News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media

T.R. Knight

Don't Ask, Don't Kiss: "Grey's Anatomy" goes gay with military smooch

Grey's Anatomy has long been a favorite of the gays thanks to out superstar T.R. Knight, but for this writer Grey's fell from Seattle Grace a long time ago. I'm fickle though, say "G.I. Joe's kissing another man" and my queer eyes are there!

I jumped at the chance to write about the military man-on-man action long teased, especially when I found out that Santiago from Friday Night Lights was going to be one of the hotties smooching one of my favorite Road Rulers.

Watching "The Becoming" was bittersweet for me; I had hoped to watch just this one episode and get out without being sucked back into the melodrama but knew it was risky. I was burnt to a crisp by Gizzie and Isaiah Washington so Grey's flatlined for me last season but I think I can move on unscathed ... which is more than I can say for our gay military boys at the center of the drama last night.

As the show opened I wondered how much of Meredith's selfish banter I'd have to endure before the reason for me tuning in popped up on screen. Thankfully it was within the first few minutes of the show that we were introduced to Darren Covington (FNL's Benny Ciaramello), the newest patient in McDreamy and Meredith's clinical trial of doom (the poor boy has a brain tumor).

Cue the stud in uniform named Todd Vernon (Road Ruler David Giuntoli) who was called in because he's Darren's "closest friend" and while things are looking bleak in the room, things are looking damn fine on my flatscreen! Two strapping young lads with a secret for some sexual healing; it's kinda hot...

Obviously Darren's upset that Todd showed up, seeing how he's being deployed in five days and all, but with only Meredith in the room Todd lets Darren know that he's not going anywhere and he makes his way to the bed and reassures his secret lover with a crazy intense stare that leads to one of the most sensual, emotional and damn near heart-breaking gay kisses I've ever seen on network television.

The pitter patter of little feet for T.R. and Mark.

Out Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight may be ready to take a huge step with his boyfriend, the ... slightly younger UCLA student Mark Cornelson. Or it could be just tabloid innuendo.

T.R. tells OK! Magazine that he's looking forward to raising children in the future:

“I wouldn’t rule [adoption] out at all. I think it would be adopting versus any other route. But yeah. I mean, there are a lot of kids who need homes.”

Of course, he doesn't say when or even if he'll be doing it, but the article makes it seems like he's ready to hit up Angelina Jolie for one of her spares.

According to BGAY.COM,the couple may be hearing wedding bells soon:

T.R. Knight will join the Matthew Shepard Foundation to help kick off National Gay-Pride month with a symbolic dusk commitment ceremony at the famed West Hollywood hotspot, The Abbey, on June 4, 2008. Couples from around the nation will “tie the knot” in an event officiated by the Mayor of West Hollywood and rumors has it T.R. and Mark will be among the marrying couples.

Again, this conjecture travels and warps quickly. I guarantee that what started as T.R. to attend charity function with boyfriend will eventually morph into T.R. and boyfriend to marry & adopt Cambodian conjoined twins.

T.R. Knight among those participating in National Day of Silence

Tomorrow is the National Day of Silence, and this year's observance is a memorial to the life and tragic death of Lawrence King:

"The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Hundreds of thousands of students will come together on April 25 to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior."

The 12th annual observance grows in stature (and controversy) every year, and it'll be interesting to see how the media covers it (if at all). It'll be hard to ignore this year, though, as both out entertainer Lance Bass and talk show host Larry King have filmed PSA's about it, and out actor T.R. Knight will participate in the ceremony at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in Los Angeles. I'd be surprised if the increasingly vocal Ellen Degeneres didn't mention it on her show today or tomorrow.

After the break, you can see the Day of Silence PSA from Lance Bass.

AfterElton Briefs: "The DL Chronicles" gets a second season, James Franco talks "Milk", and more!


Straight-but-not-narrow actor Damian T. Raven, star of the just-renewed DL Chronicles

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

  • The here! series The DL Chronicles, which tells the stories of "downlow" men, will return for a second season. The series was recently nominated for a GLAAD media award and is one of the few projects out there actively discussing gay men of color.
  • How appropriate that today's Nuke kiss on As the World Turns (the first in what, seven months?) came on the five-year anniversary of the first same-sex kiss in daytime history, between two women on All My Children. Kismet?

  • Director Stephen Daldry and gay pop legend Elton John held a press conference in NY to announce the cast of their new Billy Elliot Broadway musical, based on Daldry's film.
  • Madonnarama! John and Colin from NewNowNext posted a special vlog with their take on Madonna's upcoming Hard Candy album and some cute behind-the-scenes outtakes with Madge and boytoy Justin Timberlake.
  • James Franco discusses his role as Sean Penn's lover in Milk, and has some very nice things to say about Penn (the best on-screen lover he's ever had), director Gus Van Sant ("soft-spoken"), and the project overall ("comfortable and easy").

