on the air off the press

SpongeBob Gaypants?

by John Graves

The rising popularity of the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants in the LGBT community around the country was the subject of an October 6 Wall Street Journal story.

Dylan Stefano manages a Don't Panic store in West Hollywood, California that sells SpongeBob items such as key chains, air fresheners, magnets and iron-on patches. "Originally we got one sticker to see how it did, and we sold out of it in a week," he said. "That's probably the most popular item right now, straight or gay."

Raymond Riddering, the assistant manager of the Don't Panic store in San Francisco's Castro District, noted, “It's universal. It's seen as a cartoon character that people can cherish."

Riddering said the SpongeBob items "are pretty good sellers especially with young gay kids, and guys in their 30s think it's hilarious. I don't think anyone has bought it because they think he's gay. He doesn't have anything on him that screams 'gay'."

Show creator Stephen Hillenburg, who says the show's characters are not gay but is aware of the popularity of the show in the LGBT community noted, "I do think that the attitude of the show is about tolerance. Everybody is different, and the show embraces that."

Former NFL player comes out

Former NFL defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo came out of the closet on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Tualo told Gumbel on the October 29 show that a major reason for his retirement in 1999 was the difficulty and frustration of the closet. He said players routinely told antigay jokes in the locker room. The jokes, and the fear that players would injure him on the field if they found out, drove him to depression and thoughts of suicide.

Former Packers teammate Sterling Sharpe said that if Tualo had come out while he was

still playing, "He would have been eaten alive and he would have been hated for it."

Drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1991, Tualo also played for the Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons, including the 1999 Super Bowl.

Tualo is only the third pro football player to come out. The first was San Francisco 49ers running back David Kopay, who came out in 1975, also three years after he retired. He was followed by former New York Giants offensive tackle Roy Simmons in 1992.

The October 29 show will be re-aired several times on HBO and HBO2 in the upcoming weeks.

Mazel tov!

Congratulations to Susan Doerfer and Brynna Fish for being the first LGBT couple to take the Cleveland Plain Dealer at their word by having their upcoming nuptials featured in the "Celebrations" section of the October 26 issue of the paper. And thanks to the Plain Dealer for describing the nuptials as a marriage in the announcement, without resorting to the insulting use of quotation marks or other indications that the upcoming ceremony is anything other than what the happy couple says it is.

Doerfer and Fish are the first same-sex couple to have their announcement printed in the Plain Dealer, under an established policy allowing them to be run. Both the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Columbus Dispatch have changed their policies in the last few weeks to allow same-sex commitment announcements as well. ♡

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Fridays at 7:30 pm, and at www.wruw.org. See what's coming on TV in the Couch Potato Report, under "Entertainment" at www.lgcsc.org. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contribute to this column.

November 1, 2002 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 13

RE-ELECT

Judge Mary J. Boyle

"Judge Boyle has distinguished herself as a workhorse... has a reputation for fairness and thoroughness and has earned RE-ELECTION..."

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