1st Annual Outie Awards (Day One)

For the next three days, Out In Hollywood will be handing out the Outies: year-end awards to the best and worst of 2006 as voted on by a jury of three: me, myself and I! OK, so it's not as exciting as next month's Oscar nominations but for the week between Christmas and New Year's, it's SOMETHING!

CLASSIEST COMING OUT EVER: Neil Patrick Harris. The talented television and Broadway star was being pressured by bloggers - mainly the aggressive Perez Hilton - to come out after a publicist mistakenly said that Harris, who had never diuscussed his private life - was NOT gay. To clear matters up, the star of the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" released the following statement to People.com: “I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love..." Then Harris simply got back to work on his show and also kept his obligations to host a local drama awards gala in L.A. the next week then announced the People's Choice Award nominees after that. He is in a relationship with actor David Burka but they remain low-profile with occassional pictures of them walking their dogs surfacing. This is quite a contrast to the...

CLUMSIEST COMING OUT OF 06: Sorry Lance Bass, but you struck me as a fading star who had nothing to lose and everything to gain by coming out in the cover of People magazine. I cringed when I read that first interview as Bass described himself and his circle of friends as "Straight Acting Gays" or SAGS. Since then, Bass has not really had anything very profound to say but has certainly been basking in the limelight with boyfriend Reichen Lehmkul at various events around the country. It's the most attention he's received since his days with NSYNC. Lehmkuhl, in discussing how blogger Hilton pushed Bass of the closet by posting photos of the pair wearing each other's clothes on different days, said Bass and Harris had been "lanced." It hasn't caught on. But it is nice to see Bass become more comfortable with being out and about as a gay man and I hope he will eventually have something to say or do some work of note.

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Tennis star Amelie Mauresmo, who has been an openly-gay player on the women's tour for nearly a decade. She may have lost her number one ranking last month to Justine Henin-Hardine, but she beat Justine in the finals of the Australian Open then came from behind to defeat her in the Wimbledon final as well. It was glorious and her speech after the Wimbledon win showed the world just how articulate, charming and thoughtful this beautiful woman is. Winning two of her sports' biggest prizes came after years of talk that Amelie would never live up to her grand potential. But she has done so now and has always remained true to herself along the way. She had a great role model in Martina Navratilova who retired from tennis one month shy of her 50th birthday. And Martina went out a winner as she won the mixed doubles title at the U.S. Open with Bob Bryan.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Former "Queen of nice" Rosie O'Donnell quit her popular daytime show before she publicly came out and seemed content to do things like raise her four kids with wife Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell, speak out for adoption rights for gay parents and for marriage equality, launch a gay family cruise line, and make the occasional appearance here and there on television or stage. But then came Meredith Viera's departure from "The View" and Barbara Walters' brilliant decision to replace her with the outspoken Rosie (pictured, left, doing her imitation of Donald Trump's combover and face). The show's ratings are up, the hot topics segment often makes news (and gets Rosie in hot water) and Rosie again has a platform to be Rosie - the real Rosie this time, not the Tom Cruise crush Rosie. As a very out lesbian, her presence on this show each day is really helping to change the world and to give a lot of viewers the gay friend they never thought they'd have and really like.

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: Bill Condon. "Dreamgirls" is a dream come true and the openly-gay Condon is largely the reason why. He brought this stage show to the screen and made it dazzle. He deserves all credit for directing a newcomer like Jennifer Hudson to such a landmark performance and for allowing Eddie Murphy the opportunity to give the performance of his career. Musicals are always tricky but Condon masterfully pulled this off with his talented cast and crew. What a gift he has given us, a classic musical just like they used to make - one that we'll want to see again and again and again...

Stay tuned for more Outies Thursday and Friday!