Loud and Queer

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James Franco.

While he may not be GAY, he is sexy, handsome, intriguing, perplexing, intelligent, multi-talented, and fearless. He is an insider-outsider of Hollywood (but a native Californian of Palo Alto), and he is gracing the current cover of Details (March 2013). It’s not the first time, and, I’m guessing that it certainly won’t be the last.

You see it’s really not easy being James Franco. At 34, there’s a constant fascination with the actor. Whether he’s appearing in a film (his next project, to be released in 2013, The Wizard of Oz: Oz the Great and Powerful directed by Sam Raimi) or his own personal life (like pursuing his studies for his Ph.D. degree in English at Yale), editors of the magazine poised the question to his massive followers: “Is there any other actor who manages to be at once culturally ubiquitous and utterly elusive?”

Or, of Franco, they also ask: “Is this a serious post-Warhol actor/meta-celebrity or just another actor gaming his celebrity? And in either case, what is Franco trying to do?”

Journalist Ivan Solotaroff writes: “Franco has this stoner like way of zoning out, then talking in [William] Faulkner-length paragraphs.”

Here are some more juicy details from his interview:

On homosexuality rumors: “One of my professors at Yale… had been a 19th-century- literature scholar. But as soon as he brought his queer life into that world, it gave him this energy and a realization: It wasn’t about being gay but about being different. And that gave me a feeling of enormous permission.”

On negative criticism: “All you have is what you work on and how hard you work on it. As far as the results or the reception, it’s out of your hands. That’s something I really had to come to understand.”

On his character Alien in Spring Breakers: “Alien is what happens if we get all our wishes: unrestrained consumerism, ego, id, sex…”

On taking on different careers: “…I’d become incredibly frustrated staying in the lines of my job description as an actor. I was making it hard, not only on everyone else, but on myself as well.”

There’s no doubt about it. AVICII, aka Tim Bergling, is most definitely “The One.” The two-time Grammy Award-nominated A-list DJ and producer recently revealed his brand new single with Dutch house legend Nicky Romero, “I Could Be The One”.

On Christmas Eve, AVICII vs NICKY ROMERO released the official music video, and the exuberant message of personal freedom has already amassed nearly 8.5 million YouTube/VEVO views.  This alchemic collaboration between two of dance music’s finest has had fans salivating since the instrumental was first previewed  in February 2012. Pairing Avicii’s infectious melodic talents with Romero’s big, high-energy sound, the result is a bold progressive house anthem from two rising stars. ‘I Could Be The One’ looks set to be one of the dance-pop crossover phenomenon’s biggest success stories as it has already infiltrated key Top 40 stations and is #1 on Beatport home page leading up to the wide release.

Earlier this month, Avicii launched his “Avicii x You” collaborative project, encouraging fans and producers globally to craft and send beats and sounds that will comprise his next track. In just one week, he received over 5000 sound submissions, from 2600 artists from more than 100 countries around the world.  This is quickly becoming the world’s largest artist collaboration project, being featured in CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, MTV.com, and countless other sites and blogs. The artist and all other royalty participants in the final track have agreed to donate their royalties to the charity foundation, House For Hunger founded in 2011 by AVICII and Ash Pournouri to fight the constantly growing hunger problem worldwide.   Avicii’s 2011 House for Hunger Tour benefitted Feeding America to the tune of $1 million.

Last year proved to be remarkable for AVICII. He headlined Ultra Music Festival, Coachella, and Austin City Limits. He jumped to #3 on the DJ Mag Top 100 Vote, was ranked #3 DJ on Forbes DJ List, and reached #2 Musician on Forbes Most Powerful Artists Under 30. “Levels” became one of the most-played tracks in the world and netted him a second Grammy nom. His headline tour sold out in hours, and he was the first electronic artist to play Radio City.

Nicky Romero’s 2012 was a year emblematic of a world’s top-tier DJ. Aside from “Wild One Two” – the anthemic collaboration with David Guetta and Sia under the newly established record label Jack Back – Nicky has released countless other dance floor juggernauts such as “Toulouse”, “Generation 303”, “Camorra” and of course “Nicktim”. Unlike like many other producers, each of Romero’s releases reasserts the claim that he is here to stay. Having frequented the festival circuit with headline gigs at the likes of UMF Miami, Energy in Holland, Electric Zoo in New York, and Belgium’s Tomorrowland – not forgetting his residency at the Marquee club in Las Vegas – this has been one hell of a year for the now star-studded Dutch artist.

