2013 Archives - OUTinPerth

2013 The Year in Pictures

admin — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 06:17:37 +0000

Here’s our favourite pictures of 2013!

Photographers: Claire Alexander, Graeme Watson, Alex Maltby, Nadine Walker.

The post 2013 The Year in Pictures appeared first on OUTinPerth.

15 Celebrity Closets That Opened in 2013

admin — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 11:48:30 +0000

1. Maria Bello

Actress Maria Bello announced she was in a same sex relationship in November. The actress has stared in TV’s ‘E.R’ and the US version of ‘Prime Suspect’ as well as films like ‘Coyote Ugly’ and ‘A History of Violence’. In coming out Bello shared that she dreaded telling her twelve year old son about her romantic life, but when she told him he was happy for her. The actress shared her news via a self penned piece in the New York Times.

2. Belle Brockhoff

Australian snowboarding star Belle Brockhoff came out in August when speaking to the ABC program ‘Lateline’. Brockhoff is set to complete at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and has been an outspoken critic of Russia’s anti-gay laws. When she announced that she was gay Brockhoff said she was proud of who she was. The athlete said she was prepared to display a rainbow motif in defiance of Russia’s laws.

3. Jason Collins

Jason Collins became the first professional athlete in an American team sport to declare that they are gay. Collins came out via a ‘Sports Illustrated’ cover interview in May. Collins announcement drew a record 3.1 million people to the Sports Illustrated website on the day the story was released. Collins revealed he chose number 98 as his jersey number in recognition of Matthew Shepard’s death in 1998.

4. Lucas Cruikshank

Cruiskank, the star of Nickelodeon’s ‘Fred’ films declared he was gay in a YouTube video in August. The teenage actor shared the news in a YouTube video alongside actress Jennifer Veal, who starred in the Disney TV series ‘Jessie’. The two stars of teen entertainment spent the video answering fan questions before asking for a drum roll for the final big question. Veal asks and answers the question, is Lucas gay?

5. Matt Dallas

Actor Matt Dallas is best known for his leading role in the TV series ‘Kyle XY’, in January he started the year by announcing his engagement to indie singer Hamilton Blue. Dallas played the title character in three seasons of ‘Kyle XY’ – which is about a teenage boy who wakes up naked in a forest, without a belly button who is taken in by a local family. Since the series wrapped Dallas has gone on to star in the short lived series Eastwick and picked up a guest spot on ‘Entourage’.

6. Tom Daley

Nineteen year old British diving champion Tom Daley announced he was in a same sex relationship by posting a video to YouTube in early December. It’s since been widely speculated that Daley’s partner is Oscar winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who is twenty years older than Daley. At Christmas Daley’s family wrapped his gifts in rainbow ribbons and gave him a cooking apron that said ‘Gay Idol’.

7. Clive Davis

Music mogul Clive Davis revealed that he is bisexual when he published his autobiography in 2013. Davis is credited with bringing Whitney Houston to prominence and is involved in the careers of artists like Jennifer Hudson, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and many others. The 81 year old went on to Katie Couric’s talk show and said he included the information so there could be a greater understanding about bi-sexuality.

8. Jodie Foster

When taking to the stage at The Golden Globe Awards in January to accept the Cecil B DeMille Lifetime achivement award the the fiercely private actress gave a speech that acknowledged her sexuality, her former partner and two sons. Foster said her coming out happened, ‘a thousand years ago’ and described the process as being a fragile young girl who opened up to trusted friends, family and co-workers.

9. Wentworth Miller

‘Prison Break’ star Wentworth Miller ended years of speculation about his sexuality when he published an open letter turning down an invitation to a Russian film festival because he is gay. Later in the year, just before World Suicide Prevention Day, the actor opened up about how his struggles with sexuality had lead him to attempt suicide on more than one occasion.

10. Michelle Rodriguez

Back in 2006 Rodriquez said during an interview that she had experimented with both sexes but she’s been critical of magazine articles that described her as bi-sexual. This year the actress from ‘Girlfight’, ‘S.W.A.T’, ‘Avatar’ and TV’s ‘Lost’ opened up in an interview with Entertainment Weekly and said “”I’ve gone both ways. I do as I please. I am too f—ing curious to sit here and not try when I can. Men are intriguing. So are chicks.”

11. Jim Neighbors

Retired actor and singer Jim Neighbors wed his partner of 38 years Stan Cadwallander in Seattle, Washington, just one month after the US state declared same sex unions legal. Neighbor’s is best known for his leading role in the TV show ‘Gomer Pyle’ that ran from 1964 – 1969. In the 1980’s Neighbors appeared in a series of films with his close friend Burt Reynolds including ‘The Best Little Whore House in Texas’.

12. Robbie Rogers

Soccer player Robbie Rogers came out as gay via a post on his personal blog saying, “Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity. Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined”. Later in the year Rogers signed with LA Galaxy.

13. Troye Sivan

Actor and You Tube star Troye Sivan, who lives here in Perth, declared that he was gay back in August. “This is not something that I’m ashamed of, and it’s not something that anyone should have to be ashamed of,” said Sivan in his announcement. Sivan shared his coming out process and said YouTube videos of other people’s coming out experiences and the ‘It Get’s Better Project’ were very helpful to him.

