ZeitGAYst

Ellen DeGeneres' Sitcom Character Comes Out on "Ellen" (April 30, 1997)

During the week of April 7, 1997 TIME Magazine ran its famous "Yep, I'm Gay" cover story in which comedic actress Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian.  Then three weeks later, on April 30, art imitated life as DeGeneres' character, Ellen Morgan, did the same on her ABC sitcom Ellen. 

 

 

Although no puppy appeared in the epiosde, it was referred to as the "puppy episode" due to an inside joke of the show's cast.  Ellen's character comes out to a woman she was interested in (played by Laura Dern) and, befitting a sitcom, inadvertently announces it over a microphone in an airport's waiting area (pictured).  Besides Dern, other celebrities also made cameo appearances, including Oprah, Demi Moore and k.d. lang.

    

The episode got a Nielsen household rating of 23.4, which was more than double Ellen's usual rating (and comparable to that season's #1 show, ER).  At the time I worked in the media department at ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding and I coordinated a "guess the rating" contest.  40 staff members participated.  The winner was announced the following day at a departmental presentation we had on the Gay & Lesbian Market.

 

After this high-exposure month Ellen and her partner Anne Heche were soon seen everywhere together - replacing Harvey Fierstein as the media's favorite token gay.  The show bore a heavy burden the following season as some viewers thought it was too gay, others not gay enough, while others felt it just wasn't funny any longer.  Alas, it flamed out and was cancelled at the end of the 1997-98 season.  However, six months later the void was filled by Will & Grace, which debuted on NBC and had a very successful eight-season run.

Last Dance at The Saint (April 30, 1988)

The Saint was the nation's (perhaps the world's) premiere gay dance club during the 1980's and its closing party began on April 30 1988 - and continued until Monday morning, May 2.  Although I love dance music I was never part of the Saint crowd; however, I'd go once or twice a year.  My first time there was in June 1981 a few weeks before it closed for the summer; the last time was two weeks before the final weekend.  And it was more than just a dance floor - there were a lot of other places to explore and "experience".

 

An ex-lover of mine, Rick, went to closing weekend in two shifts.  During his second shift he got into a bit of medical trouble because he bought some bad GHB and collapsed on the dance floor.  He woke up in the special triage unit set up at the club for these type of "situations".

Here are five songs I most fondly associate with the Saint:

• Hills of Katmandu - This beautifully tribal song is the one I associate most with the Saint.  The club's renowned planetarium projector that rose out of the middle of the dance floor projected images of stars that swirled on the circular scrim-like ceiling above the dance floor.  To me, this effect, along with the glow from the burnt orange lighting, evinced a feeling of being out on the savannahs of East Africa.   Such a gorgeous song.

 

• Your Love - This was played during my first visit to the club.  It was the group Lime's first hit.  While we danced to it, my boyfriend at the time passed out after taking a hit of poppers.

 

• Dracula's Tango - A great dance song with a Halloween theme.

 

• Eve of the War - This song is on par with the Hills of Katmandu in terms of its mystical/tribal vibe.  What a beautiful orchestral opening.  The only verse was, "Chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one he said - but still, they come!".  A number of years after the Saint closed I came across the 12-inch single among a pile of records someone was selling on Christopher St.  What a find! 

 

• Tonight is What it Feels to be Young - From the soundtrack of the 1984 rock movie Streets of Fire.

 

The not-a-care-in-the-world vibe of the club was brought home to me during a visit in October 1983.  It was a week after a truck bomb ripped apart a U.S. Marine barrack in Lebanon killing more than 250 servicemen.  As I pranced on the dance floor at 3AM I thought of all the serious things going on in the world and how here on this fabulous dance floor I was insulated from all of it. 

 

Sondheim's "Company" Opens on Broadway (April 26, 1970)

Stephen Sondheim's musical Company had its Broadway opening on April 26, 1970.  The story revolves around Bobby, a swinging bachelor in his mid-30's, and the three married couples who are his close friends.  The wives are concerned about him still playing the field while the husbands are somewhat envious of his freedom.  I often wondered if "Bobby Baby" might be gay.  In fact, there is a scene in which one of the married guys lightly propositions him - but Bobby demurs.  At the time the show was considered groundbreaking because it was the first to explore "modern" themes. 

