Christopher Lowell is, by all accounts, straight (and if he’s not, he’s not out, so he doesn’t count). Besides, he’s not nearly as famous as the others mentioned, IMHO.
Esprix
Really? Boo. =(
I really wanted to say Gale Harold, but I read a few QaF faq’s and he’s straight, apparently.
What is this world coming to!?!!!
Fine. Elton John. stomps off
In the category of deceased gay movie stars, let’s not forget the late, great Rock Hudson.
There’s also Boy George, whom no one’s mentioned yet, and Graham Norton is certainly doing his darnedest to increase his international presence.
Quentin Crisp also deserves an honorable mention for being famous specifically for being gay.
Well, according to the OP:
I still say it’s McKellen, at least at the moment.
Esprix
But there’s always George Michael: a fairly spectacular method of coming out; an album written about his dead male lover; the video in the bathroom with the dancing policeman; an ex-spice girl as a fag hag; he’s Greek…
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Richard Simmons…even as a young child I would think “hey, that guy is really gay!!”
I didn’t know Ian McKellan was gay. Nobody tells me anything!
Just off the top of my head. Sure there are more, but here goes:
Vote for one:
Rupert Evert
Nathan Lane
Alan Cumings
RuPaul
Tim Curry
Ellen
Rosie O’Donnell
Jimmy Summerville
John Mahoney
David Hyde Pierce
Jason Gould
Scott Hamilton
Steve Kmetko
Greg Louganis
Dean Cain
Jim Hormel
You may secretly cast a ballot for, (but not legally publically announce the nomination) for:
Ricky Martin
Tom Cruise
Tom Sellick
Sean Hayes
Paula Poundstone
Vin Diesel
Liz Smith
Correction - Sean Hayes came out.
Esprix
And, um, actually, David Hyde Pierce isn’t gay, AFAIK. And I don’t think Alan Cummings is, but I could be wrong. And John Mahoney? I don’t think so. (I do know that the guy who plays Bulldog on “Frasier” is, though, but he’s not that famous.) And Dean Cain should be under the “secret” category. And you forgot Ian McKellen, dammit! 
DMark, Where are you pulling this list from, anyway?
Esprix
Ok, but (after Esprix of course), who is the most fabulous gay man?
What, Esprix, didn’t you get the memo? 
I’d heard David Hyde Pierce, before. Doesn’t make it true.
Vin Diesel? Tom Selleck? Dang.
Tom Cruise just won his court case against the “erotic wrestler” who claimed to have had a tryst with the diminutive Mr. Cruise. He now admits that he made it up.
Lived there. Knew them (or worked with them).
I’m standing by the list.
Glad to hear about Sean Hayes…always wondered who the hell he thought he was fooling.
Alan Cummings is always being asked in interviews. He says he isn’t gay, but is cool about people thinking he is because it gets him work.
There was a “behind the scenes” special about Frasier shown over here a while ago. They said that only one of the regular cast members was gay, and that it wasn’t the restaurant critic as you’re supposed to think, but the Bulldog guy. So that excludes David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney too, unless either of them has come out since.
FYI, from The Advocate, the Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up (POWER Up) released its annual “Top 10 Most Powerful Gay Women in Show Business” list for 2002:
- Rosie O’Donnell
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Melissa Etheridge
- Nina Jacobson
- k.d. lang
- Jane Anderson
- Hilary Rosen (Capitol Hill lobbyist and Rock the Vote founding member, Recording Industry Association of America)
- Lee Rose
- Jan Oxenberg
- Lily Tomlin
Well we could certainly turn this into a “who is and who isn’t,” but I’d just as soon look up to people who are out - seems fitting, IMHO.
Esprix
I’ve read an interview with Alan Cummings (some glossy chick magazine, but which exact one escapes me right now) where he stated he was ambiguous, merely because he likes to play with public perceptions. He certainly alluded to not being gay, though.
Would Dean Cain and Vin Diesel even fit in a bed together? Great googly moogly!
OK, first off…Ian McKellen is gay? I’ll be damned, and I recall watching a rerun of him in drag on SNL’s Weekend Update and thought that it was a funny to see him off all people. Kinda the way it’d be funny to see Heston doing it or something. I really missed the boat on that one I guess.
And even more shocking…Christopher Lowell is straight!!! You’ve got to be kidding me. I was thinking about starting a tongue in cheek thread polling for the “gayest man on TV” with him as my #1 vote. With Wayne Harley Brachman from Food TV a close second.
To the OP, I’d say its a real close race between Elton John and McKellen. None of these other guys are even in the same ballpark, even guys like Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman. It may very well be a commentary on society, but if you asked 100 random people off the street Elton would probably be an easy first. McKellen’s recent surge in huge Blockbuster movies could bring him close, but Elton would win. Probably less than half would even know who Whitman and Wilde are.
DMark, that list is frigging idiotic. Not just because half the guys on your openly gay ist are straight, and because Hayes (and I’m pretty sure Poundstone) are out. But because of the lame stereotype that every famous male sex symbol is automatically rumoured to be gay. Vin Diesel? Are you fucking drunk?
Response A: I don’t know, but I’d sure like to find out!
Response B: The real question is, can they fit in a bed with me?
Response C: Your ideas intrigue me and I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter…
Esprix