Ask the Flying Monkey! (April 7, 2009)

Q: So Beau Breedlove, the teenage boyfriend of Sam Adams, Portland’s first out gay mayor, has appeared naked on the cover of Unzipped. But as I read this scandal, the mayor and Beau only kissed before he had turned 18. So where is the scandal exactly? – Brian, Catalina, CA

A: It’s not the sex, as they say, it’s the lying. Yes, it seems as if Adams broke no laws, and the questions about his personal life are definitely an invasion of his privacy and are none of the public’s business.

In which case, Adams could have said, “Let me be clear: I broke no laws. As for the rest, it’s not anyone’s business,” and let it go at that. But that’s not what he did. He lied about the fact that he and Breedlove had had an affair, and he told Breedlove to lie too.

Breedlove's Unzipped cover (left) and Sam Adams (right)

An understandable lie? A scandal that’s mostly the result of people’s fear of teenage sexuality, and of gay sexuality in general?

Maybe so. But we live in a democracy, and people can decide to vote for whoever leads them based on whatever reasons they want. When politicians answer a question with a blatant lie, that’s a big deal.

And I’m not even getting into the problem of the power differential, since Breedlove was a legislative intern (not Adams’ intern, true, although it sounds like the relationship became a “mentor-type” one at some point, assuming that’s not a euphemism for their dating). It’s okay to set limits on sexual behavior in circumstances like this.

The truth is, I’m actually a little more forgiving of Clinton’s lie regarding Monica Lewinsky, despite the fact that he may have perjured himself, because that was the result of such a blatant and appalling abuse of power on the part of Ken Starr and the Republicans. Clinton was forced to answer those questions – something that never should have been done (although he was an idiot to give his political opponents such ammunition to use against him).

But Adams was asked a question by a reporter. He chose to answer it with a lie. That’s hard for me to defend.

Q: Is it me or is there a disturbing new trend with movies dealing with gay teens in rural areas: a gay teen has crush on a seemingly straight guy, straight guy seems to reciprocate feelings, then gay teen is raped or, sometimes, murdered by the guy. Three recent examples are The Mudge Boy, Bugcrush, and most recently Dream Boy. – Scott, Baltimore, MD

A: What is it about this storyline that bothers you exactly? Do you think it’s unnecessarily negative and brutal, and a poor reflection on gay life? Or perhaps you think it’s unfair to rural communities? Or do you feel that it’s just become a cliché?

If it’s the last one, I think I agree with you. If it’s the second objection, well, rural communities do seem to be more intolerant than urban ones (during my last visit to South Dakota four years ago, my partner and I were almost bashed by some guys circling in a pick-up truck – something that hasn’t happened to me in an urban area since 1990).

And if you think that plot-line is too brutal, keep in mind that these were all low-budget indie flicks – Bugcrush isn’t even a feature, just a short film. So the audience for them is probably almost exclusively GLBT folks and people sympathetic to us.

Q: There was a French movie that I really love but can't remember the name. Hope you can help me out there. It's about a dying gay guy fallen in love with a straight man who loves platform diving. They become friends and the straight guy even picks him to live with over his girlfriend at the end before he died. The last scene was the straight man laughing happily when riding a bike on the street. Please Please help me. -- Kay, Toronto, Ontario

A: I feel like I’m playing Twenty Questions. Is it bigger than a breadbox? Is it L'Homme Que J'Aime (The Man I Love), a 1997 movie that first aired on French television, about two men who work at a pool, one gay and one “straight,” and the feelings they develop for each other?

Perhaps one of the Monkey's faithful readers knows the answer!

Next page! Luke MacFarlane's dance card.