 

Nowadays if a show opens in late April it qualifies for that year's Tony's in June, but 40 years ago the Tony Awards were held in March or April.  In fact, the ceremony in 1970 was the week before Company opened (how peculiar for a show to open a week after the Tony's!)  Therefore, Company wasn't in the running for a Tony until one year later, but it was hardly forgotten as it received 14 nominations - and won six awards for Best Musical; Direction; Book; Lyrics; Score (the first of Sondheim's six Best Score Tonys); and Scenic Design.  However, Michael Bennett didn't win for Choreography nor did the six actors who were nominated.   

 

Although I didn't see this original production I've seen three others.  The first was a benefit performance for an actors fund held at a theater in Times Square in the autumn of 1991.  Then in October 2003 I saw an NYU student production at the university's newly opened Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.  And last summer I saw a filmed concert version that had been staged at Lincoln Center a few months earlier.  Additionally, I rented the excellent documentary about the recording of the original cast LP (most memorable perhaps for the scenes of Elaine Stritch's excruciating multiple attempts at The Ladies Who Lunch).

 

During the rare occasion when a boyfriend became annoyed by something I did I'd sometimes bring up the song Being Alive and point out its message that only when you are inconvenienced by the compromises a relationship requires do you truly experience living.  This didn't necessarily win them over, but I was pleased with my cleverness.    

 

 

A Salute to Major League Baseball's Sexiest Players

With the exception of soccer, no other professional sports league has sexier players than Major League Baseball.  NFL players are largely obese, overmuscled and brain addled from concussions; NBA players are freakishly tall and look silly in their baggy shorts; and the NHL teams are full of players with missing teeth and "ice rage" issues.   

 

Granted, there's not a whole lot of running, jumping, or tackling involved in baseball.  Still, the players look great standing around posing in their snug stretch pants that hug their groin, thighs, biceps and calves.  And while they stand at homeplate or out in the field waiting for next pitch it gives us fans time to ogle them as they play with their bat, adjust their cup, or stretch teasingly.

 

Out of the 750 or so players on active rosters of Major League Baseball's 30 teams, here, in no particular order, are sixteen of my favorite players (vital statistics as of March 2013):

 

Giancarlo Stanton/Miami Marlins (23 years old/6'5"/245 lbs).  Not only is this strapping superstar the youngest of my choices, his sexiness quotient increased tenfold when, at the start of last season, he chose to be called by his given first name, Giancarlo (rather than his middle name Michael, which friends called him since he was a boy). 

 

Joe Mauer/ Minnesota Twins (turns 30 in April/6'5"/230 lbs.).  For me, Joe's All-American good looks bring to mind the character Joe Boyd, the ball player in the movie, and Broadway musical, Damn Yankees.  In addition to playing baseball Mauer is also a TV spokesperson for Head and Shoulders shampoo. 

 

 

David Wright/NY Mets (30 years old/6'0"/210 lbs.) - He's like a little puppy dog, i.e. always smiling and eager to please.  Not surprisingly, he's the Mets ambassador of good will. 

 

 

Grady Sizemore/Cleveland Indians (30 years old/6'2"/200 lbs.) - Definitely a cool drink of water.  But what a shame that he ended up in the media black-hole of Cleveland!

 

 

 

Albert Pujols/LA Angels (33 years old/6'3"/230 lbs.) - A slab of 100% pure Dominican beef with a mighty bat.  Three MVP Awards and two World Series rings got him a 10-year, $254 million contract from his new team, the Angels.  Ay papi indeed!  

 

Ichiro Suzuki/NY Yankees (39 years old/5'11"/170 lbs.) - Somewhat like Toyota, Ichiro is the Japanese import who has had the greatest success in the U.S., becoming one of the greatest hitters of all time. 

