Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (March 21, 2008)

MAYBE GLAAD SHOULD GIVE THEM THE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DAILY DRAMA
Last month I wrote about a German soap opera called Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love) featuring the characters of Olli (Jo Weil) and Christian (Thore Schölermann). When we last checked in, Olli had smooched Christian who was none too happy about it. Well, it seems Christian wasn't able to forget that kiss and, as you can see from these pics, things between the two have proceeded quite nicely. (Thanks to Dane for the heads up!)

While they have taken their relationship to the next level, Christian (lighter hair on right) is apparently having issues with being gay as Olli is the first guy he's been with. (Just think of him as Noah.) I have to say watching the clip of these two together is certainly a potent reminder of how far we have to go in the U.S. because even on Brothers & Sisters, things don't get this steamy. Check out this clip.

BTW, AfterElton.com reader Medusa is doing captions for the Christian/Olli storyline, and I highly encourage you to tell him to keep doing a great job!

WHO IS GOING TO COME OUT NEXT? IAN MCKELLEN AND ELTON JOHN?
For those of us who follow gay celebs in all their various incarnations, this past week proved a little confusing as Spin magazine printed an interview that to some folks made it sound like pop star Michael Stipe was just coming out. Those thinking this was breaking news included Queerty, Monsters & Critics and US Magazine whose headline read "REM's Michael Stipe: I'm Gay". Gee, that was breaking news — years and years ago.

Said Stipe to Spin:

It was super complicated for me in the ’80s. I was totally open with the band and my family and my friends and certainly the people I was sleeping with. I thought it was pretty obvious.
…
I’d just never felt strongly enough about a particular relationship to say, ‘Yeah, he’s my boyfriend, that is what it is.’

Now I recognize that to have public figures be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere out there.

I wish that weren't the case because school's and parents were doing their jobs, but alas, they're not.

YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME! WELL, YOU DON'T HATE ME AT ANY RATE!
In last week's column, I asked — with tongue in cheek — to vote in a poll to determine whether I was A) Self-obsessed B) Ill informed C) Hypersensitive D) all three or E) not that bad.

I'm happy to report that a full 77% of you voted that I'm "not that bad". I must say, this means even more to me than our winning a GLAAD award. In fact, I haven't been so moved since I asked Brent if he wanted to live together and, after a long pause, he said, "I suppose you'll do for now."

Excuse me as I have to stop writing for a moment because I'm so verklempt thinking about all of this.