Ask the Flying Monkey! (February 01, 2010)

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Send it to aftereltonflyingmonkey@yahoo.com! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)

Q: So far my favorite scene in my favorite show, Glee, is Artie singing “Dancing With Myself.” How did that wonderful scene come about? – Marshall, Chicago, IL

Kevin McHale as Glee's Artie

A: “I think it was [creator] Ryan [Murphy’s idea],” Kevin McHale tells us of that striking scene that has him moving around the school in his wheelchair and singing, sometimes in normal motion while everyone else is in slow motion. “[Ryan] was the one who walked by me a few episodes before and he was, like, ‘Learn “Dancing With Myself.’ It was cool.”

As for the unique, wheel-popping choreography, “It was very unconventional,” Kevin admits. “Me and the choreographer, Zach [Woodlee], kind of knew what I could do in the chair. He’s amazing. It was us figuring certain types of moves we could do and splicing them together.”

Q: Oh, Mr. WonderWing Flapper, I must confess I'm in love with Charlie White and his blond curls. He just won the Ice Dance Figure Skating Championships with Meryl Davis over the weekend and will represent the U.S. at the Olympics. Any truth to the rumor that he's gay? Please, oh, please? And who is out in figure skating besides Mr. You Know Who? -- Ray, South Fallsburg, N.Y.

A: Charlie has a remarkably appealingly open-faced quality, doesn’t he? And yeah, the blond curls don’t hurt. But as far as I know, he’s not gay or out.

Charlie White with skating partner Meryl Davis

I’ve written about figure skaters before, and it always surprises a lot of people when I say: (1) most male figure skaters are not gay, and (2) of the ones who are gay, almost none are out while in competition. In 2006, not a single male skater from any country in singles, pairs, or dance was openly gay.

“There are certainly gay figure skaters, and maybe there is a higher percentage than in football, but to say every male figure skater is gay is flat-out wrong,” says Cyd Zeigler, the co-founder of OutSports.com. “It's the same insane mentality that says every football player is straight, but that's clearly not the case.”

This year, I couldn’t find a single openly gay competitor – not even Johnny Weir, who has technically never said he’s gay.

“He's never said, ‘I'm gay,’ but words are cheap,” Cyd says. “You tell me what he's saying by appearing in a movie sitting in a bubble bath with his very effeminate best friend; lounging on a couch in a pink T-shirt with his Hello Kitty; taking an ESPN reporter for a mani-pedi during their interview; and did you see the opening title sequence for his new show? Whether he says it or not, he's living his life out and proud, and I love him for it.”

Next page! Jonathan Kellerman on his out gay detective.