Born On This Day- April 18... Broadway's Gavin Creel

Nearly everyone I know in Portland is a hyphenate (lawyer/framer/author), making today’s birthday boy a most certain honorary citizen.

Gavin Creel is an activist/actor/singer/songwriter who is also one of founders of Broadway Impact, an organization fighting for equality for the LBGT community. He came out publicly in a 2009 interview in the Advocate.  Besides the original Broadway cast albums that he appears on has 3 solo vocal albums including- Get Out, released last month.

Creel was in the cast of Hair on both Broadway (2009) & The West End (2010). Creel earned Tony Award nominations for Hair & Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002). He has also appeared on Broadway in La Cage Aux Folles (2004) & the West End production of Mary Poppins. He’s come a long way since his first stage appearance in which he was a high school sophomore cast as Sir Sagamore in Camelot; speaking 2 words: “& mine.”

Creed: “Talking about sexuality, sexual orientation & understanding how sexual identity factors into all of our thinking is a conversation that I believe everyone should fearlessly enter into. It drives me crazy how "gay issues" so often appear to be just for the gays & are therefore relegated to the outside edges of a newspaper or newscast or even election (except when it is conveniently spun into the hot topic to help mobilize people against us for the sake of "morality" (ahem... youarewelcomeforthoseextrafouryearsmisterbush). I love who I am, but I don't see me & my gay friends as a bunch of homos who should be set apart from the rest. I don't agree with those in our community who think that as gay people we are special & should therefore keep ourselves isolated from certain straight-associated thinking or conventions. If I really am special, I don't need to separate myself to stand out (yet another thing I would say to the pimple-faced, show-choir-obsessed, teenage version of me). I hope the words are call to everyone: sexy straights, bi beauties, terrific trannies &, of course, us gorgeous gays.”

“These voices... our voices, & not the whispered gossip of "who is and who isn't" or "oh my god! I always knew they were" or "he/she/that is so gay," must set the real conversation. & then, hopefully someday soon, "I am gay" will not be something someone has to admit but something we will all celebrate.”

Although I appreciate him shirtless in Hair, Gavin Creel had to wear a white shirt & black tie as Elder Price in the national tour of The Book of Mormon.

Creel “Fans should follow me across the country and stalk me because I will put out. I will make out with every single one of them!”

Gavin Creel turns 36 years old today.