December 27, 2006

Gerald Ford's Gay Son?

While the news media is replaying President Ford's biography over and over during the coming weeks, keep an eye out for any details about his son Steven Ford (or Steve Ford). I don't have anything to back up this claim, but for a long time I've heard rumors that Gerald Ford's son Steven is gay.

I spent most of this morning doing research on Steven Ford's personal life, but came up with very little. Steven Ford pinged my Gaydar ever since he was the 18 year old "first son" who just happened to be 6 foot tall, blond, athletic, and gorgeous. (Just look at the slide in the background!) I knew he started out as an actor, and learned today that his resume includes appearances in 30 films and numerous TV appearances including 6 years as Andy Richards on "Young And the Restless". You'd think there would be more titillating info available than just a list of credits on him, but there's not.

The Facts On Steven Ford:
-50 years old and never married.
-Appeared in "Contact" with Jodie Foster (another closeted actor).
-Appeared in "Starship Troopers" with recently-outed Neil Patrick Harris, gay pin-up boy Casper Van Dien, and lots of homoerotic imagery (remember the shower scene?!).
-Appeared in "Murder She Wrote", a gay camp classic.
-According to the Michigan Daily, at 18, Steven Ford "...was set to go to Duke University a few weeks after his father's inauguration, but could not imagine living in the dormitories with 10 secret service agents following him around all the time. " 'I'm not ready to go to college,' I told my dad," Ford said. "I've always had a dream of going out West and being a cowboy." Instead of Duke, he took his secret service agents out West and learned how to rope a steer and ranch. "I wanted to escape the limelight," he said. "I did a few interviews then, but I would just come back for a few months at a time. I attended the state dinners and met all the important people involved." Reading between the lines, I interpret that as he needed to get out of the big cities to avoid being outed. Or he wanted the 10 Secret Service guys all to himself. Or he had a Brokeback Mountain fantasy working...
-Towleroad re-told the story of how a gay man, Oliver Sipple, saved Gerald Ford's life at the 1975 San Francisco assasination attempt. It was none other than Harvey Milk who outed Sipple, hoping to find and promote a "gay hero". The "gay hero" angle was squashed by bad PR that lead to Sipple's ruin. If only another gay high profile gay person connected to the story could have come out at the time, the pressure on Sipple would have been lessened...
-In an Answers.com article with Steven Ford titled, "Y&R's Steven Ford Has A Secret": "By growing up in a political family, I saw how tough it was. Acting, to me, was a good choice because I grew up in a fishbowl with the public watching me. With acting, I could come out of this arena and have emotions and feelings through characters that I maybe wasn't allowed to have in the public eye as the son of a president. Acting was almost therapeutic for me." Describes pretty much every closeted actor, right?
-Ten years ago, Steven Ford found himself checking into the same recovery clinic named after his mother, The Betty Ford Center. I'm sure there was a lot of pressure to keep his private life private while still being involved in show business and politics, two of the most public of professions.
-To help others in recovery, Steven Ford now hires himself out as a Motivational Speaker charging fees in the range of $10,000 - $25,000 per engagement. He's gone from using acting as therapy to release his demons to numbing his feelings through alcohol. Now, for a fee, he'll tell groups of people about his personal life, or the parts he wants you to know. Sounds like somebody is itching to spill his guts, but is taking a roundabout way to do it.

What I'm going to tell you now, you will probably chalk up to Urban Legend, and I admit I have no evidence to prove it. You know I ain't one to gossip, so you ain't heard it from me, but... An ex-boyfriend of mine claimed that in the 80's he met Steven Ford when they were both living in Southern California. My ex knew him through other aquaintences, and met him on several occasions including being invited to lunch at a home that Steven Ford shared with a boyfriend who was a cop.

I'm hoping that when I put this out, someone will come forward with more information. PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENTS - even if it's just to agree with my Gaydar. And you thought Ronald Reagan was the only president with a gay son!

Steven Ford Filmography
Black Hawk Down (2001), The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998), Armageddon (1998), Against the Law (1998), Contact (1997), Two Came Back (1997), Starship Troopers (1997), Eraser (1996), Midnight Blue (1996), Heat (1995), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Twenty Dollar Star (1988), Body Count (1986)

Television Appearances
The Young & The Restless, Host of 'Secret Service' (NBC), Columbo, Baywatch, J.A.G., The Sentinel, Walker Texas Ranger, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Murder She Wrote

Posted by lavenderlounge at 3:52 PM

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Posted by: MarkStr82Hell1 at January 1, 2007 4:05 PM

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