Narnia Dispatches wanted to lift up several young men who are helping to blaze trails and use their celebrity for the good, for empowering and positive. Please share in our learning more about these individuals:
Matt and Blue
Actor Matt Dallas and songwriter/former music executive Johnny Blue Hamilton are a married couple who live in Colorado. They run a You Tube channel, sharing parts of their life experiences such as how they met, Sunday morning routine, leaving their home in California for a new one in Arizona, and adopting their first child. Their You Tube channel has over 294,000 subscribers who enjoy tuning in every week to see their latest experience.
Matt is well known for his role in the ABC Family's Kyle XY television show, but he has also appeared in the series Baby Daddy, various movies, and was in the Katy Perry music video for Thinking of You.
On June 10, 2017, Matt and Blue were the recipients of the "Let Love Define Family" Award at the fifth annual RaiseAChild Honors Event in Hollywood, CA for their commitment to promoting family building through fostering to adopt. Their openness and willingness to share their experiences and thoughts is not only unselfish, but they do it in an entertaining, warm and entertaining fashion.
Here's a look at Matt and Blue on coming out:
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Kevin McHale and Austin P. McKenzie
That young man on the left is Kevin McHale, former star on the television show Glee (as the character Artie Abrams). This was my outdated last mental image of the Plano, TX native:
I think he's grown a bit older since then, lol! Kevin McHale ever so casually and low-key began to come out, using his Instagram account to include his boyfriend Austin in several photos, in addition to several hint-hint pictures:
Austin P. McKenzie began his career working at Lions Camp Tatiyee, a summer camp for children and adults with mental and physical challenges. He studied singing, songwriting and special education at Columbia College Chicago, then moved to Los Angeles to star in a production of "Spring Awakening", which used American sign language as well as vocal. After a year, the production moved to New York City where Austin made his Broadway theatrical debut in 2015. Sounds like things moved quickly, even though Austin is quoted as saying he had never intended to go into acting. He still is very much interested in writing music.
No magazine covers (yet, anyway), no big announcements, just Kevin using his social media effectively and earning numerous supportive comments from fans. And if one were to read this DataLounge thread from last year 2017, it looks as though both Austin and Kevin were glass closeting before coming out. Nice to see an actually organic relationship evolve over time.
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Adam Rippon
Who isn't familiar with Adam Rippon now? The "It Guy" from this past 2018 Winter Olympics, Adam instantly bloomed with his candor, wit and positive demeanor.
A member of the U.S. Olympic Team which went to Pyeongchang, South Korea in February, Adam became the first openly gay athlete to win a medal at the games. Who could ever forget his artistically expressive performance to "O" by Coldplay, one which cannot be found any longer on You Tube or anywhere else, for that matter? [insert grrrr] And who could ever forget his positive, humorous, entertaining interviews during the remainder of the Games broadcasts? What did Adam's openness mean to so many members of the LGBTQ community? From a Vanity Fair article in February:
The
effusive reaction to Rippon shows how very important representation can be,
just as Black Panther will when it arrives in movie theaters this
week. It matters to a child—and to an adult—to, yes, see some reflection of
themselves. But also to have the faraway heroes, the almost impossible ideals.
Maybe those unreachable gods somehow help clarify things here on Earth.
If I,
at eight, or 10, or 14 (oh god, 14), had seen Adam Rippon in all his swanning,
proud splendor, and everyone applauding him for it, it would have destroyed
me—but also remade me. It would have said something to me that I rarely ever
heard said. How much time young queer people spend yearning for that kind of
connection, forever sifting through culture to find the gay stuff. When you
find it, it can speak to you in almost holy tones. On Sunday night, there was
gay stuff, and swishy gay stuff to boot, right there on national TV, for anyone
who wanted it: powerful and accomplished and beautiful. - The Bittersweet Beauty of Adam Rippon
This
author highly recommends that touching article in Vanity Fair. Those two
paragraphs defined the importance and the impact of Adam Rippon's success and
"launch" at the Olympics. Today, he is presently appearing on
Dancing With the Stars and has been visible via the media. He also uses
his Instagram to post expressive, artistic photos. Recently appearing on
ABC's Nightline, Adam spoke about using his recent success as a means to raise
awareness for LGBTQ rights:
He continued: ‘I think that if we aren’t willing to listen to each other and have an open conversation, nothing will change and nothing will get done.
‘But on the flip side of that, the conversation is not for me. It’s a conversation for that trans man or woman that can’t even go to the right bathroom. It’s a conversation for that trans man or woman that can’t join the military. It’s a conversation for the muslim family that got broken up or had a mother or father travel and wasn’t allowed to come back in. And it’s an opportunity for them to have their stories told.
