Arts & Entertainment
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Jake Borelli comes out as gay
The actor says he’s been open with friends and family for almost 10 years
“Grey’s Anatomy” actor Jake Borelli’s character was part of a historical moment on Thursday night’s episode of the medical drama when two male doctors began a romance for the first time in the show’s history.
In the episode,Ā āFlowers Grow Out of My Grave,ā Levi Schmitt (Borelli) andĀ Dr. Nico Kim (Alex Landi), the first gay male surgeon in the series, gave in to their sexual tension and shared a kiss on the elevator. Levi admits it’s the first time he’s kissed another man.
Shortly after the episode aired, Borelli shared that he and his character have something in common. Borelli took to Instagram to publicly come out as gay.
āAs a gay guy myself, tonightās episode was so special to me. This is exactly the kind of story I craved as a young gay kid growing up in Ohio, and it blows my mind that Iām able to bring life to Dr. Levi Schmitt as he begins to grapple with his own sexuality this season on ‘Greyās Anatomy,’ā Borelli writes.
“His vulnerability and courage inspire me every day, and I hope he can do the same for you. To all of you who feel like little Levis out there, know that I do too, that you are seen, and that we’re all in this together. And to everyone who has supported me over the years, I can’t thank you enough, and I love you more than all the stars…” he continued.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Borelli explained why he decided now was the time to come out.
āIāve been out to my friends and family for almost 10 years now, but within the last couple of months of shooting the show and really getting to know this character and seeing the response, Iāve realized that this is becoming bigger than just me,ā Borelli said. āWithin the last year or so, Iāve been giving the opportunity to speak on a much larger platform. With that opportunity, I am able to come out to a much larger group of people. I want to live in a world that celebrates authenticity and honesty and openness and courage, and I feel a responsibility to come out on a much larger scale,ā he says.
“Grey’s Anatomy” airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.
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PHOTOS: Israel at war
International News Editor Michael K. Lavers was on assignment in the country last month
TEL AVIV, Israel ā The Washington Blade was on assignment in Israel from Oct. 4-14, 2024.
The Blade covered the first anniversary of Oct. 7, and interviewed the cousin of a woman who Hamas militants killed after they kidnapped her and her sister-in-law. The Blade also interviewed the widow of a gay Israel Defense Forces soldier who spearheaded efforts to amend the countryās Bereaved Families Law to recognize LGBTQ widows and widowers of fallen servicemembers.
Activists in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Beāer Sheva also spoke with the Blade.
The Israeli government in May banned the Qatar-based network from working in the country, and shut down its bureaus in East Jerusalem and Nazareth, a predominantly Arab city in northern Israel. A judge in June extended the ban for 45 days. Israeli soldiers on Sept. 22 raided Al Jazeeraās bureau in Ramallah, the Palestinian capital, and ordered its closure for 45 days. (Washington Blade screenshot by Michael K. Lavers)
A juice stand at the intersection of Dizengoff Street and Ben-Gurion Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
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Queer writer reflects on assault, drug use, more in āMean Boysā
An interview with Geoffrey Mak
Queer Chinese American writer Geoffrey Mak takes the personal essay to new, and sometimes unsettling, heights, in his book āMean Boys: A Personal Historyā (Bloomsbury, 2024). Described as a āmemoir-in-essays,ā Mak, the gay son of an evangelical minister, takes readers on his volatile and visceral personal journey, which includes the techno clubs of Berlin, various illicit substances, his sexual assault, and ultimately an examination of mass-murderer Elliot Rodger. Mak generously made time for an interview in advance of his November appearance at the Miami Book Fair.
BLADE: In the authorās note for your book āMean Boys: A Personal History,ā you said, āI wrote most of these essays for the Internet,ā and that awareness of your readership extended to āwhat they wanted to hear, and what they were wearing.ā Is that still your target audience or were you looking to expand it with the book?
GEOFFREY MAK: If I could go back in time and inspire my 26-year-old self to keep writing, I would say, āBabe, in 10 years, youāll get everything youāve ever dreamed of, just online-only.ā I still see the natural habitat of the personal essay; yet the internet has a tendency for fragmentation and bubbles. When I decided to write a book at a mainstream press, I thought a lot about how a bookāunlike a paintingāis a mass-produced object, which makes it a more democratic medium, almost humble. I thought a lot about the opportunity to reach readers in Idaho or Oregon or Arkansas, and, in fact, I now get emails or Instagram DMs from readers in all those states. I wanted to explore universal themes that anyone can relate to, such as the wages of status in a high school cafeteria, or the process of forgiving oneās own father.
BLADE: You also mentioned James Baldwin and Joan Didion, as well as Ed White, Hilton Als, and Alan Hollinghurst, among others. How important are these writers to you in your work?
MAK: I love that you called him Ed, because he is Ed. Each of those writers gave me something that is a part of me. Baldwin: conviction. Didion: cadence. White: self-mythology. Als: voice. Hollinghurst: sex.
BLADE: Another writer, Wesley Yang, is featured prominently in the āIdentity Despite Itselfā essay. Do you know if heās aware of being the essayās subject? If so, has he told you how he feels about it?
