Let it all hang out!

As the great Morrissey once sang:

“Shyness is nice / but shyness can stop you / from doing all the things in life you’d like to.”

How shy are you? See where you fall on the following scale:

— PATHOLOGICALLY SHY

Latin pop singer Ricky Martin, telling a gossip magazine “his heart could belong to a male or female.” Oh Ricky. We still love you after all these coy, sexually-ambiguous years but seriously — this is either the most protracted coming-out or the longest cock-tease in all of history. Enough already!

— VERY SHY

In a sad case of “pot, kettle,” Barack Obama‘s timid support for the gay community has him getting schooled by the creator of “Will & Grace!” Obama is so empty right now that, during a discussion of his policies on CNN, my mind kept wandering to thoughts of Dustin Lance Black getting barebacked by Anderson Cooper on the desk (is it just me?):

— RATHER COY

An online ad for thongs that lets you “undress” the model. When will these underwear companies just drop the pretense and start making porn?

— UNDERSTATED

Cher, responding to questions about her daughter’s decision to transition and become a man: “Although I may not understand, I will strive to be understanding. The
one thing that will never change is my abiding love for my child.” That’s so lovely, I cried on behalf of Cher, since she no longer has tear ducts.

— ASSERTIVE

Me, reminding you of the fundraising party for the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation at the Beaver tonight. Shameless, perhaps, but for a good cause! Besides, it’s not as though I made a plug for my own fundraising efforts yet again, right?

 

— QUITE CHEEKY

Canada’s own Ryan Reynolds — the only man I’d leave Paul Rudd for — isn’t just frequently naked (though we’d love him just for that), he’s also willing to be very silly, as in his ‘Entertainment Weekly’ cover shoot:

— BOLD!

It’s one thing to do a nude scene in a movie but how about on the subway? While I’m not convinced the “half-outfit” truly is “sweeping through Asia,” it’s still fun to imagine zany pranksters going out like this:

— UTTERLY SHAMELESS

Roland Emmerich, gay director of disaster epics “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow,” finally throws any last shred of sanity or artistic integrity out the window with his end-of-the-world opus “2012.” This guy’s movies are crap but we just keep lining up because dammit, no one does ludicrous spectacle better than this:

So remember, “fortune favours the bold” and have a great weekend!

A former editor of the late, lamented fab magazine, Scott has been writing for Xtra since 2007 on a variety of topics in news pieces, interviews, blogs, reviews and humour pieces. He lives on the Danforth with his boyfriend of 12 years, a manic Jack Russell Terrier, a well-stocked mini-bar and a shelf of toy Daleks.

Keep Reading

Trans issues didn’t doom the Democrats

OPINION: The Republicans won ending on a giant anti-trans note, but Democrats ultimately failed to communicate on class

Xtra Explains: Trans girls and sports

Debunking some of the biggest myths around trans girls and fairness in sports

How ‘mature minor’ laws let trans kids make their own decisions

Canadian law lets some youth make medical or legal decisions for themselves, but how does it work?

To combat transphobia, we need to engage with the people who spread it

OPINION: opening up a dialogue with those we disagree with is key if we want to achieve widespread social change