DECEMBER 25, 1998

GAY PEOPLe's ChroniCLE 13

ON THE AIR OFF THE PRESS

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'I love gay men!' Tom Hanks tells benefit audience

by John Graves

USA Today columnist Jeannie Williams reports actor Tom Hanks told the audience at a benefit for AmFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, “I love men! I love gay men! I love and respect and admire gay men who have been friends, members of my family, my teachers, my inspirations, my co-workers and peers."

Hanks said the gay men in his life have taught him "how to be a more attentive father... and more true to companions.".

Michael says he was entrapped

Pop star George Michael talked to USA Today's Edna Gunderson about coming out of the closet and his arrest this past April for lewd conduct in a Beverly Hills park restroom. In the exclusive interview, Michael denied reports he was led away crying.

"I wasn't thinking 'I'm ruined,' I was absolutely furious," Michael told USA Today. "It was clearly entrapment, not an accident."

Michael said he was also angry that the police report was sold to the British tabloid The Sun and not kept confidential, which Michael said was in violation of Beverly Hills police regulations.

Asked about the generally held perception that his arrest had forced him out of the closet, Michael said, "Over here, it looks like I was dragged out, but I outed myself with the last album. I did interviews that said everything except the three words they wanted to hear. I was trying to retain my privacy and dignity without lying."

Was coming out difficult for him? Michael said his sexuality was very fluid when he was younger, and that he was totally focused on his music at the time.

"Deciding that I was gay wasn't difficult at all, because that was decided for me when I fell in love." he said. "It's easier with someone on your arm. Before that, I wasn't having relationships. It was just sex, so it wasn't anything I could shout about."

Asked if his quick rise to stardom had slowed his coming out process Michael said, "When I was 20... I was ready to tell people I was bisexual, but my straight friends talked me out of it, kind of scared me out of it. I have no idea how different my life would have been had I actually been open from the start."

Ho, ho, ho, RuPaul

Look for Christmas-themed videos by lesbian rock star and new mom Melissa Etheridge on VH-1's Pop-Up Video, then join Sandra Bernhard, Debi Mazar, Suzanne Somers, En Vogue, Hall and Oates and host RuPaul for VH-1'sHo, Ho, Ho RuPaulChristmas special.

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Etheridge is out of Joplin bio

Melissa Etheridge is reported to be pulling out of her starring role in A Piece of My Heart, the long-awaited film biography of bisexual rocker Janis Joplin. According to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, squabbling over the script, written by her life partner Julie Cypher, and other delays have pushed back the production schedule so much Etheridge's people say she couldn't wait any longer and that she had to return to her music commitments.

Gods and Monsters does well

In what may be a forecast of things to come at this year's Oscars, the relatively low budget indie film Gods and Monsters surprised the film world when it was voted best picture of 1998 by the National Board of Review over Steven Speilberg's Saving Private Ryan. The National Board of Review named Sir Ian McKellen best actor for his starring role in Gods and Monsters as James Whale, the gay director of the horror classic Frankenstein.

Although Gods and Monsters came in second to Saving Private Ryan for best picture in the Los Angeles Times Film Critics Association poll, McKellen was once again named best actor. The Los Angeles Times Film Critics Association also named Ally Sheedy best actress for her lesbian role in High Art in a tie with Fernanda Montenegro for her role in the Brazilian film Central Station.

Gods and Monsters also fared well in the 56th Annual Golden Globe Award nominations, announced December 17. The film picked up a nomination for Best Picture (Drama); McKellen was nominated for Best Actor in a Drama, and Lynn Redgrave was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

The Golden Globes, which will air live Sunday, January 24, on NBC, are considered by many in the entertainment industry as a preview of the Academy Awards. Another Golden Globe nomination of interest to gay film lovers included a Best Actor in a Drama nod to Stephen Fry for his portrayal of gay author Oscar Wilde.

Brown's cat mystery on Disney

ABC recently aired Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery, a Wonderful World of Disney TV film based on a mystery series by Rita Mae Brown, author of the lesbian classic Rubyfruit Jungle. The mysteries are told from the viewpoint of a cat and dog who help their mistress solve murder cases. ESPN has show on gay athletes

Olympic swimming champion Bruce Hayes, Oberlin College's pioneering athletic director Michael Muska and other lesbigay athletes discussed the issues they face on the December 16 ESPN special Outside the Lines: The Life of a Gay Athlete.

"Wedding Ceremonies for the Rest of Us" A Brunch & Conversation

Facilitator Rev. Mary Grigolia will help us explore:

Why should we get married when it's not legal yet?

How do we ensure our wedding ceremony reflects us?

What do we do first?

Sunday, January 10

10 a.m. Noon

at The Ashe Center, 1861 W. 25th

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$5 donation

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Exposé of lowa hoax due out

Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Joe Dirck recently reviewed A Glimpse of Hell, Charles C. Thompson II's soon to be released exposé of the Navy's attempt to blame the 1989 gun turret explosion aboard the USS Iowa on Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig.

Thompson, a former Navy officer and producer of CBS' 60 Minutes, has spent the last ten years researching the disaster and the Navy's cover-up, which claimed that Hartwig deliberately caused the explosion because he was despondent over a failed gay love affair.

Thompson noted that it was almost impossible to prove that Hartwig was not actually gay. But, after strong denials from Hartwig's family and girlfriend, Thompson interviewed a number of Hartwig's shipmates who were part of the lowa's small gay community, and they also said Hartwig wasn't gay.

One gay sailor who was attracted to Hartwig found himself "fairly roughly rebuffed." Dirck also noted that Adm. Leon Adney, one of the most ardent supporters of the "deranged homosexual" theory, was not disciplined when the Navy cover-up was exposed.

Ironically, Adney now teaches ethics at the Naval Academy. In an even stranger twist, he was called as an expert on military ethics during the Clinton impeachment hearings, where he testified, "Leadership must be based on principle, not litigious doubletalk."

Further investigation of the explosion aboard the World War II-era battleship, which killed 47 sailors including Hartwig,

could not pinpoint a cause. Investigators believe that bags of gunpowder were ignited as they were loaded into the 16-inch gun, either by flaming debris left from a previous shot, or by striking the edge of the breech as they were rammed in.

Harris to open new eatery soon

The Plain Dealer also ran a nice article on gay and AIDS activist Buck Harris and Lake Effect, the new seafood restaurant he is building on Cleveland's near West Side overlooking Lake Erie at W. 45th St. and Detroit. Harris is the host of the live gay callin show The Gay '90s, heard in the Cleveland area on WERE 1300 AM Sundays from 8 to 9 pm.

The story noted that Harris, who lives in the neighborhood, is a community activist as well, and has founded a neighborhood crime watch organization. The article said Harris not only planned to buy his supplies from nearby businesses, he planned to give people in the neighborhood priority on jobs at the restaurant.

Harris, a devoted pet owner himself, told the Plain Dealer he would like patrons to bring their pets to the restaurant and that he had made a special patio area, the Poop Deck, just for that purpose.

Lake Effect is expected to be open by January 15.

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian-gay public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Fridays at 7 pm. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contributed to this column.

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