 

 

 

Carlos Beltran/St. Louis Cardinals (turns 36 in April /6'1"/215 lbs.) - First, I've always had a weakness for the name Carlos.  Second, I think he may have has the most beautiful lips of any ballplayer. 

 

Carlos Pena (35/6'2"/225 lbs.) - I told you I like the name Carlos, didn't I?  Like Albert Pujols, Pena is big-batted Dominican known for hitting home runs.  However, as his career winds down, Pena's strikeouts have become his defining feature.  But he'd never have any trouble getting to first base with me.

 

Matt Kemp/LA Dodgers (28 years old/6'4"/225 lbs.).  His little black book may be as filled as that of Derek Jeter's (e.g. Rihanna, Eva Longoria)  - and he's 10 years Jeter's junior.

 

 

 

Nick Markakis/Baltimore Orioles (29 years old/6'1"/190 lbs).  One of the few players of Greek heritage, I'd love to see him in a toga debating with Socrates at the Acropolis as much as kneeling in the on-deck circle at Camden Yards.

 

 

Angel Pagan/SF Giants (31 years old, 6'2", 205 lbs).  Pagan is the only member of the World Champion Giants chosen for this list.  Although he may not be considered a superstar in terms of his baseball skills (but he's still an excellent player), he's in the elite class of sexy players.  And Angel is a perfect name.

 

Andy Pettitte/NY Yankees (40 years old/6'5"/225 lbs) - Although he turns 41 in June and is a towering 6'5", he still has the qualities of a little boy (albeit with a pronounced five o'clock shadow).  And his touch of a drawl from the Louisiana bayou makes him even more endearing.  

 

CJ Wilson/LA Angels (32 years old/6'1"/210 lbs.) - A pitcher who looks like he came from the same gene pool as Grady Sizemore and Ryan Braun (below).   

 

 

 

Ryan Braun/Milwaukee Brewers (29 years old/6'1"/200 lbs).  One of baseball's few Jewish ballplayers, his nickname is the "Hebrew Hammer".

 

 

 

Johnny Damon/ On verge of retiring (39 years old/6'2"/205 lbs.) - Whether sporting the shaggy mane he had in his days with the Red Sox or shortly cropped hair afterward, Johnny is adorable.  Like David Wright, a very rambunctious puppy.

 

 

 

Jose Bautista/Toronto Blue Jays (32 years old/6'/190 lbs.) - If you didn't know his name you might think Bautista is of Israeli heritage, but like Albert Pujols he's from the Dominican Republic.  Over the past few years he's become quite a home run hitter. 

 

And a shout-out to retired studs such as Javy Lopez (near right), Carlos Delgado (far right) and Brady Anderson (center).  Speaking of Anderson, for a number years at my summer share in Fire Island we had somewhat of a shrine to him, i.e. the poster to the right hanging in the living room above the fireplace. 

 

And although the following five players didn't make the cut for the above list, they deserve mention because of their great names: Xavier Nady; Hunter Pence; Ian Kinsler; Ian Desmond; Denard Span and Chase Utley. 

Grace Kelly Becomes Princess Grace (April 19, 1956)

Twenty-five years before the wedding of Charles and Diana another fairytale wedding had the world aflutter as 26-year old Oscar-winning movie actress Grace Kelly married 32-year old Prince Rainier III of Monaco.  (Three months after their nuptials the last of her eleven movies, High Society, was released.)

 

Unlike Diana's tumultuous life, Princess Grace's with Prince Rainier was seemingly a happier one.  However, like Diana, Princess Grace died young (age 52) in a car accident - but under different circumstances.  Princess Grace was behind the wheel when she suffered a stroke and the car plunged down an embankment.  Her death came a year after Diana's marriage and Princess Diana represented England at the funeral. 

