IN HER FEELINGS ::  Toronto’s Sanjina DaBish Queen left the competition on Canada’s Drag Race last week and we sat down with the eliminated queen the morning after.

Sanjina shared more about her relationship with her mother, and whether she had seen the show; if she was happy with her edit; getting emotional a lot during the competition, and details on the one-woman show she is creating.

Related: See our chat with the other eliminated queens here.

Watch:

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SHOCK EXIT :: Last week we saw Newfoundland’s Tara Nova get the chop on Canada’s Drag Race. This week we go to the other side of the country, as Vancouver’s Tiffany Ann Co sashayed away.

Tiffany shared whether all her confidence was real; feeling imposter syndrome; the shock she felt at being eliminated – and whether or not the actual Tiffany & Co. have ever called her out for appropriating their brand the way other queens in the US have been.

Related: See our chat with Tara Nova here.

Watch:

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GONE TOO SOON :: I was really rooting for Tara Nova to stay, as I told her when we chatted the day after her elimination from Canada’s Drag Race. She led with her heart, was authentic, and I wanted to see more of what she could do. Even in this conversation you can see how elevated she is from what we got to view on TV. I think she would have evolved beautifully before our very eyes.

In this interview, Tara shared what it’s like being queer and a drag queen in Newfoundland (and what she meant when she said it’s so hard to create looks there) and if she’s still being paid just $37.50 a gig – now that she’s been on TV.

Watch:

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AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON :: “I’m a trans feminine queer person in the US. Where one party’s whole election campaign has been about the extermination of me and my community… The successes I’ve experienced … I did not think possible. Now these things are happening, and it’s this weird dichotomy of being the talk of Broadway but to walk down the street after a show and feel like I could get murdered. It’s scary to walk to your show where you know you’re the star, and be like, ‘I am not safe on this ten block walk because there are people who are emboldened by this political party who are encouraging them to take all of their aggressions out on me and my community.’ I can’t believe the hype about me right now, because it’s dangerous for me to walk down the street confidently because I might attract the attention of the wrong person.” – Jinkx Monsoon

So began our pre-US election conversation with drag superstars Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme as they readied themselves to hit the road, touring their riotous annual holiday show, “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show” (click here for cities and dates.) Jinkx was referring of course to the insane trajectory her career has had post winning both her RuPaul’s Drag Race seasons: A villain on Dr. Who; breaking box-office records during her time in Chicago; starring in Little Shop of Horrors; slated to appear in concert this coming Valentine’s Day at Carnagie Hall … all juxtaposed against the reality of living life as a trans person.

The conversation wasn’t all bleak, however, the pair talked about why they are boldly taking their tour to notoriously red states (“we go where we’re needed”) and how working together has made them better all round, as well as what to expect in this year’s iteration of their universally loved holiday spectacle. Watch now:

Image credit: Jacob Ritts

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Sasha Colby is feeling her power, coming up on one year since the trans star took the latest RuPaul’s Drag Race crown, “the embodiment of what they are trying to eradicate,” as she told press after her win. I’m still so happy for her, all these months in, so stopped everything while on a recent vacation to sit down with her and find out what her life has been like since stealing the show (in more ways than one: remember that hysterical head crack?) The head crack makes it into the new music video for her single, “Feel The Power,” a catchy, upbeat, anthemic track (see below) in which she is surely wearing extensions from her new line, where proceeds go to help the Maui wildfire victims. There’s also a 22-city tour coming to a venue near you, and it turns out we have something in common: vibing with the Law of Attraction; Colby shares how she gets into alignment in our chat. She also drops a truth bomb for the ages that I just love: “We are all transitioning.” Watch below.

This interview is brought to you by Gay Speed Dating, happening in Toronto February 28th at 7:30 pm ET at The Well, 487 Church St. Hosted by yours truly. If you’re single, 30+, and looking to make a connection with other likeminded men, register now – men are already signing up – it’s only $40 and you even get some appetizers for God’s sake!

