(Cue the frantic shaking of pom-poms.) Give me a “K”. Give me an “A”, “Y, “N”, and “E”. What's that spell? KAYNE. That's the gay-and-proud-of-it Kayne Gillaspie.

That's “the” gay cheer for the third season of BRAVO's runaway hit reality series Project Runway that began unofficially Tuesday night with a lead-in “casting” show. The show's official season premiere followed Wednesday night with the first design competition and contestant elimination.

It's almost a given that reality shows usually have at least one gay participant. Think Marcellas on Big Brother. Or Rafe on Survivor. It's even better that so often these days their sexuality is simply part of who they are, not something notable for its shock value or used to add comic relief.

Project Runway's latest gay designer is a spike-haired 27-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma, who originally aspired to be a veterinarian. That career choice fell by the wayside as soon as he landed a job as sketch artist for a local pageant boutique. Yes, that is “pageant” as in “beauty”.

Happy as a clam, Kayne has since dressed five Top Teens, a Miss Oklahoma U.S.A. and her runner up. He's “into” women's custom ballroom dance costumes, eveningwear, and country-western music duds. It's no coincidence that Dolly Parton is right up there, after boyfriend and parents, at the top of Kayne's list of heroes.

On Tuesday's otherwise yawn of a casting show, an excerpt from Kayne's bio video livened things up by showing him finding a lone wire hanger among the many crowded racks of Southern Comfort, his prom-and-pageant shop. As if wishing to verify his gay credentials, Kayne immediately launched into his hilarious interpretation of Faye Dunaway playing Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest.

Gay men definitely have something to add to any fashion-oriented show, as it almost goes without saying that we have long played an important part in the fashion industry. The list of gay designers is almost endless ranging from Gianni Versace to Tom Ford to Isaac Mizrahi. If you don't think straight folks have a clue as to just how good the fashion sense of gay men is, try to otherwise explain away the popularity of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

What's refreshing about Project Runway, over other reality shows like American Idol, or So You Think You Can Dance, is that it doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator by surrendering any of its selection process to anyone not a professional in the industry. Its audience doesn't get to vote on who stays or goes. Judging is based entirely upon the collective input of people who should know what's in and what's out, even if, on rare occasions they don't.

Page 1 / 2 / 3 - Next