MAK: Marco Roth, a friend, was one of the founding editors of n+1, and commissioned and edited Wesley Yangās remarkable essay, āThe Face of Seung-Hui Choā when it came out in 2008. After Marco read my book, he sent it to him. In Marcoās view, I had at last given Yang his due: taking him as seriously as he deserved, which is something any writer should be flattered by. And I did take him seriously, calling him into account for his internalized Asian racism and transphobia. As to what Yang actually thinks, I have no idea. Can you believe it: Not a single person I wrote about in the book has reached out to me about it?
BLADE: In āMy Father, The Minister,ā you address religion, not only as the son of a religious leader but also as a gay man. Religion continues to make headlines, whether itās the role itās playing in the 2024 election, the ongoing sexual abuse scandals in the various churches, or the war in Gaza. What role, if any, does religion play in your life at present?
MAK: I pay close attention to the religious life of this country. Two-thirds consider themselves religious. A lot of what I read disturbs me, nothing is surprising to me. I was heartened when, earlier this year, the United Methodist Church rescinded a ban on gay clergy. It was a rare victory because sexual difference remains the greatest divisive factor in American churches today. The articulation of the queer, Christian subject might be my highest priority as a writer today. (Out of all my essays, I consider āCalifornia Gothicā my greatest work.) I donāt participate in organized religion, but I still study the Bible and read queer theology, particularly the work of Marcella Althaus-Reid and Linn Tonstad, major influences of mine. I count theologians as some of my closest friends. I was actually just emailing with the writer Garth Greenwell about how 4th-century apophatic theology has parallels with queer theory today. Iām currently writing a novel about a trans-femme protagonist who finds her way to God. Iām quite serious. Sometimes, I dream that if this whole writer career doesnāt pan out, I might go to Divinity School.
BLADE: You also write honestly about your drug usage in āMean Boys.ā Thereās a line in the āCalifornia Gothicā essay that reads: āAfter psychosis, and after addiction, I knew that whether I would recover came down to a single test: Could I find grace in the ordinary?ā Where are you now on that journey?
MAK: I happen to be sober now, but I have cycled through periods of limited drug use and sobriety since I finished that essay. I belong to a harm reduction community that keeps me accountable to my self-stated goals. For several years, I have had a buddy system, which differs from a sponsor relationship because itās non-hierarchical, with a friend Iām extremely close withāwe regularly check in with cravings, take stock of our weekly stressors, talk about books. If we ever call the other, we know to drop whatever weāre doing and pick up, because itās an emergency. One night, he called me when he relapsed on meth, and I ran straight to his apartment, we flushed out the syringes, and cried in each otherās arms until the sleeping pills kicked in. Since then, heās been sober for almost two years. Recently, Iāve been talking to him about ājunk time,ā which are the late-night brain rot hours when I canāt read and crave drugs the most. I need to start finding grace in the ordinariness of junk time. Thanks for the reminder.
BLADE: What was involved in your decision to write about the aftermath of your sexual assault in the essay āIn Arcadia Ego?ā
MAK: OK, so the first section of that essay originated as a Facebook post. People reached out with caring words, although the writing partly explored my reaching a limit with caring words. The material was so raw that I put it down for at least a few years. After I had some distance from my own assault, I picked up the essay again and suddenly realized I was bored of my own pain. It wasnāt going to teach me anything, because suffering isnāt a university. I wanted to party, so I wrote about that. Nothing about this was virtuous or wholesome or dignified. I got fucked up and screamed with my gays on the dance floor like sorority girls at a bachelorette party. In a previous era, you had a party to commemorate an occasion. My friends and I partied for no reason; the party justified itself. Life is like this, too. You never need a reason.
BLADE: Was the lengthy, titular essay that closes out the book, the first essay written for the book, and therefore the inspiration?
MAK: It was the last essay I finished. In fact, we delayed the release date of the book because I couldnāt finish it. Itās my most original writing and original thinking. Itās also not for everyone.
BLADE: In the āMean Boysā essay, you write about the ultimate mean boy ā mass-murderer Elliot Rodger. Did that essay begin as being about Rodger or did that come later?
MAK: This was one of the first essays I wrote where I didnāt outline it or know where it was ending up in advance. I started with an imageāthe Lacoste polo with the popped collarāand just kept writing. Itās meandering, because thatās how I wrote it, working through the innate turbulence of each paragraph until a door appeared into the next paragraph. I eventually found my way to Rodger. There was a time I thought I could write the essay without reading the manifesto, until I realized, cāmon, I was being chicken, I had to read the manifesto. Once I finished it, I knew I had to rewrite the entire essay.
BLADE: Have you started writing or thinking about your next book project?
MAK: Iām working on a novel about degenerate ravers in Berlin. While the UK and Germany have novels about raving, America curiously doesnāt have one. So, I decided to write one.
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Citrine, Andromeda and Silver WareĀ Sidora celebrated their birthdays at JR.’s Bar with a drag show on Saturday, Nov. 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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