 

 

 

 

Demonstration for Gay Rights Held at White House for First Time (April 17, 1965)

On the afternoon of April 17, 1965 a small group of dedicated and brave gay men and lesbians demonstrated in front of the White House for the first time to protest the unjust treatment of homosexuals by the federal government.  The demonstrators were from the DC branch of the gay rights group called the Mattachine Society.  They held picket signs with slogans such as "First Class Citizenship for Homosexuals" and "Homosexuals Are U.S. Citizens Too".   There was a debate among the participants on how to dress and it was decided that suits and ties for men and blouses, skirts and heels for women were most appropriate in order to show onlookers that homosexuals looked just like everyone else.  (The demonstration was depicted in the 1995 movie Stonewall.)

 

What a debt of gratitude we owe these brave, pioneering individuals who went out in broad daylight not knowing what kind of recepetion they might encounter. (It turns out they were largely ignored.)  Today equally brave LGBT ndividuals are taking their lives in their hands in openly hostile countries such as Uganda, Russia and Jamaica - as well as in "red" states like Oklahoma and Kansas.

 

 

 

A complete report on this demonstration can be found on the website of the Rainbow History Project.

Newsweek Cover Story Explains AIDS to the General Public (April 11, 1983)

Two years after the first puzzling cases of failing immune systems were reported among gay men in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, Newsweek ran a cover story (cover date of April 18, 1983) about the spreading plague titled "Epidemic: The Mysterious and Deadly Disease Called AIDS May Be The Public Health Threat of the Century.  How Did It Start?  Can It Be Stopped?" 

 

The article reported that although the ravages of AIDS on the body were well documented, medical researchers had yet to determine how the infectious agent was introduced into the body.  As long as this mystery remained unsolved it would be impossible to arrive at a medical solution.  And until that time arrived AIDS would largely continue to be a death sentence for those who were infected.  Here is the story's opening paragraph:

 

Since it came into public view in 1981, derisively called "The Gay Plague," AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), which ravages the body's immune system, has stricken 1,300 Americans - more than half of them in the last year. And there is no cure in sight. "In my professional career, I have never encountered a more frustrating and depressing situation," says Dr. Peter Mansell of Houston's M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute. "People who you know are likely to die ask what they can do to help themselves, and you are forced to say, more or less, 'I have no idea'." (To read the full story click here.)

 

Since many of those who were already infected during these early years were unaware of their status they could unknowingly infect others.  Additionally, wild misconceptions about the disease were rampant.  As a result, there was unsettling speculation over whether the federal government might take drastic measures, such as a quarantine of gay men, to prevent the illness from spreading to the general population.  (An action taken by Cuba.)

 

A few months later TIME Magazine ran a cover story with the subhead "AIDS Panic" and later that summer Newsweek ran another cover story about AIDS, this time showing two gay men as a way to give the story a human dimension. 

 

Coming Out With the Help of the Village People

I bought the Village People's eponymous first album without having heard any of its songs.  I did so because their medley San Francisco/Hollywood had been high on Billboard's dance chart for months so I figured it was worth taking a chance on.  I was in my junior year at Penn State and I bought the LP at the record store in State College in the spring of 1978.  (The first disco album I bought was Donna Summer's double-LP Once Upon a Time the previous summer.) 

 

The late 70's were my formative coming-out years and the songs on this album, e.g. Fire Island, Key West and San Francisco, provided me with somewhat of an education about gay life.  I'd get a frisson of excitement listening to these songs' lyrics about places I'd yet to experience.  

 

The dorm complex I lived in at University Park, West Halls (pictured), was where many members of the school's Nittany Lions football team lived; some players on my floor occasionally asked to borrow this LP for their parties.  Despite the fact that the Village People were embraced by gay men and their song lyrics were filled with gay double entendres, they managed to cross over to the oblivious general market, who seemed to get a kick out of the group's "camp pop".

 

The first Village People song to chart was Macho Man, from their seconnd album, followed by the ubiquitous YMCA, which spent three weeks at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 in the winter of 1979.  Their third album Go West was released in the spring of 1979 and the single In the Navy went to #3.  Rolling Stone Magazine even put them on its cover.  However, overexposure soon ensued and the group "jumped the shark" in 1980 with their embarassingly bad movie Can't Stop the Music.