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Beyond being a designer, Kenneth Cole has always been a man of causes.

Those causes have been reflected throughout his consciousness-raising, thought-provoking, and award-winning  advertising campaigns.

Last week he was officially recognized for “27 years of AIDS activism” by amfAR (where he has worked tirelessly as a board member since 1987 and became chair in 2004) during New York Fashion Week. The special award was presented to Cole by his brother-in-law, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cole was joined by two other celebrity amfAR ambassadors: Janet Jackson and Heidi Klum.

There was also a buzz around NYFW because Cole, after a seven years absence, returned to the runway. “As I returned to fashion week, it was important for my show to be about something bigger than just fashion,” he said, “While we’ve made tremendous strides towards finding a cure for AIDS, there is still much work to be done.”

Philanthropist Cole donated $1 million smackers to amfAR. He also served as the executive producer of the HBO documentary, “The Battle of amfAR,” that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2013 last month. Of his passion for activism in the fight against AIDS, Cole modestly said in Women’s Wear Daily (February 6, 2013), “I found an opportunity to play a very meaningful role in a very critical initiative.”

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One is; the other isn’t.

Gay, that is.

But queer designer Tom Ford and heterosexual uber-ally fashionista Justin Timberlake have teamed up for his first single on his latest album, appropriately named, “Suit & Tie”.  Did you see him perform on the Grammy’s? AH-MAZING!

If you did see him at the Grammy’s – then you know that “Suit & Tie” – featuring Jay-Z is one hot tune. But, back to fashion….The multi-talented Ford confessed that he “adores Justin.  He has innate style and enormous talent.”

For the album’s cover, Ford and his design team literally provided made-to-measure tailoring and accessories for Timberlake’s ensemble. The two worked very closely together with lucky Ford dressing sexy Timberlake in a satin peak-lapelled tuxedo, pique front shirt and a signature Ford oversize bow tie. Ford put Timberlake in other stylish ensembles, including a three-piece suit and a black lapel two-piece tuxedo.

Personally, I think Justin can do NO wrong…  And the style and glamour he is serving is to DIE for…. TO DIE!

 22-year-old, Brooklyn-born, celebrity-bred, Augustus Britton is a transplant from the East Coast to Hollywood.

He only arrived a handful of months ago in Los Angeles, but he quickly before he himself with his first starring role in Electric Slide, directed by Tristan Patterson.  Recently profiled in Interview (February 2013), the swarthy-looking, bad boy posture of Britton will undoubtedly go a LONG way.

Unlike many other actors, Britton was born with a creative, artistic gene.  He almost had no choice but to travel to the West Coast to seek out fame, fortune and the opportunity to hone his acting skills. (His father is the last American impressionist painter, Jeff Britton.)

Does he have a role model in the field of acting? You’re damn right, and the Britton apple doesn’t fall far from the family tree. His Hollywood familial ties are with his grandmother Estelle Parsons, an Academy Award winner (for best supporting actress in the classic, Bonnie and Clyde) of whom he speaks fondly: “She’s won an Oscar and been nominated for four Tonys. She’s a no bullshit artist.”

Sounds like Britton is cut from the same cloth.

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Cyndi Lauper’s new reality show is called Still So Unusual – a nod to the title of her debut album, 1983′s super-smash “She’s So Unusual” – but the legendary diva says she feels like that’s a description of her that never rang true.

“I never thought I was different,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I always thought everybody else was.”

Still So Unusual, which airs at 9 p.m. Saturday on WE tv, follows Lauper as she juggles her hectic working schedule with her family life (the show also features her husband, actor David Thornton (The Notebook), and son Declyn,14).

This Saturday’s episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the Forty to None Project’s very first public service announcement, entitled “America’s Next Generation”. The PSA, featuring Cyndi with young New Yorkers, highlights the impact of homelessness on gay and transgender youth.

It is estimated that up to 1.6 million youth are homeless each year. Up to 40% of these young people identify as gay or transgender, while only 3-5% of the general youth population does the same. The primary factor in these young people being homeless is family rejection.

Tune in and watch all the chaos and giggles in Lauper and her brood’s lives, every Saturday at 9pm on We Tv!

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What did you do today? Did you lie on your couch, nursing an awful hang-over from yesterday’s Sunday Funday? Or, did you honor the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering or performing a day of service?  Which?

