Ah, celebrities! We just can’t get enough of ‘em. We adulate them, imitate them, fantasize about them, and sometimes, yes, even ridicule them.
And now that more and more celebrities are bravely coming out, we gay and bisexual men and our supporters have more celebrities to fixate on than ever before.
But you can’t obsess over celebrities forever. Eventually the time comes to move on to other things.
What’s that, you say? You think I’m talking about our own mundane lives?
Don’t be ridiculous! I’m talking about these celebrities’ boyfriends!
But while lesbians have Ellen and Portia and Melissa and Tammy, gay and bisexual men have never had an openly gay power-couple, where both members of the duo are bona fide celebrities (and no, Lance Bass and Reichen Lehmkuhl don’t count). For all the openly gay celebrities to date, their other halves have been non-celebrities, mostly unknown to the public at large.
So what it’s like to be the gay wind beneath someone else’s wings?
It’s complicated, Neil Patrick Harris recently told Out Magazine. “If we walk hand-in-hand down the red carpet together, then he’s known as being linked to me. But if I walk down the red carpet and he goes ahead of me, then it looks like we’re not proud of being with each other.”
No doubt these relationships are complicated.
Given that so many of these celebrities and their boyfriends are so attractive, let’s face it: they’re also kinda hot.
Anyway, AfterElton.com decided to take a closer look at the mostly-unheralded folks who carve out their own careers in the shadows of their more famous counterparts!
Mark Cornelsen (Boyfriend of T. R. Knight)
Much has been made of the age difference between Cornelsen, 19, and his celebrity boyfriend,T . R. Knight, 35. But by all accounts, the relationship has been great for them both.
The two men met in October of 2007 when Knight was hosting an award ceremony for the Matthew Shepard Foundation and Cornelsen was the 2007 Matthew Shepard Point Scholar. “I was surprised he was interested!” Knight has said.
But Cornelsen reportedly grew up early, leaving home at age 16 when his parents rejected him for being gay. He graduated high school a year early and worked multiple jobs to pay for college at San Francisco State University. The couple now live together in Los Angeles, but — despite being misquoted on a number of websites — say they have no plans to marry or adopt a child any time soon.
Ryan Barry (Boyfriend of Reichen Lehmkuhl)
Barry is the new, uh, face of Armani Exchange underwear. In addition to being a model, he has a background in dance and gymnastics. He’s also a personal trainer in Palm Springs and Laguna Beach, though the “gallery” of his website does not, oddly enough, include photos of his satisfied clients, but rather himself.
Ryan’s MySpace page includes his philosophy of life: “Everything happens for a reason; the universe unfolds exactly as it should. Keep living dreams, having fun, and making the most of every day. Our time on earth is short, so live it to the fullest! Don’t waste time; do what you love and be true to yourself. Take time to pray. Our journey is greater than the destination; we can go searching for something all our lives, but the experiences and relationships we make along the way ultimately reveal the treasure that was always within.”
David Burtka (Partner of Neil Patrick Harris)
These days, Burtka, 33, is rather well known for being the “better half” of Neil Patrick Harris, 35, but he’s actually a very accomplished stage actor in his own right whose credits include the New York premiere of Beautiful Thing (1999), Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby (2001), Gypsy (with Bernadette Peters, 2003), and The Opposite of Sex (2004). Burtka is also the father of twins from a prior same-sex relationship.
Harris and Burtka wear matching rings, despite the fact that they’re not yet married. “I’m a big proponent of monogamous relationships regardless of sexuality, and I’m proud of how the nation is steering toward that,” Harris told Out. As to whether he and Burtka will marry now that it’s legal in California, “I think if and when we do [get married], we’d probably announce it after the fact as opposed to making any big announcement.”
Jeremy Glazer (Partner of Chad Allen)
Jeremy Glazer and boyfriend Chad Allen don’t just share a life together; they also appeared on-screen together in the 2007 movie, Save Me. Also a professional actor, Glazer has done a great deal of commercial work and appeared in the movies Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) and Moonlight Serenade (2006) as well as landing small parts on TV including on Veronica Mars, ER and 7th Heaven.
A native of Long Island, Glazer attended the University of Delaware before heading to Hollywood where he worked as a production assistant before finally deciding to pursue acting.
He and Allen have been a couple for three years and Allen speaks glowingly of their relationship, but the two currently have no plans to get married.
