Ellen’s Gardener and Nutella

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the “Ellen” show, not even once in my life. I wouldn’t even know where to look for it. However, you’d have to be chained to a tree at the top of a mountain in Nepal not to hear about it. You don’t even have to use her last name anymore. It’s just…ELLEN.

I’ve been following the dramatic saga of Ellen’s gardener since it started to gain exposure in gay presses with other fascinating stories like the ones with Nick Jonas, and here’s another Ellen’s gardener installment that kind of reminded me of Nutella. I do love Nutella and I have a jar (or two) in the house at all times.

Even though “Ellen” is usually on the side of all things that are good and right and PC, I think it’s adorable the way she’s objectifying a man this way without getting called out for it. It’s the same thing men in power have been doing to women since the beginning of time. 

We’ve had our eyes on Billy Reilich for some time now. He first came to our attention as Ellen DeGeneres’ frequently-shirtless gardener on her daytime show. She helped him land a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in the Magic Mike sequel. Of course, as a rite of passage these days, there were also leaked nude selfies. But lately we’ve noticed something very unusual about the mild-mannered young man. He’s slowly evolved into an incredible self-tanned, body-building hulk. Please don’t make him angry!

And when they say self-tanned they aren’t joking. Scroll to the bottom and you’ll see what I mean. That’s what reminded me of Nutella…his self-tan. Someone should tell him he doesn’t have to do that. 

You can check out the pics here.  For those of you who never heard of Nutella, you’re supposed to eat it, not wear it.

You might want to check out the comments with this one.

Mr. Gay World Turns In His Crown

In a move that hasn’t really shocked anyone and doesn’t have any huge significance in the world, Mr. Gay World is stepping down from his position and he’s turning in his crown. But he’s not offering much of an explanation.

He states he’s doing this for “personal changes.” Not personal reasons. Personal “changes.”

In a letter published on Mr. Gay World’s official blog yesterday, Bukart wrote: “When I entered the 2015 MR GAY WORLD™ competition in South Africa I thought that becoming MR GAY WORLD™ was the biggest challenge of my life.”

He continued, “Indeed it is very challenging and exciting winning the title, but what is
more challenging is living up to the expectations, responsibilities  and
duties that come along with it.”

You can read more about it here. The speculations in the comment section are what you would expect from the Internet.

Gay Purges At Colleges

There’s no sarcasm with this one. I never knew about this until now. According to this article, colleges used to do these gay purges, which means they would go after students they thought might be gay and ruin their lives and their futures. This is all pre-Stonewall, in the 1940’s.

It doesn’t surprise me this hasn’t been talked about before. When I was researching my short story about gay men on the Titanic I hardly found anything about gays during the Edwardian Era. This is why I don’t like to do gay historicals…so much is speculation. In fact, the word “gay” wasn’t even used widely until the 1970’s so when I use that word here it’s so people understand what I’m talking about…and to avoid terms I’d rather not use anymore.

In 1948, four University of Wisconsin students pleaded guilty to engaging in homosexual activities and were given one year’s probation and a warning from the judge that they had caused an “indelible mark” to be placed against them. Two years later, one of those students, “Keith Pritchett,” who was about to graduate at the time he was given probation, asked the university to grant his degree. The World War II veteran expected to be called back to active duty because of the Korean conflict and wanted the degree so he could be promoted. Despite positive recommendations from military officials, the university denied his request.

There are more examples here. If you’re interested in gay history, this one is an article you don’t want to miss.  There’s also a link to the main essay.