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SHE’S YOUR VENUS :: Thursday night saw Denim and Nearah Nuff reach the end of their journeys on Canada’s Drag Race, leaving Aurora Matrix and Venus to battle off, each performing guest-judge Nelly Furtado‘s hit, ‘Try.’ Venus, looking old Hollywood stunning, heard Brooke Lynn Heights say her name – and has been on a high ever since. Jetting off to London immediately after to attend DragCon, Venus spent the weekend being celebrated by fans and other queens from around the world alike. She escaped from the mayhem this morning to sit down with us and spill the tea as only a newly crowned queen can. Watch our chat below.

Related :: All season long we’ve sat down with the eliminated queens the morning after they left the mainstage for final time, and you can click and watch conversations with Top 4 queens Denim, Nearah Nuff, Aurora Matrix, and Venus, plus Melinda Verga, Kiki Coe, Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar also spill the tea.

Our interview with the winner of Canada’s Drag Race is brought to you by I-AM.health.

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THE FOUR TOPS :: Canada’s Drag Race Season 4 served drama, emotion, gag-worthy looks, unforgettable lip syncs and entertainting judges (more comfortable in the skin of their roles than ever before) making S4 arguably the best season of the Canadian version of the Drag Race franchise yet.

All season long we’ve sat down with the eliminated queens the morning after they left the mainstage for final time, and you can click and watch Melinda Verga, Kiki Coe, Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar spill the tea.

This week, we met with the final four: Venus, Denim, Aurora Matrix, and Nearah Nuff. Venus told more about her eating disorder in an emotional share; Aurora talked further about the backstory with her parents and the letter they sent her; Denim revealed more about her transition journey, and Nearah told us where her confidence comes from (and told us more about that sexy husband of hers.) All of them were candid about their time on Canada’s Drag Race, what it was like, how they coped in such a challenging, unnatural environment, and how it grew them. Watch them all below.

Our interviews with the queens of Canada’s Drag Race have been brought to you by 
I-AM.health.

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MELINDA MELTDOWN :: This week’s Canada’s Drag Race saw the elimination of the queen who gave us such good Drag Race drama: Melinda “I Quit!” Verga. We spoke to Verga the morning after her TV elimination, who talked all about her infamous, iconic hissy fit; starting her drag career late (at 37); what the queer scene in Edmonton is like; what she learned about herself from doing Canada’s Drag Race, and what she meant when she exited, saying Drag Race had taught her to find happiness even in the toughest moments. See our conversation, below.

Watch this space Tuesday, when we bring you our conversations with the Top Four, then on Friday when we sit down with the winner of Canada’s Drag Race Season 4.

Related: We talk to Kiki Coe, Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar.

This Eliminated Queens interview is brought to you by I-AM.health. Find out your HIV status if you don’t know already, it’s the only way to access the support and care you need.

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LET’S HAVE A KIKI :: Thursday night’s Canada’s Drag Race saw the elimination of Kiki Coe, who had been in the bottom more than once already – with no Golden Beaver to save her this time. The look queen, who served elaborate and unforgettable costumes, was joyful and gracious as she said her goodbyes, but would tell it like it is if she were ever invited back for an All-Stars series, she told us when we sat down with her the next morning. She also shared more on her sex life with her husband that didn’t make the final cut (blame it on the edit) and which was harder: the Canada’s Drag Race Werk Room, or the kitchen, from when she appeared on Chopped Canada.

Related: We talk to Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar.

This Eliminated Queens interview is brought to you by I-AM.health. Find out your HIV status if you don’t know already, it’s the only way to access the support and care you need.

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Double Elimination :: Thursday night saw the elimination of two queens on Canada’s Drag Race. Leaving the mainstage were Kitten Kaboodle and Aimee Yonce Shennel. We sat down with each queen bright and early Friday morning to spill the Drag Race tea.

Aimee shared what is was like to be the show’s truth-teller; her experience coming out in Dominican Republic; and how she’s getting along with the other queens now that Canada’s Drag Race is airing, warts and all. Oh, and the time she went to jail for hugging her boyfriend.

Related: We talk to Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar.

Meanwhile, Kitten shared what it was like having a generation gap between her and the other queens; how it’s never too late to do something that scares you; and why the recent ongoing attacks against drag queens and the queer community has a positive component to it. Watch both interviews below.

This Eliminated Queens interview is brought to you by I-AM.health. Check them out, it’s really good work they’re doing.