He then added: ‘I’m just using my platform for the best of my ability.’ - "The young people of America are watching and are acting" Gaystarnews.com
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Gus Kenworthy
And speaking of the Winter Olympic games, Adam's buddy Gus Kenworthy also made himself quite a splash. An American freestyle skier born in the UK, Gus is one of the first openly gay athletes to compete in the Olympic Games. His boyfriend Matthew Wilkas, is in American theater, film and television. Gus shared his story of struggle with his sexuality and life in the closet throughout his early career in Time magazine. From the interview:
Gus
Kenworthy was supposed to be happy. The American freestyle skier had just won a
silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and now he was being
interviewed by NBC the day after—Valentine’s Day, of all days—and asked to name
his Valentine’s crush. This sort of make-cute gag shouldn’t send an athlete who
earns his living doing twisting flips down a mountain into a stomach-churning
panic. But Kenworthy didn’t know what to say. His boyfriend? Real celebrity
crushes like Zac Efron or Jake Gyllenhaal? None seemed like the best way to
come out to the world.
Kenworthy
settled on Miley Cyrus, which didn’t help. The NBC Olympics Twitter account
broadcast his “crush” to the world. The pop star gushed on social media about a
photo of Kenworthy holding four stray dogs—a rescue effort he had undertaken
with the person he was afraid to identify as his boyfriend. Kenworthy soon
became a celebrity heartthrob in his own right, cool enough to conquer a
death-defying sport while cuddling puppies in his spare time. And it tore him
up inside. “I mean, I love Miley Cyrus, she’s great,” Kenworthy says during a
late-November interview with TIME. “But I just remember feeling very
dishonest.”
Now, Gus is using his platform as a successful Olympic athlete to also speak out on LGBTQ rights as well as human issues, due to the state of the governmental leadership in America. Gus has been in a relationship with Wilkas since November 2015 and his Instagram is an example of how social media can be used in both an entertaining and an influential way.
Gus and his guy:
Gus and Adam sharing their bonded friendship at the 2018 Olympics:
Pretty darn inspiring and encouraging, aren't all of these gentlemen. Narnia salutes all of them and yes, they are all indicative of change - a subtle, big, low key, viral change and a true breath of fresh air.
sources: IMBD, ca.wikipedia.org, downwrite, Time, gaystartimes, Vanity Fair, wikipedia, Tenor, Huffington Post, IMDB
our playlist: Mad World - Adam Lambert
Come To My Window - Melissa Etheridge
Into the Day - Bebo Norman
O "Fly On" - Coldplay
8 comments:
Great job with the photos last month PG. Brought back a lot of memories especially in the early days when we all thought that they would come out.
Great to see this younger generation coming out more and more everyday. Sad to see guys like Jake and Austin left behind.
Austin's Facebook page has been posting a lot of pics of Austin in Texas leading up to the premiere of his new movie there. On his lasted post which was a pic of him at the movie festival I posted a pic of the It gets better block he signed for me in NC and made the comment It gets Better. I went back a few minutes later and it was deleted. I guess they felt that was a little bit of stepping over the line. They must be monitoring his page all the time. So sad that Austin or Jake have to live the way they do. I told PG I felt bad because I was such so impressed with Austin at the convention. I didn't think the post was that out of line. I felt really bad and sad for him but I guess business come first before the truth. I doubt Austin has anything to do with the posts. It sure is a team effort keeping J and A so deep in the closet. I just think it is sad.
Thanks, Tom, I'm glad you enjoyed the 30 days. It was fun to go back and look at all of the pictures - what was interesting was, while researching the pictures and sometimes what was going on at the time of the pic, to go back through OMG and read the threads. I learned more, analyzed a little more, and took a second look/different opinion on some of them. Minds can change on some things after time has passed and you re-examine.
Great to see this younger generation coming out more and more everyday
I loved reading up on all of these gentlemen. I learned more about their backgrounds and each one is very inspirational. If I were to get on Instagram, it would be to follow Adam Rippon. His photos are just so nice. There's something about his openness - he glows from within and his face either just beams or his eyes seem to pour right into you. He's artistic and expressive; his photos are art.
And Austin P. McKenzie, wow! What a stand up young man. I so admire his working at the summer camp for six years and then he was going to go into that field, right? And he ended up in acting, but the first play he accepted a role for also performed in sign language. Kevin's candor is also refreshing. I loved these quotes from him on a Just Jared post about why he didn't think there should be a spin off from Glee:
“I will say, not to bring it down or anything, when Cory Monteith died. I don’t think the show ever came back from that,” the 26-year-old actor told The Huffington Post. “It wasn’t for a lack of trying, but the story was going in one direction with his character [Finn Hudson] and he was one of two main characters of the show.”
