LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news stories for you on this gorgeous Saturday in Las Vegas:
• Pink News: In a recent interview, Barry Manilow said that coming out sooner than he did “would have killed” his career. In a separate chat with GMA, he shared about his journey with lung cancer, “I’m doing good.” Continue reading “Barry Manilow On Cancer Progress & Coming Out + More News”
International pop star Barry Manilow shared in social media posts this morning that he will be rescheduling his farewell tour dates due to a cancer diagnosis for a spot on his left lung. Continue reading “Barry Manilow Reschedules Farewell Tour Dates After Lung Cancer Diagnosis”
Some news items you might have missed: • New York Post: Pop icon Barry Manilow says he was “insulted” at the public reaction (or lack thereof) to his coming out as gay at the age of 73. Continue reading “Barry Manilow ‘Insulted’ At Reaction To His Coming Out + More News”
Some news items you might have missed: • The Advocate: The Gay Games XI 2023 opens this weekend in Hong Kong and Guadalajara, Mexico. This will be the first time the event has been hosted in Asia or Latin America. Continue reading “2023 Gay Games Open This Weekend + More LGBTQ News”
L-R Michael Caprio, Barry Manilow, me
RIP Mart Crowley, who wrote Boys In The Band. He was justly acclaimed, ignorantly attacked and finally given his due. He dissected and celebrated gay lives, and as a person, he was funny, generous and brave. He got there first, and the theater is in his debt pic.twitter.com/eQoJyjGPp2
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) March 9, 2020
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Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: Electric power went down for much of NYC Sunday night, but InstaHunk Jeff Ferreira is getting through the current heat wave. #sweat
• New Yorker: Former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, one of the early targets of the #MeToo movement, regrets resigning so quickly. “Oh yeah, absolutely.”
• NOLA: The Gretna Police Department has put Officer Charlie Rispoli on administrative leave following Rispoli’s Facebook comment last week that suggested a Democratic congresswoman should be shot. He commented on a story, clearly marked ‘Satire,’ that insinuated AOC had said, “We pay soldiers too much.”
• Friendly Atheist: Christian hate-preacher Steven “Death to the Gays” Anderson of Arizona’s (independent fundamentalist) Faithful Word Baptist Church says he’s now banned from entering Australia. There are now 33 countries that have banned Anderson.
• Talking Points Memo: Vice President Mike Pence will attend a $35,000 per couple fund-raising event in Colorado hosted at a private club owned by two gay men. #quislings
• Broadway: Pop music icon Barry Manilow heads back to Broadway for an exclusive limited engagement July 26 through August 17 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street). For ticket information, click HERE.
‘Fanilows’ should expect a non-stop evening of Top 40 Hits from Manilow’s decades-long list of songs ranging from pop, to Broadway, Jazz, and adult contemporary.
On the eve of his return to the Las Vegas Strip, pop superstar Barry Manilow fell ill Wednesday night and was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Continue reading “Barry Manilow Hospitalized On Eve Of Las Vegas Opening”
As social media folks responded to music man Barry Manilow’s official “coming out,” my friend Roger Rosen, a talented writer, wrote the following.
I think this addresses an important aspect of the story:
Barry said, “I thought I would be disappointing [the fans] if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything.” There is so much sadness in this quote. We’re taught that the very nature of our being makes us “disappointing.” And while I understand that the majority of his fans have been straight women, I’m fascinated that he can’t even conceive of the fact that some of his fans, gay men, of which he is one, might be thrilled for him to speak his truth.
The idea that we come out of the closet suggests that we must go in. From that first red flag in the back of our heads as little children, we know to lie. It’s self-preservation. While I think it’s probably pretty human to look at Barry Manilow and say, “Really? You couldn’t have done this sooner,” or, “Please, grrl, who DIDN’T know???”, I think it’s probably more useful to create a world where little Barry Manilows everywhere never feel the impulse to go in a closet they then need to come out of.
Pop music icon Barry Manilow officially comes out (finally) in an interview with People Magazine.
Manilow says he stayed closeted, in part, because he didn’t want to “disappoint” his fans.
After skyrocketing to fame in 1974 with his pop-rock ballad “Mandy,” the Brooklyn native’s star only got brighter with the release of classics like “Looks Like We Made It,” “Copacabana (At the Copa)” and “Can’t Smile Without You.” Then in 1978, he met Kief — a TV executive and Houston native — and “I knew that this was it,” says Manilow. “I was one of the lucky ones. I was pretty lonely before that.”
Soon after, Kief became Manilow’s manager, a role he still holds today, in addition to being President of Barry Manilow Productions.
“He’s the smartest person I’ve ever met in my life — and a great guy, too,” Manilow says.
And the couple has stayed together for 39 years, all while remaining mum on his sexuality — an open secret to some in his long-devoted, mostly female fan base, a shock to others — and even stepping out and living with once-rumored love interest Linda Allen during his relationship with Kief.
Manilow admits he’s always been hesitant to discuss the relationship — and to come out publicly, even after he finally married Kief in a clandestine ceremony at their 53-acre Palm Springs estate in April 2014.
In 2015, news of their marriage and Manilow’s sexuality made headlines, something the legend calls “a blessing and a curse.”
Considering his fans, “I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything,” says Manilow. Turns out, “When they found out that Garry and I were together, they were so happy. The reaction was so beautiful — strangers commenting, ‘Great for you!’ I’m just so grateful for it.”
While it’s one of the worst kept “secrets” in Hollywood, you can look back and see a subliminal message in his songs. Was he trying to say something years ago?
Jimmy Kimmel asks Barry Manilow (who writes the songs that make the whole world sing, don’t you know…) to write a jingle that will inspire folks to spend money during the (RED) Shopathon raising money for AIDS.
But Manilow needs a “muse.” Who could we get? Hmm…
How about Scarlett Johansson?
Ding ding ding!
Cue the cute video 🙂