 

Other Village People-inspired posts found on ZeitGAYst: 

The Village People Perform on American Bandstand    

The Village People Appear on the Cover of Rolling Stone

Creator of the Village People, Jacques Morali, Dies of AIDS

Glenn Hughes, Village People's "Leatherman", Dies

 

 

 

 

Ellen DeGeneres Reveals to TIME Magazine: "Yep, I'm Gay" (April 7, 1997)

In preparation for the episode of her eponymous ABC sitcom in which her character was outed, Ellen DeGeneres herself "came out" in the pages of the April 14, 1997 issue of TIME Magazine (which hit newsstands on 4/7).  And what a lovely cover it was.  (14 years later, in ads for Cover Girl, Ellen looked as fresh as she did in 1997, thanks to the marvels of retouching).

 

Although TIME had a famous cover story in 1975 titled "I Am a Homosexual", in which Sgt. Leonard Matlovich talked openly about his homosexuality, the Ellen cover story was the first time an entertainer had come out in such a public fashion. 

 

After this story it seemed for a while that DeGeneres and her partner, actress Anne Heche, were turning up everywhere, supplanting Harvey Fierstein as the media's favorite token gays.  Then a year after TIME's cover story Entertainment Weekly ran one titled "Yep, She's Too Gay".  It reported on the backlash against Ellen's sitcom and its gay storylines.  And in 2000 Ellen and Anne ended their relationship.

 

 

Ellen's career foundered a bit after that, but then she made a triumphant return as host of the Emmy's a few weeks following 9-11.  And six years later she hosted the Academy Awards.  She was also the voice of the blue fish Dory in the high-grossing animated movie Finding Nemo.  Besides being a spokesperson for Cover Girl she also appeared in ads for American Express. 

 

And her success extended to publishing as she wrote five books during the decade, including the best seller Love, Ellen: A Mother/Daughter Love Story.  Then another career hiccup occurred two years ago when she was a judge on American Idol and found herself uncomfortable dishing out criticism.  

 

Since 2003 DeGeneres has had her own Daytime talk show and there's been speculation about her replacing Oprah when O retires - although Ellen's audience is a fraction of Oprah's and her show's content much lighter. (FYI, Ellen came out to Oprah on her show the month before TIME's cover story).   

  

 

I've also written posts about two other cover girls:

Suitable for Framing - TIME Magazine's Classic Cher Cover

Madonna, Good Housekeeping Cover Girl 

 

First Tony Awards Handed Out (April 6, 1947)

Eighteen years after the film industry handed out its first Oscars the Broadway theater community held its first Tony Awards (short for the "Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre").  The ceremony was held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on the evening of April 6, 1947, which was Easter Sunday.  (The Tonys took place every April until 1964 when it moved to late May for one year and then to June every year thereafter.) 

 

For this first gathering there were two Best Actor and Best Actress awards given for Plays - but none for musicals (however, an award for Featured Actor was given).  Besides winning Tonys the four winning actors were also Oscar winners: 

 

• Jose Ferrer won for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac.  Three years later the play was made into a movie and he won an Oscar for the role. 
• Fredric March won the other Best Actor Tony for Years Ago.  He'd win another Tony 10 years later for Long Day's Journey Into Night.    
• Helen Hayes won the Tony for Happy Birthday.  She'd collect another Tony and two Oscars, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a Grammy during her career.
• Known mostly as a movie actress (she won three Oscars), Ingrid Bergman won the Tony for her role in Joan of Lorraine.  The play was the basis for the 1948 movie Joan of Arc, which Bergman also starred in.  Nominated for an Oscar, she lost to Jane Wyman who won for Johnny Belinda.

 

David Wayne won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing the role of the leprechaun Og in Finian's Rainbow.  Elia Kazan won Best Director for All My Sons.  Interestingly, in this first year there was no award for Best Play or Best Musical.

 

Beginning in 1956 the show was broadcast on TV in the New York market; it wasn't picked up by a TV network until 1967 when ABC aired it.  The audience for the Tonys is only about one-fifth the size of the audience that watches the Academy Awards.