“I think after that the vibe on set was different,” he added. “It was just weird for us being there never mind actually having to be filming. Being one of the writers in that sort of situation — I wouldn’t have known what I would have done because I was like, ‘I don’t really even want to be here.’”
When asked if he thinks Artie should get a spinoff, Kevin said, “Towards the end, there weren’t that many people watching Glee. So I don’t know how many people would then watch a spinoff. We’re off the air for a reason.” - Kevin McHale Gets Candid About the Glee Cancellation on Just Jared
Exactly! I love that kind of frankness and the way he said "I don't really even want to be here." and that whole last quote - some people don't like that kind of brute honesty but I do.
Gus Kenworthy's Instagram is also one I would follow. He and his boyfriend are very nice together and Gus has lots of photos of him - it's so great to see. Gus' childhood/youth story touched me and how he felt when he was interviewed. How hard it must be.
When watching the video of Matt and Blue on their coming out, it was so funny to see Matt talk about how everyone he told that he was gay (family, friends) frequently said they already knew. ;-) He and Blue are so cute together and both gentlemen are inspiring with what they're doing with their You Tube channel. Blue is a cutie.
but I guess business come first before the truth. I doubt Austin has anything to do with the posts. It sure is a team effort keeping J and A so deep in the closet.
It is a business first and foremost and yeah, I think most celebrities have social media teams nowadays. With Austin's twitter, you can tell most of those tweets are not him speaking. When he was first on Twitter, I think a lot of them were from him. Not as much now.
I actually had to block Austin's twitter account from @Goosestile, lol. The troll was tweeting at me and one way he/she could count on me seeing their harassing tweets was to copy Austin's twitter account name in their tweet and I would see their tweet in Austin's search. They knew how it would work; it's why they copied Austin. They tried doing that once with Maggie & the matriarch's twitter account (LOL!) and so I replied back with some heavy snark. That was the last time that happened (snicker), but if he/she does it again, I'll block their accounts as well.
My policy is I normally try not to mention the celebs' twitter accounts. Yeah, I've done it a few times if I've gotten good & pissed or it's something like Austin mistreating a dog. But for the most part, my policy is not to do that. It's why I have Narnia and I can spout off here.
I have to draw a line somewhere; these guys aren't my pal, they're not even a friend. Tom, you had a positive interaction and I think that's awesome. Myself, I'm more out there; I've done a lot more calling out on my social media. I'm not by any means even a fan to them. I'm someone who's a nuisance; someone they want to get rid of. That's been made quite evident by how I've been harassed by their team. I'm stalked, had my phones hacked, emails hacked, I'm pretty certain they even have my IP address now, something which will soon be taken care of.
Another thing to remember is he and Jake are deeply, deeply closeted. No glass, no shoutouts, no hints, no nothing. Neither one even publicly speaks about LGBT issues. At all. That tells anyone how deeply closeted they are. This isn't 2007-2010 anymore. So any kind of acknowledgement about anything to do with the community doesn't happen with them.
That being said, lol. Notice how Jake is now using out individuals to try and account for his whereabouts and enable his closet. He has used Claybourne Elder, now Jonathan Groff. He's done a film with an out director, Tom Ford. He's going to do a film with another out director, the one who directed Someone Call Me By My Name. And he's now going to do a film on the life of gay composer, Leonard Bernstein.
I don't know what that's all about, but it by no means indicates Jake is even dipping a fingernail out. I think it's just being (tauntingly) brazen. It's like he's saying "What is anyone going to do about it? I can do whatever I want; I've got Endeavor behind me, picking up any mess that slips."
Kind of wordy this morning, aren't I?
Interesting isn't it. That we put up this post last night and within the post, Austin P. McKenzie's role in Spring Awakening is spoken about and I was researching this yesterday afternoon. And what is the title of a Jake blog's new post today, but......
Spring Awakening.
Glad to help out, folks! smh at folks who can't come up with their own ideas.
Neither one even publicly speaks about LGBT issues. Actually I think Jake has spoken about the impact of BBM a few times, but really I think that's been it.
And no one says they have to, no one ever "has" to say anything, right? I'm sure it's understandable why they do not and that's really a preferable thing.
Been watching the kitties since Thursday and will continue to do so for a few more days. They're pretty people-oriented cats, which is surprising to me. They love to hang out with me in the evenings and are in & out of the bed at night. I don't know how these people get good sleep though. =O
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