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Luna DuBois :: This queen is an Aries, which explains why she was so fiery when fellow contestant Melinda Varga had her f-bomb laden meltdown and wanted out of Canada’s Drag Race – only to get saved by the Golden Beaver. A rescued Varga THEN had the raw nerve to go on to win Thursday, while DuBois, meanwhile, found herself eliminated.

We sat down with the queen early this morning and found out why this tomfoolery was a bitter pill to swallow, and learned about her work helping BIPOC performers be treated fairly, plus: how she – clearly – has the best ass-et of the season.

Related: We talk to The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar.

This Eliminated Queen interview is brought to you by I-AM.health. Check them out, its really good work they’re doing.

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THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE :: She reminded her fellow queens – and those of us watching – that she was the prettiest of them all as she left the mainstage Thursday night on Canada’s Drag Race. The Girlfriend Experience lasted three episodes, and is the second queen to leave (no Golden Beaver for her this time) following SiSi Superstar‘s exit last week (watch our interview with Sisi.)

We sat down with the thought-provoking and compelling queen after her elimination, and talked about how and why she was on edge during shooting; what she meant when she said she and her drag persona were the same thing; what she thinks of people who object to trans and cis women participating in drag races – how she documented her transition so to help others, plus the social media site that continues to make her life a pain in the ass.

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SISI SUPERSTAR :: She promised to show up in our nightmares – okay! – as she left the Main Stage; Sisi Superstar was the first queen eliminated from Season 4 of Canada’s Drag Race on Thursday. We sat down after elimination with the DJ, songwriter, pro event planner, community organizer and co-creator of Montréal’s biggest alternative queer event, Unikorn Parties, to chat about what she’d do differently on Drag Race if she could; why she didn’t wear heels (or shoes at all!) on the Main Stage; and how the game is different after so many versions of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise having now aired.

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Image: Santiago Felipe

Beloved RuPaul’s Drag Race superstars Jinkx Monsoon and Ben DeLaCreme are now drag icons in their own right. Underdog Monsoon won her season, and was then crowned Queen of all Queens when she next appeared in an All Stars spin-off. DeLaCreme earned a spot among the show’s “15 Fan Favourites Of All Time.”

Since their TV triumphs, DeLaCreme has gone on to write, produce, and direct multiple sold-out international tours, including critically acclaimed, award-winning solo work. She’s also been a frequent commentator on the hate currently being flung at the queer community and the anti-queer legislation sweeping the US, appearing on The Daily Show, MSNBC, NPR and writing for publications like Out Magazine.

Meanwhile, Monsoon has been no slouch either (understatement of the year.) Her extended 10-week run as Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago on Broadway broke box office records, achieving the highest selling non-holiday week in the show’s 26-year history, and she’s set to join the cast of the new season of Doctor Who on the BBC as a major villain.

As if they weren’t busy enough, the two superstars are uniting for the holidays with their new show, The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show 2023, currently touring the UK and North America. The queens hit Toronto Tuesday November 21st, Montreal on the 23rd and 24th, Hamilton November 25th, and Vancouver December 30th. Win tickets! See Contest Alert after the video!

On a day off touring the UK this week, Jinkx and DeLa hopped on a Zoom with me. We spoke about the success of their holiday show, the rise in hate against drag queens and the LGBTQ+ community, and what RuPaul’s Drag Race looks like to them now, from their new vantage point of having achieved so much success on their own since appearing on the TV phenomenon.

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Turns out Lauralee Bell doesn’t remember being gunned down by Mary Jo Benson either. But she does remember not using her surname when she was cast on her father’s show, never complaining, and always knowing her lines, lest she reap nepo-baby wrath from others. She also recalls telling the actor playing Cricket’s rapist to seriously manhandle her the way a rapist might, to make it as real as possible, and incurring the bruises the next day – so much so that makeup didn’t need to be put on her.

All part of a trip down memory lane I got to take with Bell, as she did a huge press tour last week to celebrate four decades of playing Little Miss Perfect on the global soap phenomenon. Here’s our chat:

(Featured Image: CBS)

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The above is the original opening scene for a television show that has gone on to last 50 years: The Young & The Restless debuted on March 26, 1973, and has since gone on to not just last 5 decades, but become a phenomenon seen around the world, capturing  the hearts and minds of viewers for an incredible half-century.

