director or actors are gay, or...
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Jake T. Austin's Gay Posse
18-year old Jake T. Austin was formerly the gay-vague wizard Max on Wizards of Waverly Place, and is now starring in ABC Family's The Fosters, about a family with two Moms. He also has upcoming movies...
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Billy Elliot: The Musical: Breaking Out of the Gender Box
Since getting my Ph.D. in 2001, I have worked at three universities, and at each one, a colleague -- a highly educated Ph.D. -- has asked: "You're an expert on gays. Tell me this -- why do gay men...
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The Gay Adventures of Billy and Mandy
One of my favorite gay-subtext series of all time was The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (2003-2008) on the Cartoon Network, about the friendship between two kids, the sinister Mandy (voiced by...
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Reading Uncle Scrooge
When I was a kid in the 1960s, it was hard to find comic books. I didn't get a regular allowance until junior high, and when I did manage to earn a quarter or a dime, Schneider's Drug Store would be...
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Perry Mason: the Gay Lawyer of the 1950s
Many of the first generation of Boomer kids were inspired to become lawyers through watching Perry Mason (1957-66), who represents only people falsely accused of murder, and uses courtroom theatrics to...
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Slapsie Maxie and Mad Max: Boxers with a Hint of Lavender
I've heard the phrase Slapsie Maxie many times, usually applied in derision to a guy who fights with open-hand slaps rather than closed-fist punches. It's supposed to suggest that you're a sissy,...
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Little Big Man: Draft-Dodging, Gay Indians, and Physique Poses
We're so used to seeing Dustin Hoffman as a highly respected dramatic actor that it's easy to forget something: when he was just starting out, in The Graduate (1967), Madigan's Millions (1968), John...
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