Cheer him on – ‘Bring It On’ features gay cheerleader – Brief Article
“I’ve been a fag hag my entire life,” confesses screenwriter Jessica Bendinger. That explains the gay sensibility permeating her new comedy, Bring It On, which Universal brings out August 25. Competitive cheerleading sets the stage for the girl-meets-boy teen scenario, with head cheerleader Kirsten Dunst drawn to new kid Jesse Bradford (the lead in last year’s hustler indie Speedway Junky). But there’s a boy-meets-boy moment too, when hunky male cheerleader Les (Huntley Ritter)–who prefers the tag “controversial” to “gay”–nervously approaches another hot guy during the tournament. “I based Les on a lot of people I know,” says Bendinger. With a parent in the fashion biz, she adds, “I was introduced to and accepted the gay lifestyle before I started school.” Bendiger says she and Ritter “struggled to avoid stereotypical mannerisms,” and they succeeded: Les can cheer for our team any time.
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