Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (March 20, 2009)

AE: Obviously you have a very close relationship. And I think it’s true of a lot gay men, that they have a closeness with certain women, whether they’re siblings or friends. Why do you think that might be?
CB: You know, I’ve thought about this a lot. I have a lot of other gay men in my life, given that I teach and I think that academia over the years tends to be one of the more open places to work … Maybe it has something more to do with relationships rather than gender, in that when you have one that works you stay with it and nurture it and make it all that you can make it. Because you see how fragile people can be in terms of accepting if you’re gay.

But I know a lot of siblings where each of them are straight and they’re quite close. For me, the fact that John was gay wasn’t a defining part of our relationship. He was just my brother, and I’m close to my brother. To me it was never an issue in our relationship. John was gay, and I’m not. And he’s a boy and I’m a girl. That was never a big defining part of our relationship. I really think it has more to do with hanging onto relationships that are important and really knowing the core of who you are, and being gay is just one part of that. You hang onto those kinds of relationships. I know in terms of other friends, the people that mean the most to me are the people that know me best.

AE: Last question, talking as a Torchwood fan … What’s your favorite episode?
CB: I really like the episodes where Jack goes back in time or they have a connection to his past. So my favorite episode of all time is the one, I think it’s called “Jack Harkness,” where he meets the man whose name he took. Oh my gosh! I sobbed!

It’s one of those episodes where the kiss is at the perfect moment, and it’s so touching. It speaks so much to what I wish for everyone … that we could dance with each other and everything will be okay. That’s definitely my favorite episode of all time.

Editor's Note: Click here to read our full interview with Carole.

AND SPEAKING OF CAN’T-WAIT-FOR-IT RETURNING SHOWS WITHOUT A PREMIERE DATE …

Anna Paquin and Stepehn Moyer star in HBO's True Blood

In addition to Torchwood, the other TV series I’m dying to come back is True Blood, which was easily my favorite new show last year and is slated to return to HBO this summer.

Much like the way the new Torchwood comic is helping momentarily satisfy my TW craving, I’ve turned to the Charlaine Harris “Sookie Stackhouse” books that True Blood is based on. There are eight books in the series so far, with a ninth on the way in May, and I’m finding them as addictive — and as much of a head rush — as black-market vampire blood.

One of the things that appeals to me about these books is how the world Harris creates gets richer and more interesting as she continues to reveal more. The first book, Dead Until Dark, as with the first season of True Blood, only hints at the more complex workings of vampire society, as well as the other supernatural entities quietly populating our world that future books examine more fully.

In this sense, the books bear more than a passing similarity to Torchwood, also ostensibly set in our own world and following “ordinary” characters who discover there are fantastic elements beyond what we take to be normal, everyday reality. Even better, the books also resemble Torchwood’s casual handling of sexuality.

Much like Captain Jack’s progressive 51^st century conception of a more fluid “omnisexuality,” the vampires in Harris’ books are largely unconcerned with specific labels. As Sookie observes, when you’ve been around for hundreds of years, there aren’t many taboos.

It’s easy reading Harris’ books to see what drew series creator Alan Ball to this material. I can’t think of another series of books where gay and bisexual characters appear with such regularity, and in such a casual, undramatic fashion — much the way gay characters were integrated into Ball’s Six Feet Under.

Gay characters emerge in both the human and non-human populations of Harris’ books, but for the most part are not stigmatized, given vampires have emerged as the new scapegoats of choice. For their part, Harris’ vampires are particularly nonjudgmental when it comes to matters of sexual orientation.

One high-ranking vampire Sookie encounters, for example, is compared to a gay Hugh Hefner, given he lives in a sprawling mansion and constantly surrounds himself with hot boy toys.

However, while the books might not obsess over sexual orientation, that’s not to say they aren’t sexy.

Next page! Vampire sex drives, and evidence of a Botswana gay community.