Latino Lover Captures Billy's Heart
Amid a hectic schedule of fundraising, flag waving and speech making, Billy,
"The World's First Out and Proud Gay Doll," who devotes much of his spare
time to promoting safe sex and gay rights, among other things, has won the love lottery. Since arriving in America in Feb, 1997 (from his home in Amsterdam), Billy, although saturated with invitation and solicitations, has scarcely had time for a personal life. Unexpectedly and just as suddenly, in a chance meeting with the sensitive, intelligent and strikingly handsome Carlos, Billy has surrendered his heart and fallen in love.
The lovers met back in May, when Billy was celebrating at one of his coming-out parties at a Miami night spot and Carlos was there for the weekend. A native of Puerto Rico, Carlos moved to New York to attend college, fell in lover with the city and made it his home. Realizing they both live in New York, they decided to exchange phone numbers.
The gay dynamic duo spent Christmas in Puerto Rico with Carlos' friends and family, and New Year's Eve in Amsterdam with Billy's folks. The pair will fly to New York on Feb. 14 where they will make their first public appearance together as they are toasted at a Valentine's Day party in their honor at club Escuelita. The couple will also celebrate their window displays at the popular NYC Raymond Dragon store (130 7th Ave.) "Vacation Billy" (resplendent with brown hair!) and "Vacation Carlos," (Billy's "Carlito") along with "New York Carlos," will be introduced to the industry at The New York International Gift Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from Feb. 22-26. The complete range of Billy and Carlos dolls, along with the inventory of "Billy Clothing" including Master, Sailor, Cowboy and San Francisco outfits are now available at stores throughout the country.
In New Orleans Billy and Carlos can be found at Something Different, at 5300 Tchoupitoulas St., 504.891.9056, www.gayamerica.com/billy/; somediff@cris.com; or Alternatives, 907 Bourbon St., 504.524.5222. In Baton Rouge, Billy and Carlos can be found at Hibiscus Bookstore, 635 Main St., 504.387.4264.
Us Talks to Some of Us
The Feb. edition of Us magazine
features interviews with the
outspoken and increasingly articulate Anne Heche and the demure Nathan Lane. In the interview with Anne Heche, she speaks of honesty, openness and the reverse inspiration of her heavily closeted minister father who died in 1983 from AIDS complications. "`If it weren't for my father, I don't think I would be so open. So that's a huge blessing,' she says. `I think it's somehow beautiful that because he died, because he was so unwilling to tell the truth, I got at a very young age [to] tell the truth, be who you are, there's nothing more important,"' of being the guinea pig for an openly lesbian movie star playing romantic leads, she says, "`Being an actor, the fun is changing form, being able to portray the person you've never been ... When someone says they're nervous [about whether audiences will accept a gay actress], I want to say, are you kidding? Don't I change form for you?"'
Nathan Lane also has his own take on honesty around sexual orientation, noting that when Jason Alexander said he was "the first straight man to have played Buzz [from Love! Valour! Compassion!]," he said, "'I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for clearing up that unsolved mystery that is my sexuality. I also said, Look, I'm 40, single and I work in the musical theater-you do the math. What do you need, flashcards?"' Later, in explaining why he is not more explicit about his sexual orientation, he says, "The trouble with [being explicit] to me is that it [implies] that if you're gay, you were just letting your hair down and it wasn't really a performance [to play a gay role]." [GLAAD]