Or, did you watch the GAYEST show on Earth? Cause gurrrllllll, President Barack Obama had the biggest, gayest inauguration EVER!

First off, he was the t first president to include the LGBTQ community in his inaugural address.Can you believe that?

Calling equality “the star that… guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall,” Obama hammered away his dedication to LGBTQ rights:

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.  Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

Zounds! That is going to really get the conservative christians up into a complete tizzy!

The day’s faggotry  also included  performances by Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson!  Now, my grandfather is CONVINCED that Beyonce is Obama’s sister, and I am convinced that Clarkson is a lesbian. Who is the small-mind there?  To completely turn this into a Pride Day, members of the Gay and Lesbian Band Association will be marching in the Inaugural Parade!  Yee-ha!

In one of the most subtle and sweet coming-out events, Matt Dallas (the ultra-hunk from Kyle XY) announced on twittter his gay-engagement.

Here’s his tweet and the pic he tweeted!

Dallas had not publicly come out as gay until Sunday, but there had been RAMPANT speculation about his sexuality for years. I mean, I’m not much of a gossip – but every queer in Chelsea had a story about THIS ONE! In early 2009, he was linked to “Mean Girls” actor Jonathan Bennett, from whom he reportedly split that same year.  But who is his new beau? Blue? (What kind of fucking name is that?)

Blue Hamilton is clearly a dog-lover, or possible a dog-tolerator-when-dog-is-hot-tv-star-boyfriend-piece.  Hamilton is  obviously very private — he only has 70 Twitter followers and his tweets are protected.  He also won’t let me follow him. I’ve tried. Lord, have I tried…

I did find this picture of Blue and Matt from March – clearly taken by a blind person.

On his Twitter profile, Blue writes, “I live for music and all things creative. besides silent movies. i believe in aliens and hope time travel exists before i die.”

His record label, Trending Records, says, “When not crafting his beautiful music he [Blue] reportedly renovates houses, is an avid dog enthusiast, an equal rights supporter, wine connoisseur, and environmentalist. He also hates people who are too self involved to care about others.”

Dedicated readers to this site know how much I adore Kellan Lutz.

When other hunky actors start to distract me, Lutz pops out of nowhere to get my groin going again…  Like, for example, this adorable little turn on 30 Rock.

But beyond the many silver screen, idiot box, and astonishing ab accomplishments of this tasty young man – he’s also a HUMANITARIAN! Like Bono!

His dedication to SavingInnocence.org, a non-profit that fights the sex trafficking of children within our own nation, is commendable. The actor’s involvement stems from the belief that “hundreds of thousands of children are at risk”. The foundation’s purpose is to bring an end to “the commercial sexual exploitation of children . . . by [rescuing] victims and restoring the cultural values of innocence and human worth.”

Says Lutz: “We all need to stand up to actively protect the innocence of our children.”  OMG… Did your eggs just drop? Mine did? I don’t have any but I swear they did.

To throw some sunshine on Lutz, the editors of GQ recently acknowledged him as an honoree as The Gentlemen’s Fund (November 2012). Congratulations!

So if you see Kellan out their, drop to your knees and give this young god some love!

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If you don’t already know Ryan James Yezak, then i is time to meet him.

This cutie was recently named as one of Instinct’s (November 2012) “2012 Leading Men,” for his wildly popular video “California Gays“ (a takeoff on Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”) But it isn’t all fluff with this YouTube cinematographer.  He is also known for  his “The Gay Rights Movement,” a 7-minute clip “tracing the origins, setbacks and strides of the gay struggle in the United States.”

Now, the 25-year-old Texas native filmmaker is geared up for his latest project – perhaps his most comprehensive and demanding – his documentary, Second Class Citizens.  He has  already raised $150,000 from a crowdfunding source for the flick, and is excited to begin. As he travels across the country, Yezak has already interviewed what he calls “expert opinions” such as “ousted lesbian scout leader Jennifer Tyrrell in Ohio, Zach Wahls in Iowa and James Dale in New Jersey” (2000′s Boy Scouts of America v Dale Supreme Court of New Jersey case).

What motivates him to assume such a project? “Once I saw the bigger picture of the discrimination and I started to understand the root of it-which I’m still getting to understand with the film-it began to consume my mind. It’s like you know this is happening and it’s wrong . . . and I wanted to do anything that I possibly could, and that came in the form of a documentary.”