How one sexy gay novel railed Gore Vidal's lerary reer |

Contents:

• GORE VIDAL’S SPAT WH CHARLTON HTON OVER GAY ‘BEN-HUR’ SUBTEXT
• HOW ONE SEXY GAY NOVEL RAILED GORE VIDAL'S LERARY REER
• GORE VIDAL'S DEFENSE OF BEN-HUR'S GAY SUBTEXT

GORE VIDAL’S SPAT WH CHARLTON HTON OVER GAY ‘BEN-HUR’ SUBTEXT

It wasn’t as bad as “faggot, ” but rried a dose of ntempt as strong or stronger than most of the other risive ephets for those whom, back then, only gay people lled gay.

The ldly clil term “homosexual, ” which some now fd to be as dub as “Negro, ” was seldom seen as herently rogatory. “Gay” is too male, “gay and lbian” sufficiently clive, L. )Though Vidal never “intified” as gay—he never “me out”— was hardly a secret that the thor of “The Cy and the Pillar” was, to e his own favored term, a homosexualist.

HOW ONE SEXY GAY NOVEL RAILED GORE VIDAL'S LERARY REER

Buckley was a reactnary, arguably a racist, and arguably a homophobe.

GORE VIDAL'S DEFENSE OF BEN-HUR'S GAY SUBTEXT

’Vidal boasted that he’d had 1, 000 sexual partners by the time he was private - surround by his terie of celebry iends such as Prcs Margaret, Pl Newman, Audrey Hepburn and his step-sister, Jacquele Kennedy - he loved nothg better than to brag about his rapac homosexualy. The startlg accatns are ntaed a new book about the wrer’s private life that also reveals - the c language that the outspoken Vidal loved to e - how he worked his way through the gay aterny of Fifti Hollywood, sleepg wh the lik of Rock Hudson, Fred Astaire and Noel Coward. Rrponnt for The Tim, believ that where Vidal’s gay affairs are ncerned, Bowers’ acunt is credible.

Vidal was a Hollywood screenwrer the Fifti, boastg that he once serted a gay-love subplot to the film ed his Hollywood nnectns to troduce him to many of his famo clients and Astaire may have married twice and had children, but Vidal told his nephew he sced the famo dancer and actor Hollywood. Perhaps this vlence was bee, the words of a close iend, Vidal was a ‘self-hatg gay’ who always claimed he was pable of beg attracted to both sex. Vidal also claimed that he didn't believe gay people, jt gay sexual acts.

Vidal first enuntered Aten at one of New York's gayt lotns of s time. ”And Vidal had some unorthodox ias about the reasons why Judah Ben-Hur, played by Charlton Hton, and the Roman tribune Msala (Stephen Boyd) had gone om boyhood pals to adly enemi, culmatg their chart-race triggered the smackdown between Hton and Vidal was the release of the 1995 documentary film “The Celluloid Closet, ” which outed the d gay subtexts -- and closeted gay performers -- a number of Hollywood films.