Besides being aired in the US – where it has been the #1 daytime show for over three decades; 4 million people tune in each day, more than half of them under age 35 – in France it’s called Les faux de l’amoure, and Y&R is also seen in the UK, Belize, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Italy, and of course, here in Canada, where it is one of the country’s most watched shows. Black communities, queer communities, the women’s demographic all especially love the show; straight guys even watch, though many will deny if pressed.

For five decades, The Young and The Restless has enthralled audiences around the globe with its unforgettable characters, gripping storylines, and a commitment to exploring the complexities of human nature. It has not only set the standard for daytime drama but has also broken barriers, tackled social issues, and left an indelible mark on popular culture.

Many boldface names got their jumpstart on Y&R: Paul Walker, Eva Longoria, Tom Selleck, and David Hasselhoff among them. Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Enrique Iglesias, Little Richard, Wayne Gretzky, and Ill Divo are some of the well-known celebs who have made appearances on the beloved show.

I’ve been watching Y&R for over 30 years. In 2008 I had the thrill of being invited for a set visit at CBS in Hollywood, where I sat on the Abbott couch with Peter (Jack Abbott) Bergman, who told me how much he loved Toronto, Yorkville, and Joni Mitchell. I also interviewed the legendary late Jeanne (Katherine Chancellor) Cooper between takes of a scene we got to watch; her long red talon running up and down my thigh the whole time (kind of creepy?) Eric (Victor Newman) Braeden passed me on the set with a fistful of donuts, walking slowly and stiffly (read my interview with him here) ahead of taping a big scene that no one was allowed to watch; we were all ushered off. That was a fine day.

Y&R‘s characters, especially the legacy ones like the Newmans and the Abbotts, feel like part of my life. I started watching these people on a whim the day Patty overheard Jack saying he was getting a vasectomy – even though they were trying for a baby – and pow! Patty, in a fury, shot Jack and he was left paralyzed. But the denizens of Genoa City, including Jack, didn’t know who did it.

Somebody shot poor ol’ Jack / Once in the chest and twice in the back /
Two bullets came out but one stayed in / and now all Jack can move is his chiny-chin-chin. 

In those early years of watching Y&R I was in high school, and I would hurry down my half mile country driveway to make sure I was home in time to make some toast and sit in front of the TV (and beat my brothers in so they didn’t turn the TV on first.)

Back then, Y&R was more than just a soap opera, it was an escape for me for one hour, from the bullies at school and until my Dad, an unpredictable alcoholic, came home. As a teenager I was immediately hooked on the teen storylines Y&R cleverly included to attract new generations – anyone remember Traci Abbott dumping that ice cream sundae on mean girl Lauren Fenmore’s head? Anyone remember when her crazy stalker Shawn tried to bury Lauren alive? I lied and said I was sick so I could stay home the day the storyline climaxed, to be sure I wouldn’t miss a minute, and to find out if Paul got stopped whack-job Shawn on time (he did, thank God.)

Recently, I sat down with several of Y&R‘s stars for GGN and my SiriusXM talk show – including Tracey Bregman who has played Lauren all these years – to go down memory lane, talk about what’s made Y&R last so long (there used to be 12 soaps on the air; now there are 4) and to celebrate 50 years of a show beloved by millions around the world. Enjoy!

• – Shaun Proulx

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Her name is Jax, and while she was in Toronto playing the The Dreamer Day Fest earlier this week, I got a chance to sit down and talk with her about the kinds of body image issues she’s faced – ones many queer people also understand all too well. (Show me another photoshopped, oiled-up, gym bod and tell me that’s the ideal gay man and I’ll throw something.)

Here’s my conversation with her. Dog alert: my new pup Léo does make an appearance:

Have a blessed day!

• Shaun Proulx
• GGN

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GGN POP CULTURE :: Simon Napier-Bell was the later singer/songwriter George Michael’s long-time music manager, beginning as far back as the WHAM! days in the 1980’s. Now, Napier-Bell has directed an elegant loveletter of a documentary to the star: George Michael: Portrait of an Artist (available on Amazon Prime, iTunes and Google Play.)

