MrsPorkChop
Twinning!!
Member since 5/05 9941 total posts
Name:
Missy
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Re: Amusing article in the Wash Post Re: Lance Bass
text
The Crushed Crush
A Fan Comes to Grips With Lance's Coming Out
By Korin Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 27, 2006; Page C01
The text message buzzed on my phone at 9:52 a.m. yesterday while I got ready for work. It was from my former college suitemate:
She: OMG!!! I just saw Lance Bass is gay!! Your former love! No wonder it didn't work out between you two!
"Can this be true?": Lance Bass's bombshell news. (People Magazine)
Me: Holy cow! I know he was spotted at a gay bar with a friend a few weeks ago, but I thought he was just there for fun. *Crushed*
She: Yep! People.com!
Me: I'm SO e-mailing you to discuss after I read it/stop crying.
There it was, in black and white: My Lance Bass, the 27-year-old former singer for boy band 'N Sync, the man who wanted to blast into space (I would have gone!), coming out of the closet. And in a "very stable" relationship with his boyfriend! Who happens to be "Amazing Race" winner Reichen Lehmkuhl.
No doubt former Lance lovers the world over are heartbroken. I would know. I used to be one of them.
Let me begin by saying that I'm a 25-year-old professional happily ensconced in a serious relationship. But Lance Bass and I . . . well, we have a history.
I used to make fun of girls who bought those teeny-bopper magazines like Tiger Beat and Bop until my best friend in high school, Nawel Amerg, purchased a few and introduced me to 'N Sync. I was instantly smitten with Lance, the shy one with the spiky hair. Nawel had a thing for 'N Sync frontman J.C. Chasez, and we would dish about our crushes at our poster-clad lockers, after school, at sleepovers -- heck, everywhere. She even signed my yearbook "The future Mrs. J.C. Chasez."
Soon I was buying those cheesy magazines, just for the features on Lance and the band, and hiding them in my room so my older sister wouldn't make fun of me. I organized the road trip to a concert. I'd secretly tape MTV specials, VH1 shows, "Saturday Night Live" appearances -- anything to catch a glimpse of my special boy band member. He had pretty eyes. He was the sensitive one. He wasn't flashy, like Justin Timberlake. When the news leaked that Lance was dating "Boy Meets World" star Danielle Fishel, Nawel consoled me. We even called her "Danielle Super -Fishel." Because you know she was.
Oh, Lance. You were struggling even then.
"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said [that I was gay], it would overpower everything," Lance told People of his decision to keep his sexuality a secret. "I didn't know: Could that be the end of 'N Sync? So I had that weight on me of like, 'Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' "
Me, I let everybody know. At college, I proudly taped a big Lance Bass poster above the bunk bed. My roommate and suitemates thought my puppy love was cute -- to my face at least -- and created my AOL Instant Messenger screen name, "mskorinbass." Freshman year, I even dated a Lance lookalike, Hank, who didn't seem to have a problem with my infatuation. Our romance lasted all of two weeks, but my Lance poster remained.
I still have a photo of me, in all my freshman-15 glory, jumping up and down with a copy in my hand the day the band's second album, "No Strings Attached," was released. That picture is not for publication.
Eventually, I had my epiphany: A woman at 20 should not be that into boy bands. The poster came down.
Nawel and I lost touch over the years, but I called her yesterday to talk about the news. I knew she would understand. We agreed it was good that Lance, as he told People, was "more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life." But we never saw it coming.
"I totally saw that this morning and I was like, no way ," she said breathlessly. "He was never one of my favorites, but it's still disappointing. I'm so disappointed. I really am."
Oh, me too. Baby, bye, bye, bye.
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