Ask the Flying Monkey! Gay Royalty, Plus Will La Streisand be in "Sex and City 2"?

This week! Will La Streisand be in Sex and the City 2? Have any celebrities "inned" themselves? Plus, the truth about the Tiffany/Debbie Gibson feud!

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Contact me here (and be sure and include your city and state and/or country!)

Q: So the trailer for Sex and the City 2 is out, and it reveals what Liza Minnelli had already confirmed: she sings at Anthony and Stanford’s gay wedding. But what about the other part of the rumor, that Barbra Streisand also sings? Is she in the movie or not? – Elliott, Carmel, CA

A: It’s been denied, but truthfully? I'd bet money that she is.

What’s my hunch based on?

First, there were the rumors before filming that the producers were in “secret talks” with her. Then there were the rumors, immediately shot down, that she and Liza Minnelli had actually filmed a scene together. I don’t put much stock in rumors per se, but why would the Minnelli rumors be true and not the Streisand ones? Plus, all this would make sense if they're trying to create a surprise "event."

Then, of course, there’s La Streisand’s well-known penchant for making both a Big Entrance and a Big Splash, not to mention all her talk lately about being tired of working so hard all her life.

Doing in a cameo in this movie would be the best of all possible worlds for her: she'd make a huge splash in a massive hit movie – and all it would take is a couple of days to record the song and film the scene.

I think she'd be insane not to do it. I think the producers would be insane not to want her to.

Finally, there’s the trailer itself. If you look carefully, first, we see a shot of Liza (looking fab, incidentally). Then, in the very next shot, we have a very brief flash of the lower half of another performer.

After all the rumors, if that's not Streisand, they're definitely trying to make us think it is.

Minelli hoofing it in the City 2 trailer, left, but whose feet are in the next shot?

You heard it here first: I think Streisand’s in the movie.

Q: Ugly Betty's sub-plot about Justin’s coming out and his (presumably) first kiss has me glued to the television. I can’t help but wonder how life would have been different for me if this was on television in the 1960’s when I was realized I was gay during high school (1966-69) and the prevailing pre-Stonewall cultural mores kept me in the closet. I wish this storyline would continue, but I realize how Hollywood works. Am I being hopelessly sentimental, or do you and others also believe that there is a place for a story like this? – Bill, Manchester, NH

A: You're being hopelessly sentimental. And the problem with that is...?

Let's face it: stories such as these have always been a hard sell in any medium that requires large audiences. And it was only due to a weird confluence of events that led to that wonderful Ugly Betty storyline: the fact that the show as on generally-gay-supportive ABC, the fact that the show had been canceled (and the producers knew it), and the fact that the network gave the producers free reign to end the series however they wanted.

That said, the show aired, it was wonderfully received (apart from right-wing online discussions where the homophobia is truly shocking), and the world didn't end. Now that the barrier has fallen, maybe – just maybe – we'll get to see such a storyline developed more fully, front and center.

But let's not kid ourselves: that storyline, about a 15-year-old boy and his first love and his wonderfully supportive family, was extraordinary – possibly the best "gay" TV moment of 2010 (and it's only April!).

Let's all stop and give credit where credit is seriously due.

Next Page! The truth about the Tiffany/Debbie Gibson rivalry!