May 23, 2003

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

11

on the airoff the press

Couple makes latest outing an amazingly gay race

by John Graves

Reichen and Chip, an openly gay couple, will be among the competitors when the new Amazing Race gets underway on CBS on May 29.

Reichen is a former U.S. Air Force officer and graduate of the Air Force Academy, while his spouse Chip, a former student at the Yale and Harvard Business School, is a consultant who is involved in setting up and raising funds for film, music and multi-media projects from around the world.

A press release for the couple says that Reichen, who describes himself as "detailoriented, caring and thrill-seeking," is into flying, skiing and physical fitness while his spouse Chip is into mountain hiking and participating in triathlons who describes himself as "determined, freethinking and mindful." Although the two are married, things may heat up a bit on this round of Amazing Race as the press release states that Reichen "enjoys flirting with other guys" which upsets his more conservative spouse.

Savage mauling

Michael Savage and his controversial TV talk show Savage Nation have returned to MSNBC after being on hiatus for several weeks due to coverage of the war in Iraq.

Savage marked his return on May 3 by immediately attacking legislation in California that would grant employment protection to transgender people and set penalties for denying employment based solely on a person's gender identity.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation had protested Savage's hiring by MSNBC earlier this year because of loud antigay statements he had made on his radio talk show.

"Here's what worries me," Savage said on the May 3 show. "If a fellow goes in for a job that requires certain skills, and he happens to be dressed as a woman, and he says to the person, 'I want this job and I'm a transsexual.' And then the employer says, 'Can you do this job?' And he says, 'That's irrelevant. What's relevant is my sexuality. I'm going to sue you.'

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GLAAD said that Savage misrepresented the proposed California measure, and pointed out that Savage's only guest was Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, whose commentary merely complemented Savage's point of view.

"In addition," GLAAD's release continued, "the program repeatedly contained footage of drag queens at Pride celebrations that served only to sensationalize the issue."

In an April 30 segment on MSNBC s Hardball with Chris Matthews, similar footage was shown during a debate between Sprigg and Mark Leno, the California state representative who introduced the measure.

After the Hardball segment, GLAAD spoke with producers at MSNBC. The group says they were told that the footage was inappropriate and would not be used in other

Fabulous new home

Even though Absolutely Fabulous supposedly ended its run on Comedy Central, Patsy, Edina and their friends have found a new home on U.S. television.

When we last saw the dynamic duo, they headed off to New York for Fashion Week and met Eddie's never-before-seen son Serge, his "fashion victim" boyfriend and a lesbian minister played by Whoopi Goldberg on the comedy special Absolutely Fabulous in New York.

Now, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reports that cable's Oxygen channel has bought the rights to Absolutely Fabulous and will air eight new shows early next year.

Reaction to the kiss

The lesbian storyline and history-making kiss between Bianca and Lena on All My Children is still one of the hottest topics being discussed in the soap fanzines.

Soap Opera Digest, which has provided only minimal coverage of Bianca's story in the past, picked the Bianca/Lena pairing as its weekly "Editor's Choice," in which the magazine "salutes the best in daytime" in the May 27 issue.

Although Soap Opera Weekly reports reader response to the history-making kiss has been mostly positive, the magazine that has provided the most extensive and LGBTpositive coverage of the All My Children story gave "The Kiss" a "Miss" in its weekly Hit or Miss section.

Noting the kissing scene's similarity to the finale of the 1942 classic Casablanca, the magazine said, "With the sound of revving jet engines somewhere, (was it Victor Laszlo's plane?) the pair embraced in a kiss that lasted about five seconds. The osculation was, unfortunately, a bit awkward and devoid of a real emotional crescendo-there wasn't even any swelling music, just that engine."

TV Guide soap columnist Michael Logan gave the kiss a "Rave" but says it was not actually daytime's "first on-screen same-sex kiss."

"Last year on The Bold and the Beautiful, the wicked Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) laid a lip lock on her teen daughter that was distinctly and disturbingly erotic," Logan noted.

"But the AMC kiss was still monumental. It did not occur during a steamy date, as one might expect, but rather in a crowded airport (a salute to the famous "coming out" scene on Ellen?). "Now, if ABC truly has spine," Logan concluded, "it'll bring Bianca's 'buddy' Maggie back into the equation and create the most sensational triangle on TV.” Williamson returns for a farewell

Four years after he left the show, openly gay Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson returned to write the final chapter in the adolescent drama that looked at the Dawson's denizens several years into the future and what a fine job he did with heart... to heart

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nally finding true love and a lifelong partner.

On that two-hour series finale, McFee has returned to Capeside as an openly gay teacher in love with the gay, but closeted, town sheriff. The young sheriff's closet issues threatened to break the pair up until Jack is suddenly made a gay parent after his unwed sister dies from a heart problem, leaving her young daughter in Jack's care.

When he learns Jack has decided to move from small-town Capeside to raise his new child in a big city, the handsome young sheriff realizes what he is about to lose and in a quiet, romantic scene by the lake, declares his love for Jack and kisses him on the lips not once, but twice.

When the sheriff notices they were seen kissing by an elderly couple walking along the beach he proudly proclaimed, I was just kissing my boyfriend!," to which the elderly woman replied, "That's sweet."

on

It was a wonderfully romantic gay scenethe first romantic kiss between two men since the same-sex male kissing scene that raised So much controversy Thirtysomething several years ago. It's just too bad that so many times a main character comes out of the closet or is involved in what seems like a lasting same-sex relationship just before a show is taken off the air.

Williamson has said he will donate his earnings from the finale to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

Meanwhile, over on the new WB drama Everwood, the woman who takes care of Dr. Brown's kids just found out her husband has been having a gay affair. Look for the closeted gay father to return as a recurring character next season as this storyline develops.

BBC America will air Tipping the Velvet, the BBC adaptation of Sarah Walters' novel of a young lesbian (Rachel Stirling) trying to find true love in Victorian England.

The three-part miniseries will air on BBC America May 23 through May 25 from 10 to 11 pm. As this show begins airing the day this column is published, check your program listings for future re-airings of the series if you miss it this weekend.

Cinemax will debut its LGBT Pride month programming with He's Having a Baby on June 4, the first of four LGBT-themed Reel Life documentaries on Wednesday nights.

He's Having a Baby focuses on a Hollywood talent agent and his partner of 20 years as they deal with his desire to have children. The movie will play at 7 pm.

The day before, PBS' Independent Lens series will play Daddy & Papa, Johnny Symons' autobiographical documentary about his and his partner's efforts to adopt a child. PBS stations have wide flexibility in scheduling shows, so check your local listings.

Finally, on May 31 Showtime will debut Soldier's Girl, the true story of the relationship between slain soldier Barry Winchell and his transgender girlfriend, Calpernia Addams. When his roommate started spreading rumors about Winchell's sexual orientation, tensions escalated until Winchell was brutally beaten to death.

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 Saturdays at 9:30 am, 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.

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