October 31

With a side of pecs:

In praise of autumn:

From Mark... to Justin... to Brent... to Michael

This is just weird. A regular blog reader, Mark, sent an e-mail to inform me that a guy whose picture had been on this blog was in a movie (not porn) that was going to be released next month. I was intrigued, but there are so many thousands of photos here that I couldn’t narrow it down. Mark wrote back that the name of the flick was The Geography Club. With the assist of Google, I was able to find the cast listing, and it became apparent that the guy Mark mentioned was named Justin Deeley, an underwear model who is now pursuing an acting career in movies. Evidence of former occupation below:

 
Turns out The Geography Club, filmed last summer, is a gay-themed movie that had been a best-selling book (Harper Collins, 2003, now in e-reader formats) and a play (2008), all with the same title. The film version opens in limited release in the USA on November 15, 2013. The plot is about closeted gay/bisexual high school students who form a club with a name so boring that no one will want to join, leaving them with a safe place at school to meet and share details of their lives without the other students being in on it. Complications ensue.

OK so far. The author of this book/play/movie is Brent Hartinger, and somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind a very dim light bulb went off. Once again, Google, which now serves as the entirety of my memory, helped remind me that Mr. Hartinger was the founder of Oasis, a support group for young gay people in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. Admirable stuff. Brent now lives near Seattle with his partner since 1992, Michael Jensen, also a writer (gay westerns – no lie). Brent and Michael were co-founders of the entertainment web site AfterElton.com. Photo below: Brent (author, on left) with Justin Deeley (actor in The Geography Club).

But back to the movie. The producer is Michael Huffington, who was once married to Greek-born Arianna Huffington, of Huffington Post fame. After their divorce in 1997, Michael disclosed that he was bisexual and funded and started up numerous programs, fellowships and organizations that addressed LGBT concerns. He became an LGBT activist, giving speeches (and money) to like-minded entities. Somewhere along the way he became associated with Log Cabin Republicans (!) and even won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served one term as a Republican from California. By just 1.9 percent of the vote he lost his subsequent bid for the U.S. Senate when Californians elected Dianne Feinstein. In the 2003 California recall election, Michael endorsed Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. His ex-wife, Arianna Huffington, was an opposing candidate (!). I’m not making this up, although she did withdraw before the election, even though her name remained on the ballot. Photo below: Michael Huffington

In 2013, Michael Huffington was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case. I have a feeling we’ve not heard the last from Mr. Huffington. At the very least his life story should become a television mini-series.

 


P.S.: Special thanks to Mark, a regular and alert reader of MaleTanLines.blogspot.com.