14. Ben Whishaw

British actor Ben Whishaw is one of the hottest actors around having stared in TV shows like ‘Criminal Justice, ‘The Hour’ and feature films including ‘Cloud Atlas’ and his role as tech wizard Q in James Bond. In August the actors representatives confirmed that over a year ago the actor has entered into a civil partnership with Australian composer Mark Bradshaw. Whishaw is currently staring in the play ‘Mojo’ in the West End.

15. Jenny Owen Youngs

Best known for her indie tune ‘F*ck Was I’, the singer announced that she was gay on the website ‘Everyone Is Gay’. The singer said rather than thinking about the fact she is gay she’d rather be climbing a tree, reading a book or writing a song, and noted that she wished being gay was insignificant has the colour of your hair or whether your left or right handed. Owens Young also announced her plans to marry her partner Kristin Russo, one of the creators of the ‘Everyone is Gay’ website.

Readers who require assistance can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or call the Suicide Callback service on 1300 659 467.

The post 15 Celebrity Closets That Opened in 2013 appeared first on OUTinPerth.

Midsummer (A Play With LOLs)

OUTinPerth — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 06:45:41 +0000

Ever woken up in the morning thinking “what the hell happened last night?”, after spending an evening drinking copious amounts of alcohol? Maybe then you rolled over and saw a lump of a human being taking up the empty space in your bed? Black Swan Theatre’s ‘Midsummer (A Play with Songs)’ follows the story of two strangers that met in a bar, got drunk and did the dirty.

The show begins with an enchanting introduction to the two characters Helena and Bob. Helena, played by Georgina Gayler is far, far gar out of Bob’s league (Brendan Hanson) but they sleep together nonetheless and blame it all on the drink. Staged cleverly the characters tell and act out the story simultaneously with effortless comedic timing that simply makes the whole experience entertaining and full of laughter. After their drunken one night stand the pair is reunited in unforeseen circumstances that involves a wedding, a Tesco bag full of $15,000 and their crazy Midsummer weekend continues. We’re told tales of Goth kids, Japanese bondage, accidental death and alcohol consumption that would never be considered healthy by any standards.

The props are minimal but with such an effective use of blocking and staging it’s easy to be absorbed into the story. Gayler also plays an exceptional in depicting several characters and when both actors break the fourth wall it’s hard not to entirely engage and be enthralled by the lovable main characters. While the singing is minimal and not that of a major musical production it’s fair to remember that Midsummer is not a musical but a play with songs.

The band was delightfully visible on stage adding to the charm of the craziness that was the play.
At times they joined in with the two actors creating a little extra depth to the simple design of the production. Expect to hear all the words that your Mum told you off for saying, sex on stage, hangovers complete with purging, bondage and a romantic kiss. Midsummer (A Play With Songs) makes no apologies for its content and you’ll probably find yourself ugly laughing (the kind you just can’t hold in) at what is a hilarious script and shrewdly put together show.

Ryan BoldisonImage: Gary Marsh

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Obama Mentions 'Gay Brothers and Sisters' In Speech

nadine — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:11:03 +0000

US President Barack Obama has made history once again in his inaugural speech that encouraged equality across the country, stating that ‘our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. If we are truly created equal then surely the love we commit to each other must be equal as well’.

Under rapturous applause, Obama also spoke of achieving equality amongst other oppressed groups:

‘It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began, our journey is not complete until our wives, mothers and daughters, can earn a living equal to our efforts.’

‘Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity’.

You can watch the full inaugural speech here.

The post Obama Mentions 'Gay Brothers and Sisters' In Speech appeared first on OUTinPerth.

The Year Ahead

nadine — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 03:21:30 +0000

Its 2013, it’s a year that features a number that some may consider unlucky, but let’s not start of the year with worry. It’s the first time since 1987 that the year features four different digits, while it’s been 26 years since that last happened, you’ll have to wait until 2020 until the year next features a double digit.

The United Nations have declared it International Year of Quinoa, so I throw out the challenge for you to come up with any many uses for the South American grain as possible. Don’t just limit yourself to salads, think big.

It’s also International Year of Water Cooperation. Having lived a significant part of my life on the high seas I was fairly convinced that you couldn’t get water to cooperate – better to just go with the flow, but upon further reading I’ve discovered the UN declaration is actually more about nations cooperating to bring water to people who desperately need it, which is indeed a worthy endeavour.

In Western Australia it’s probably fair to call it the year of the election, with both state and federal polls guaranteed to occur this year. You’d be blind to not have noticed the proliferation of candidate’s posters and billboards springing up all over the city. It’s also obvious that one political party has a lot more money to spend on the election than the others.

The press releases about politicians opening envelopes, cutting ribbons and meeting every community group under the sun are also coming thick and fast – but much less information about policies and what people actually stand for. Looking back at the vaudevillian performances of both our state and federal politicians over the last few years it’s not surprising that we may have given up on politics to some degree.

If politics doesn’t grab you and you like to keep things superficial it’ll also be the year of the One Direction tour, Beyonce will be performing at the Super Bowl and Lady Gaga is set to release a new album. Here at OUTinPerth we promise to treat all of the above with equal attention in the year ahead, except maybe the quinoa.

Graeme Watson
editor@outinperth.com