06/30/2008
"I'm Like The Boy Next Door, But Just A Little Bit Off"
So says Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, who takes on the gay cause—despite not being gay himself—in a new Out (August 2008) cover story:
"When I'm going down the street, I get called a fag all the time. We have iPhones, and I'm still getting called the same names as when I was 13."
In a candid interview in which he likens himself to Andy Warhol and says no one has ever had to come out to him since his openness is well known, Wentz lobbies hard to be seen as not only a gay ally, but a fellow queer.
Just one who happens to have sex with Ashlee Simpson.
"'People treat sexuality the same way that [during] Jim Crow [white] people treated African-Americans,' he tells me. 'It’s totally dehumanized.' It could be his view from the stage—Fall Out Boy audiences skew toward teenage girls, and dudes who like mosh pits and teenage girls—but Wentz shrugs off the idea that whatever bias remains will survive another generation. 'The actual acceptance of gay marriage is inevitable,' he says. 'It’s just like how the next generation of kids are going to all have tattoos.'"
Thnks fr th spprt!
More images AFTER THE JUMP.
Posted 1:30 PM EST by Andy in Magazines, Pete Wentz, Shirtless | Permalink
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Uh....great?
Posted by: JD | Jun 30, 2008 1:42:23 PM
Being sexually open and fag-friendly doesn't make him any less of a douchey attention whore. Faux bisexuality + eyeliner doesn't = cool. It's still Pete Wentz we're talking about.
Posted by: Chas | Jun 30, 2008 1:52:46 PM
Real live gays and lesbains everywhere you look. So who does "Out" put on its covers? Straights. That's their ideal. That's their agenda -- making the world safe for straight people.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Jun 30, 2008 1:54:46 PM
Any bets that Tila Tequila makes the September cover?
http://www.towleroad.com/2008/06/post-1.html
Posted by: John in Manhattan | Jun 30, 2008 2:16:46 PM
pete wentz is so, so sexy. he makes me feel like a 14 year old girl!
Posted by: David | Jun 30, 2008 2:26:48 PM
The title reminded me of this awesome song:
Anyway, I like Pete Wentz, camera-whoring and all. He's right that homophobia also targets less masculine straight men.
Posted by: thin mint | Jun 30, 2008 2:27:39 PM
My link got erased in the comment above. Boo to no links! Oh well.
Anyway, to make sense of the comment, the link was to Broken Social Scene's song "I'm Still Your Fag" on Youtube.
Posted by: thin mint | Jun 30, 2008 2:29:40 PM
I've met Pete a few times at music events and he has been genuine and very fun to talk to. Call him what you like, I'm glad that he's raising exposure of basic human rights for gays to his fan base.
Honestly, guys, keep criticizing gay friendly celebrities and see how many more will step up to the plate.
Posted by: mark | Jun 30, 2008 2:35:08 PM
Any other gay magazines worth reading since Out has for lack of a better term, sold out? The Advocate is cool, news heavy, but maybe something with more pop cultural appeal. Am I gonna have to just go through blogs?
Posted by: Derrick | Jun 30, 2008 2:37:04 PM
Ugh, I'm so sick of him. Get him out of my sight.
Posted by: Gregoire | Jun 30, 2008 2:45:17 PM
Mark, you hit the nail on the head; keep criticizing gay friendly celebrities and see how many more will step up to the plate. BFD, so Wentz wants to play coy. Love him for it.
I like 'Out' magazine, and will continue to subscribe to it. It's a gay(er) GQ or Details. It's fun, and I think Peter Wentz is still cute.
For self-loathing gay dreck, please subscribe to Genre.
Posted by: Rad | Jun 30, 2008 2:47:02 PM
Honestly don't give a shit how many "gay friendly celebrities step up to the plate."
I want actual gays and lesbians. Is that too much to ask for?
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Jun 30, 2008 2:47:18 PM
This is interesting. If you follow the link to the whole interview at OUT, in the first paragraph:
"Wentz ... asks if him being in Out is akin to the Beastie Boys doing Vibe. 'Will you get flak for having someone like me on the cover?' he asks, sounding more concerned for the magazine’s reputation than his own."
Yes, Pete, apparently they will!
Posted by: thin mint | Jun 30, 2008 2:57:59 PM
I have to agree with D.E. here. Maybe it's time we stopped spending so much time pining over straight celebrities who claim to embrace and start shining the light on our own. Personally, I don't rest easier at night knowing that Pete Wentz kisses boys, that Sharon Stone has a ton of gay friends, or that Jake Gyllenhaal wouldn't be ashamed if he were gay. That's nice and all, but so the fuck what.
