Since then, his clout has grown astronomically. In the past year, he has been credited with forcing at least two celebrities out of the closet. One of his long-term outing projects focused on former N'Sync band member Lance Bass, who he claimed early on was more than just friends with "Amazing Race" winner Reichen Lehmkuhl. At one point during his campaign, Hilton published a post about the couple heading to Palm Springs, Calif., for the weekend, with a postscript: "Out of respect for their privacy and security -- and because we are not evil -- we did not mention where Lance & Reichen will be staying in Palm Springs this weekend. But ... If you pop on over, you're bound to run into them at one of the local sex clubs or something." When Bass appeared on the cover of People magazine under the headline "I'm Gay," Hilton popped up on "Inside Edition," "The Insider" and "Access Hollywood" as a talking head.
"Doogie Howser" star Neil Patrick Harris was a more recent target -- in his attempt to out the actor, Hilton appealed to the readers of his site for photographs of Harris with other men, at one point writing, "Shame on you Doogie! Shame!!!" After Harris came out, Hilton wrote a gloating post: "We are so proud (despite the nay-sayers) in having a hand in bringing about change. We've said it before and we will say it again: the closet no longer exists if you are a celebrity or a politician!" He followed his statement with the names of a dozen celebrities he claims are gay. He told the L.A. Times, "In my own way, subserviently, I am trying to make the world a better place." This raises the question: How does drawing cum stains on Clay Aiken's mouth, crudely scrawling the word "bottom" across a photo of Lance Bass or putting a call out to anyone who has "slept with Neil Patrick Harris" make the world a better place for gay or straight people? And what does it say about the mainstream press that it has adopted him?
While the average gossipmonger is content to collect his pay and scurry back into the shadows, Perez describes his work as a moral crusade. He portrays himself as a Savonarola in a pink pantsuit, a gay crusader who will use whatever means necessary to achieve his aims. As he told "Access Hollywood" after Bass came out this summer: "It upsets me that people think what I'm doing is a bad thing ... I know there is some controversy about outing people, but I also believe the only way we're gonna have change is with visibility. And if I have to drag some people screaming out of the closet, then I will."
Perez claims his blog is a public service, a check on Hollywood's excess and decadence, and not simply a self-serving vehicle to boost his own public image, career and bank account. He wrote that he wept tears of joy when he found out Harris had come out, calling it "another step towards full equality under the law for gays and lesbians, their relationships and their families." This is what separates Perez from the rest of the tabloid pack. Spreading gossip is just your average pedestrian variety of immorality. Claiming that you're doing it to further civil rights is an outright sham.
While Perez maintains that outing celebrities is good for gays, gay activists disagree. The Advocate's A&E editor, Corey Scholibo, explains, "It's not our policy to out people. We only out people when they have come out to us personally or when they have been previously written about by other publications." Perez still appeared in the magazine recently as part of a feature on bloggers, though. "He's a divisive figure in the gay community," Scholibo admits, "but he's definitely newsworthy." Damon Romine, spokesperson for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, an organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of gay people (and where Lavandeira briefly worked as a media relations assistant) says, "Media speculation about a celebrity's orientation is not something we support. This kind of gossip can lead some people to the decision to come out, as we've seen recently, or it may drive others further into the closet. People are going to become more guarded and secretive and not less, because they don't want to create any opportunities [for anyone to out them]."