After his death, Reed’s Brady Bunch co-stars — most notably Barry Williams and Florence Henderson — publicly acknowledged Reed’s sexual orientation, and admitted that most of the cast and crew of The Brady Bunch were aware, but they did not discuss it with Reed. Barry Williams said, “Robert didn’t want to go there. I don’t think he talked about it with anyone. I just don’t think it was a discussion – period.”
Reed died in 1992 at the age of 59 and Knight told HuffPost Live this week that he ‘was as good or better a father figure than my own dad.’
He also called the late actor his ‘personal hero.’
You can read more here. I’d almost forgotten about Robert Reed and I’m going to look for more information about him for a future post. In many ways, he’s the epitome of the classic Hollywood gay lie that’s still happening now in some cases because gay men just can’t take the chance of coming out. In some cases, it would ruin them and their careers.
Reed died in 1992 of colon cancer. But it was disclosed he was HIV positive, which allegedly contributed to his death.
Bathhouse Bust
In Beirut, police have raided a bathhouse and those arrested could be dealing with a prison sentence…or worse.
The raid of the Shehrazad Hammam or ‘Turkish bath’ in Burj Hammoud, a Christian suburb of Beirut, took place around noon yesterday.
It comes after a raid on Saturday (9 August) on the Agha Hammam baths where 27 people were arrested. They have now been charged with homosexuality and could be jailed.
I think bathhouses in general, at least here in the US, have dwindled down a bit since the 1970’s and 80’s. I remember hearing how many were closing down during the height of the AIDS epidemic. In the late 90’s they started to resurface again, but as “health clubs” and “gyms.” One thing about bathhouses here, or anywhere else in the world, is that they always have to deal with raids. For some reason, the police can’t wait to raid the gays. The worst part about all this is that at one time places like bathhouses were a viable way for gay men to meet each other.
Like it or not, it’s a distinct part of the culture. I’ve never actually been to one.
James Arthur Anti-Gay Mixtape
I posted about this before. Singer, James Arthur, who won UK X Factor released a rap mixtape with homophobic slurs and at the time Simon Cowell dropped him from the label. He’s evidently been trying for a comeback without much success.
There were plans for him to appear on rapper Professor Green’s forthcoming album.
