I'm such a Phyllistine

Saturday was the GLAAD Media Awards in L.A. It's been four days, but keep in mind I had to travel and work in-between!

I like GLAAD. I support the work it does. I think all of the awareness it raises is invaluable, let alone the training it offers to newly-minted gay heroes and heroines and the hell it gives people and organizations who insist on defaming the LGBT community. There's nothing wrong with throwing a party to have fun and raise money and garner attention, even if the awards being handed out are certainly up for debate. I love Bill Clinton, but I'm not sure he truly deserves an award for his leadership on gay issues. I've never doubted he is pro-gay, but I'm not sure he's actually led with his gut. Not saying he should be tarred and feathered—he's done lots of good—but I am on the fence as to whether GLAAD should be awarding him anything.

Simon Halls, Matt Bomer, Rumer Willis & Jayson Blair: Power quadruple

All that said, the event was held at the J.W. Marriott, which sounds like someone who would be starring in Kansas City Trucking Co. (1976) or some other pre-condom (as opposed to bareback) classique. The carpet was wide open and there really weren't that many media types on my side of it. Considering the scores of stars I snagged last year in L.A., I thought this was a good omen.

I was next to Autostraddle (I always am; they're cool) and the adorbs (the word suits him) Matthew Rodrigues, an on-camera host for Pop Sugar. I said, "I'm Matthew." He said, "I'm Matthew." I said, "I was Matthew first." He agreed a little too quickly, which instantly gave rise to a boner of contention; I had a hard-on for teasing him about it.

Chaz gave one interview on our end of the carpet—to Ms. Damiana Garcia

No matter; it wasn't even a real faux pas as I am clearly old enough to be his dad, which he denied, guessing me at 34. His straight camera guy went lower. At this point I was selling all my shares in Botox since I've never touched the stuff.

In the tub with DJ Chipmint...

City Council Speaker announces bid for NYC mayor; would be first woman, first LGBT mayor

SHE LAUGHED, SHE CRIED: Christine Quinn is in. (But no mention of her wife???)

Oh, and by the way...so is Ashley Judd. (Probably.)

I don't know if he's blank-loathing, but I sure hate his guts.

Vince Sant's washboard abs.

TMZ to January Jones: "People think you're a homewrecker."

SNL hosts/alums welcome Timberlake to "Five-Timer's Club."

Rivers on lesbian kiss: "I'll do just about anything for ratings."

The contrived nature of the "selfie."

Homophobic "Harlem Shake" video from Jamaica.

DANCING IN THE SHEETS: In bed with Bowie & Jaggie.

Interview with I Want Your Love and Interior: Leather Bar director Travis Mathews.

An actor appears to contemplate documenting Val Lauren's Interior.

The first episode of The View happened before I owned a cellphone

Joy Behar quits The View after 16 years.

FBI "monitoring" Marco McMillian murder.

Ten-year-old eco-blogger interviews Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls.

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW:  Justin Bieber: "Only God can judge me."

Synergy does not pay the fucking rent.

Lindsay Lohan saying "no, no, no" to rehab.

"[Madonna] never had to...tell me that it was OK that I was 'born this way.'"

Desperately seeking Denise Van Outen. 

Win a trip to the GLAAD Awards.

Anal sex scene in Beyond the Candelabra done in one...take.

"Every Sunday night, this girl wo uld come to my house and I would stand in my garage and I would hike my boxer briefs up into the crack of my ass and she would give me a spray tan."—Matt Damon, on playing Scott Thorson

He became, he saw, he conquered

As a kid, I discovered a '60s and '70s book series called Whatever Became Of...? by Richard Lamparski. If you've never read them, they each contain about 100 interviews with celebrities of yesteryear, meaning 20 to 50 years prior to their publication. As such, they work as introductions (if you've never heard of Virginia Field or Randolph Scott), reminiscences (if you have) and also, I would argue, as a treatise on the gay man as pop cultural voyeur.

The books sprang from a radio show, and created for Lamparski a long, illustrious career as a connoisseur of has-beens—all of whom could be proud not to have been never-weres.

Lamparski's were seminal books in my life, and influential to the point that I recently found myself asking, "Whatever became of...Richard Lamparski?"

After some Internet sleuthing, I found he was alive and living in Santa Barbara, where I was able to call him for a fascinating if  lengthy (you were warned!) chat the day before his eightieth birthday about his early life, his unforgettable books and his adventures as a fame tourist...

King of all he surveys

Against a tough, hungry field of boards-treading beefcake, Mamma Mia's Andrew Chappelle recently claimed the title of Mr. Broadway at The 6th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant. As usual, good looks and a body unlike yours (well, at least unlike mine) were prerequisites, but the show also tends to reward over-the-top talent, as in the case of Chappelle's hysterical stand-up routine about the ups and downs o high heels.

I pounced on Andrew in his moment of happiness in order to bring you this peek at the man behind the crown...

Sal, Lauren

It's okay if you haven't heard of actor Val Lauren just yet—plenty of people won't have even heard of Sal Mineo, the actor he's about to play, until they hear that James Franco is producing, directing and co-writing a movie about the late Rebel Without a Cause star.

Based on Michael Gregg Michaud's superb bio, the film Sal will tell the life story of the Bronx-born Mineo, whose naive family helped usher him to Hollywood fame as a teenager, but whose real passion was always the art of acting and directing.

Mineo was also unabashedly gay at a time when most other Hollywood stars were firmly entrenched in the closet, both personally and professionally, so his story includes a long, romantic, same-sex relationship as well as enough sexual kinks to fill a couple of Almodovar movies.

In his first interview since landing the juicy role, Lauren opens up about how he got it, his impressions of his new boss, where his head is at as he prepares to portray Mineo and why a straight married dude relates to a guy who bedded Bobby Sherman before any teenyboppers had even seen his first pinup.

Boy Culture: Had you ever heard of Sal Mineo prior to the part coming up, and what impressions did you have of him?

Meeting Michaud (left) and Burr (right) in Los Angeles

In February, following an interview I did with Michael Gregg Michaud, the author of Sal Mineo: A Biography, I was pleased when he introduced me to Mineo's partner, Courtney Burr. Burr had been with the actor for years at the time of his tragic stabbing death and had provided Michaud with many invaluable insights into Mineo's personality because he "just wanted the story of what happened in our lives to be truthful and to reflect even the things some people might find strange."

I met with Burr, once looked down on as Mineo's "twinkie" and now a respected acting teacher in his sixties, and Michaud at the Universal Hilton in Los Angeles on brisk day, but was immediately warmed by Burr's gift of gab. His story holds interest not only as a peek into the private life of Mineo, but as a candid look at how two men fell in love and made it work until it was taken away unexpectedly.

Continue reading to be regaled with Burr's memories of his lover's artistic vision, to find out if Mineo identified as gay, to get pissed off at how the Mineo family mistreated him after Mineo's murder, to get dish on the infamous Broadway version of Harold and Maude and to hear what it was like directing first Oscar winner Janet Gaynor...