All of that being said, 'OUT' is schmaltzy lifestyle magazine in the same vein as 'Details', 'GQ', and 'Cosmopolitan'. I don't expect them to be substantive in the subjects they cover. Expecting any different would be giving them too much credit.
Posted by: Chas | Jun 30, 2008 3:03:29 PM
I could swear there was a time when we embraced straight allies.
What a bunch of douchebags; Wentz embraces us, and most of you just whine that we're not talking about gay celebs. Well guess what: straight allies are good, and deserve our support.
Posted by: Dan E | Jun 30, 2008 3:05:04 PM
This mag gets covered in the blog so much and the same thing every time. . . I'm with David.
Out is obviously for straight people! I couldn't figure it for the longest time. Then suddenly it hit me!
Out is for when you come out of the straight closet! They finally have a magazine and we just always thought it was for us. Wow.
My life has one less puzzle.
Posted by: Br!on | Jun 30, 2008 3:06:14 PM
THIN MINT, I love that even HE gets it.
The honchos at 'OUT' are well aware that a lot of gays think they have "straight worshiping" tendencies. They just don't care. I remember reading the letter from the editor section in one issue a couple years ago where the guy literally answered the criticism with a "Yawn". Their main objective is to SELL, and if they can do that by throwing gay celebs and activists under the bus in favor of straight ones, they'll continue to do so.
Posted by: Chas | Jun 30, 2008 3:14:55 PM
re: David E,
Let me get this straight (no pun) -- you're saying that you don't want outsiders speaking out about equal rights for gays just because they're not gay? Do you also believe that the opinions of PETA members should be dismissed because they're not animals?
Posted by: Mark | Jun 30, 2008 3:20:05 PM
If you don't like it don't read it. I cannot see how it can be hurtful to LGBT rights to have a high profile gay friendly celeb tooting the horn for us. If having someone like Wentz on the cover results in a straight person reading the magazine and becoming more gay-friendly, then that's a victory. We will only will by fighting for one straight heart at a time.
Posted by: Ted | Jun 30, 2008 3:20:35 PM
Jesus, you are some bitter bitches. Magazines need to sell. Newsstand sales are largely based on their covers---meaning, someone famous.
Instead of attacking all the straight people willing to be on those covers, why not attack closeted gays? Because the list of famous gays who are going to sell magazines is still pitifully short.
Out sucks in tons of ways (mainly the insanely priced fashions and other "living" products beyond the reach of most mortals). But having a gay-friendly cover guy is just common sense in terms of selling magazines. If you have a list of several dozen well-known, eye-grabbing out celebritries willing to adorn the cover of Out, I'm sure that the magazine's editors would be happy to have it.
Posted by: Paul R | Jun 30, 2008 3:21:17 PM
Mark,
Just FYI: You're trying to make a logical argument with someone who doesn't like Brokeback Mountain because none of the 4 main actors are gay.
Good luck with that!
Posted by: crispy | Jun 30, 2008 3:27:39 PM
Yeah, DAN E, straight allies are great. I love my straight friends like family. But I think there's a danger in acting as if we're somehow validated or actualized via straight acceptance. Like the old saying goes, you have to love yourself and accept your own before anyone else can.
Posted by: Chas | Jun 30, 2008 3:28:51 PM
After reading the comments, I think there is no pleasing someone. I would bet if they put a gay celeb on the cover, the first comment here would be "*Yawn*, so he's gay and on TV. Is that supposed to make me care."
I am beginning to think the real issue is that people are just jealous that it is not them on the cover.
Posted by: Ed | Jun 30, 2008 3:49:19 PM
BTW, my main issue with this cover isn't that they put a straight celebrity on the cover. Like I said, I haven't expected anything different from 'OUT' in a long time. I just don't like Pete Wentz, lol. I make fun of him wherever I see him, not just here on Towleroad.
Posted by: Chas | Jun 30, 2008 3:58:02 PM
ED: nah, it's just that no matter WHAT story Towleroad covers, the first 1 or 2 posts are always "And I should care because..." or "So what" or some other bitchy shit. So I say boo to the haters who lurk here, and love: LOVE Towleroad, LOVE Pete Wentz (and don't forget, there are many kids killed every year because people *think* they are gay, so good on him!), even LOVE Out! More of anything positive and pro-gay is good.
Posted by: Strepsi | Jun 30, 2008 3:59:22 PM