[Ryan]

I just found this out, quite by accident, while Web browsing yesterday evening...

László Almásy, the Hungarian who was the inspiration for the book (and resulting Hollywood movie) The English Patient, was gay.

Quote: "The real Almasy was a far cry from the character portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in the film based on Michael Ondaatje's novel, a dashing explorer who falls in love with another man's wife while working with the Royal Geographical Society in North Africa, and who helps the Nazis only as a way to be united with his love. In real life he was an intrepid explorer, but he was also a homosexual who wrote passionate letters to a young German officer he tried to help avoid going to the Russian front."

Full New York Times article at:
http://www.geocities.com/szerelem96/print/nytimes_count.htm

I found László Almásy on this list:
An Eastern European Out List
http://community.middlebury.edu/~moss/EEOL.html
_________________
Ryan Schultz, Reference Librarian
University of Manitoba Libraries
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

[Claude]

Dear Ryan,

Thanks for bringing the real English patient to our attention. A good article could be written on how Hollywood routinely heterosexualizes accomplished glbtq people.

Claude

[Gibeon]