Scott Gill (Partner of John Barrowman)
Opposites attract in the case of Torchwood star John Barrowman and Gill, his 46 year-old partner; Barrowman is famously outspoken and cheeky, but Gill, a British architect, is considerably more shy.
Gill and Barrowman, who have homes in London and Wales, have been a couple for fifteen years after having first met in 1993 when Barrowman performed in Rope. In an interview with Out Magazine, Gill said that when he saw Barrowman in the play, he thought, “That’s the guy I’d like to have a relationship with.” The play’s seven-minute nude scene involving Barrowman and two other male actors may have had something to do with Gill’s thinking.
In typical fashion, Barrowman says Gill has “a body like an Armani model” and, well, an impressive donkey-like attribute. The two were joined in a civil partnership in December of 2006 and gay fans were delighted during London Pride in 2007 when Barrowman pulled Gill on to the stage for a kiss.
David Furnish (Partner of Elton John)
Some gay celebrity boyfriends chafe at being so closely identified with a famous person, but Elton John’s partner has embraced the role, going so far as to direct a warts-and-all documentary, Tantrums and Tiaras (1997), about their life together. Given John’s reputation for extravagance and self-centeredness, Furnish, 45, probably had no other option. But he has since started to stake out a non-John-related name for himself, directing and producing other films and penning columns for Interview and GQ.
Interestingly, Furnish had brushes with fame even before partnering with Elton John, reportedly attending a Toronto high school with both Mike Meyers.
Brian Hargrove (Partner of David Hyde Pierce)
Frasier star David Hyde Pierce, 49, had been living with Hargrove, 52, for many years before he casually referred to him as his “partner” in a 2007 interview. A call from AfterElton.com to Pierce’s publicist confirmed that, no, he didn’t mean “business partner.” Later that year, Pierce won the Tony for his role in the Broadway musical Curtains and thanked “my partner, Brian, because it’s 24 years of listening to your damn notes — that’s why I’m up here tonight.”
There was probably truth to the sentiment. Hargrove is an accomplished television writer/director, having worked on Caroline in the City and Dave’s World and co-creating Titus.
Grant Shaffer (Partner of Alan Cumming)
Shaffer, an American graphic artist, married Cumming, the openly bisexual Scottish actor, in a civil ceremony near London in 2007 after dating two years. The couple now live in Manhattan and, according to Cumming, “would dearly like to adopt a child.”
Kenny Goss (Partner of George Michael)
It’s said about many boyfriends that “he has the patience of a saint.” But after Michael’s multiple arrests for drug possession and public sex, the words probably have probably never been more true of anyone than George Michael’s boyfriend, Kenny Goss.
The 50-year-old Texan native was actually wealthy before meeting Michael, one of the world’s richest celebrities, at the Beverly Hot Springs in 1996; a former gymnast and cheerleading coach, Goss made millions as a salesman of cheerleading equipment. Goss is now an art collector who runs the Goss-Michael Foundation, a Dallas gallery that showcases works by “established and emerging British artists.” The couple also have homes in London and Oxfordshire.
Brad Altman (husband of George Takei)
Fifty-four-year-old Brad Altman isn’t just Star Trek star George Takei’s partner; he’s also his full-time business manager. The two have been a couple for twenty-one years, but earlier this year they finally had a chance to make honest men of each other, getting married in California. Altman is an outspoken advocate of same-sex marriage rights, going so far as to make his and Takei’s wedding public in hopes of swaying the hearts and minds of California, which faces a November vote on an initiative that would curtail same-sex marriage rights.
Altman was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended California State University where he studied journalism. He tells AfterElton.com that his favorite hobby is attending the theater and as for being the husband of George, “I am the luckiest person in the world.”
Ben Thigpen/Pedro Andrade (Former Boyfriends of Lance Bass)
Lance Bass’ most recent ex-boyfriends include Thigpen, a 29 -year-old New York hairdresser, and Andrade, a 29-year-old Brazilian model. We don’t know much about them, but they tell us a lot about Bass: namely, being a former member of a once-famous boy-band is enough to get you a shockingly hot boyfriend even years after the fact.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PROVIDED BY AFTERELTON.COM
Gay marriage is a pretty hot topic in our country. And in San Francisco there is a Proposition 8 up for vote right now that would ban gay marriage. And, according to the local CBS affiliate, “Yes on 8!” — a campaign against gay marriage for those that are confused already — is being led by the Mormon church.