In this definitive look at the global megastar’s career and personal life, fans go behind the scenes of both the public and the private George Micahel, with revealing interviews with people ranging from Stevie Wonder to Rufus Wainwright, as well as George Michael’s ex-partner, Kenny Goss.

From his rise as a star with WHAM! to going solo; from the contract disputes to George Michael’s love/hate relationship with fame; from his often publicly displayed sex life to his tragic passing on Christmas Day 2016, George Michael: Portrait of an Artist is a must-see for those who loved him.

I recently sat down on Zoom with Napier-Bell to chat about

• Michael’s brave bold handling of his sexcapades

• his eye-popping generosity

• his romantic relationships

• a career and talent that won’t soon be matched, and much more, seen through the eyes of one man who worked incredibly closely to the late artist.

Scroll up to watch.

• Shaun Proulx, Publisher, GGN

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As the new season of “Kardashians” arrives – their sweet sixteenth! – GGN Publisher Shaun Proulx talks all about the Kardashian kulture phenomenon with UK psychologist Dr. Beth Bell, who specializes in the role of media, social media and technology in the lives of young people and wrote, “How did the Kardashian Jenner family become so successful? A psychologist explains“.

Proulx is also joined by entertainment and political journalist, Seamus Kirst, author of a memoir about substance abuse called “Shitfaced“, with his first children’s book coming out in June of 2020. He has written about the influence of the Kardashians for Forbes magazine and interviewed one of the family members before.

Say what you want, the Kardashians are the most well known and talked about family around the world. Proulx asked Kirst and Bell how they would describe the Kardashians to someone who had never heard of them (presumably comatose these last many years).

Seamus Kirst describes the show as a portrait of an American / Hollywood success story; a family with no shame whose members are “so out there” for fame and have capitalized on the most extreme version of the American Dream.

Beth Bell called the family K the the epitome of the American Dream. She adds that it’s hard to imagine a world where we don’t know the Kardashians. They embody much of our cultural aspirations, namely appearance, wealth, being self-made, family, and so on. 

During the interview, Proulx and his guests cover a number of topics to explain why the Kardashians are the phenomenon that they still are today, including, 

• The role of social media and how well the family has used it to their advantage to let people into their world;
• The aspiration and inspiration the family provides to their viewers;
• Are role models like the Kardashians actually helpful to young people;
• How the family plays into and profits from insecurities around fashion, beauty, and body image, and;
• The “positives” of their lives as an escapist form of entertainment.

And that’s only what Proulx and his guests talk about in the first half of the show! If you’re a Kardashians die-hard fan, you don’t want to miss this episode of The Shaun Proulx Show Sirius XM Canada 167:

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GGN Flashback :: We celebrate the release of  Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of Queen and Freddie Mercury, in Canadian theatres November 2nd, with this re-release of a tribute piece published by GGN last year. 

Watch for an open-hearted performance from Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) – what he serves is is so buzz-worthy we bet he will garner an Oscar nod and possibly even win – for his Mercury. No one has ever met the challenge of playing the complicated musical genius formerly known as Farrokh Bulsara from Tanzania, East Africa  before – imagine how daunting. 

Malek’s intelligent performance hinges on Mercury’s humanity, as much as his flamboyance, which is impressive. A lesser actor might have propped their portrayal up with Mercury’s bigness, showing us a caricature instead of a man.

It’s worth seeing such a queer icon immortalized at last in a bio pic, even though the script is thin. We don’t see Mercury’s very busy sex life at all, and his acquiring of HIV/AIDS is downplayed, except as catalyst to drive the story to it’s inevitable conclusion. Then again, packing the life of a band like Queen and its lead singer into 90-odd minutes is impossible, no matter who tries.

Oh and warning: Mercury’s teeth in the film are so awful we had to look away sometimes to give our eyes a rest. Holy chompers. Mind you, the theatre was packed and we sat in the second row. 

“More space in the mouth, more range,” as Mercury states early on in the film, to dental detractors. The superstar had a comeback for everything, we learn.  We’re glad he’s come back, in spirit, in 20th Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Tickets: https://www.bohemianrhapsodytickets.com

Freddie Mercury was one of the most famous and flamboyant men in rock and roll history.