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

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The Grey's Anatomy co-stars Will & Grace-like friendship ends.

Happy birthday, T.R. Knight!

Happy 35th birthday to T.R. Knight, our favorite man in blue scrubs. He's somehow managed to juggle being smart, adorable, and incredibly sexy (he came in all the way up at #8 on the AfterElton.com Hot 100 List). When he was going through the difficult outing process, he earned our respect and admiration for keeping it together while things behind the scenes of Grey's Anatomy were falling apart. Here's hoping that his BFF Katherine Heigl and his...slightly younger boyfriend Mark Cornelsen have some special surprises in store for him tonight.

In case you've never seen it, after the break here's a clip of a very young T.R., in an instructional video about problem solving...at work. (oh, the irony). I'm not sure when this video was made, but judging from his cute feathered hair, and the ancient computer behind him, my guess is the early 90's.

T.R. Knight's dark, carbonated past: Diet Dr. Pepper, highlights, and women

The other night TBS ran one of those "funniest commercials" specials (hosted by Kathy Griffin, no less) and one of the ads caught our eye, as it starred a pre-fame T.R. Knight as a man whose dismay that his girlfriend and her dog are taking over his apartment can be soothed only by the sweet, sweet nectar of Diet Dr. Pepper.

Of course, being the amateur semioticians that we are, we dug for any subtext that we could find in the ad that would hint that the actor would eventually come out as the biggest gay-type-person on television*.

Complete lack of physical contact with his "girlfriend"? 200-yard permastare and overwhelming disinterest in their living arrangement, leading to apparent substance abuse? Frosted tips? Nope, nothing to see here.

Check out the ad after the jump...

Portia deRossi, T.R. Knight, Janet Jackson and others joing to film Lawrence King PSA

In the wake of the tragic murder of Lawrence King, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and LOGO (AfterELton.com's parent company) have enlisted the support of a number of celebrities to film a PSA urging people to "stop the hate" and ensure the safety of ALL students in our schools.

Participating in the public service announcement are T.R. Knight, Portia de Rossi, Janet Jackson and many others. Let's hope the loss of Lawrence leads to the prevention of this happening again.

AfterElton Briefs: "Angels in America" gets the fundies in a bunch, T.R. sings, and more!

"Single? Who, me?"

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

  • Publicists, shmublicists! Lance Bass allegedly made a quick change on his Myspace page and saved us all a press conference about his relationship status. I'm loving this Internet thing!
  • Conservative Christians are all up in arms over Angels in America's being assigned to high school students, calling the play "racist 'gay' porn." You know, that "multiple Tony-winning, multiple Emmy-winning, multiple SAG-Award-winning, multiple Golden-Globe-winning, Pulitzer-effing-Prize-winning racist 'gay' porn."

  • Above I've posted a cute best-moments fanvid taken at the recent Good Medicine benefit for Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crewmembers, including a snippet of T.R. Knight singing a song from Follies.
  • On a personal note, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone here at AfterElton.com, both behind the scenes and on the pages. This marks my one year anniversary of being on the editorial staff (Michael, that sting of regret will fade with time, I swear!) and it's been quite an adventure so far. I'm taking a few days off for my birthday but of course with Michael, Dennis, Brent, the Blogsketeers, our crackerjack writers and many wonderfully engaged readers keeping you entertained and informed, it probably won't even register. Thanks to all for your support, feedback, insight and humor, and for making the year the success that it has been!

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

AfterElton Briefs: T.R. Knight's new fella gets the "Star" treatment, "True Life" tackles gay-for-pay, and more!

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

  • The Queerty fellas read Star (so we don't have to!) and noticed that the rag did a piece on T.R. Knight's new fella, Mark Cornelsen. A mainstream tab covering a gay love interest just like they would a straight one? Awesome! (Except for you, Mark. Kiss your private life goodbye.)
  • A recent episode of MTV's True Life focused on gay-for-pay porn star Aaron James, and Kenneth has all his vital stats. (He also has some commenters that suggest that James might be lighter on the "-for-pay" part than he suggests.)
  • Us Weekly makes a point of acknowledging their GLAAD Media Award nomination.
Tim Gunn may not have a fierce walk, but he sure is ticklish!
  • Gawker asks, "Hipster or Homo?" Really, if they all dress like that, we're good.
  • Don't forget that we're liveblogging the Project Runway finale tonite at 10PM EST. And to prepare, check out this hilarious megamix of Christian's greatest moments (Courtesy of our fierce PR recapper, Christie Keith!)

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...


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