A man with one of the most powerful singing voices the world has ever heard; a man loved by heterosexual hooligans, glam boys, and everyday people. Freddie Mercury broke the rules. He took the rigid concepts of gender and not only bent them, but transcended them.

Gender Roles

Between the socially accepted extremes of sexuality and gender lies a vast spectrum of anything and everything else. These differences were initially observed by Dr. Alfred Kinsey in the U.S., who devised the Kinsey Scale in 1948 “in order to account for research findings that showed people did not fit into neat and exclusive heterosexual or homosexual categories.”

Kinsey, in his own way, opened the door of social acceptance to the LGBT community proving that human sexuality does not fit into any prescribed gender roles; that most of us fit into the spectrum that is indeed fluid from moment-to-moment. There is much freedom in being authentic and molding one’s own gender.

Glam

Gender-bending was part of the fun of  the Glam Rock movement that took the UK by storm in the early 1970s, lead by the super sexy and super androgynous Marc Bolen of T. Rex. David Bowie, Gary Glitter, Alice Cooper, and Sweet among others, followed in shocking suit with boys in make-up and long hair, wearing outrageous glitzy costumes and platform boots. While Bolen was a huge Glam influence, the man who fronted Queen took Glam, performance, and popular music to new heights previously unseen.

Of Glam, Freddie Mercury said in 1973, “We’re confident people will take to us, because although the camp image has already been established by people like Bowie and Bolan, we are taking it to another level. The concept of Queen is to be regal and majestic. Glamour is part of us and we want to be dandy. We want to shock and be outrageous instantly.”

The newfound sexual freedom of the time had many people exploring what had been previously considered taboo. Freddie Mercury was no exception – he began his sexual expression with bi-sexual experimentation before fully embracing his homosexuality. “I’m as gay as a daffodil, my dear!” he once said.

The Mercury Image

Freddie was born Farrokh Bulsara, to Persian parents in Zanzibar, attended an English boarding school near Bombay, and settled in the UK in 1964. He was a part of a post-psychedelic 60s movement that spotlighted sexual and gender experimentation and changed rock music forever. Glam inspired the New Romantics of the early 80s and the androgynous metal hair bands of the mid-80s, all the way up to modern acts like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Adam Lambert.

Freddie sang with an amazingly powerful voice with an astonishing range, wrote classic generational anthems, and rocked and inspired millions of people. He predicted his legendary status and thought of himself as a “musical prostitute”. He was a star, he knew it, and he worked it: “I do deliver sex appeal. It’s part of modern rock. I sell sex appeal with my body movements on stage.”

His costumes, part of his onstage persona, were specially designed for him by Zandra Rhodes and later by Diana Moseley – from tight sequined or harlequin jumpsuits to macho leather jackets, and from dreamy floating caftans to regal ermine-trimmed capes, Freddie said, “I dress to kill, but tastefully.”

The Mercury Legacy

Freddie Mercury moved many of us for all sorts of reasons. GGN asked some staffers and friends what Freddie meant to them:

Freddie was a man comfortable in his own skin and that comfort continues to inspire other men to seek and hold their own confidence in their dress and their attitude. I love Madonna but he was the original “Express Yourself”.   – Shaun Proulx, Shaun Proulx Media

I think my impression of him now is mostly fantasy. He is wilder, crazier and gayer in my mind’s eye than he could possibly have been in real life. There are some lyrics or bits of live performance that steal you away from the purity of my original listens to the records, but if I go back to my young mind where gay and straight didn’t exist, I can hear Queen the way I like to hear them: without subtext, back story or bias – lovely.”  – Mark Wigmore, producer, JazzFM

Freddie Mercury was to my mind one of the gay world’s pioneers. He broke the hard ground of suspicion and intolerance and won acclaim and respect. I am saddened and frustrated by the fact he, and others like him, can’t see today what good he has done in winning us more acceptance. Ironically, I suppose, his loss has been our gain. – Barry

He was the showstopper, no question. He was easily one of the greatest performers ever. Performing was his gift–along with that superb voice! And truthfully, we all knew he was a gender-bender; that is one reason why I became more and more open to lifestyles like his. It made me realize connecting with both sides of our sexuality can produce great talent–the fruits of which will remain unforgettable. – Tim

– GGN 

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