Queer Spotlight: John Barrowman

This week we put John Barrowman, the multi-talented Scottish entertainer, under the Queer Spotlight.

Barrowman is best known on British television for his acting and presenting work for the BBC. His most prominent television role has been as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. He has featured in such light entertainment shows as Live & Kicking, Any Dream Will Do, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, and I'd Do Anything as well as appearing on the celebrity ice skating show Dancing on Ice.

John has dual citizenship in the UK and US. As a result of his family's move to Illinois when he was eight years old, he speaks with an American accent on screen, but reverts to a Scottish accent when with family or in Scotland.

John has been with his partner, Scott Gill, since 1993, from when they met during a production of Rope at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Despite this long-standing relationship, John told Scotland's The Herald newspaper that he had no plans to marry, saying, "Why would I want a 'marriage' from a belief system that hates me?" However, he and Gill did become civil partners on 27 December 2006. As John explained when the couple were interviewed by Attitude magazine, the couple do not want to call this a marriage: "We're just going to sign the civil register. We're not going to have any ceremony because I'm not a supporter of the word marriage for a gay partnership."

Interestingly, he was turned down for the role of Will in the US series Will and Grace as the producers felt he was "too straight". The role went to Eric McCormack who is heterosexual in real-life. Of the decision, John said "The sad thing is it's run by gay men and women," said Barrowman in a January 2006 article. He later expressed contempt for the idea that all gay men act the same way.

He was voted the 2006 Stonewall "Entertainer of the Year" and was third in Broadcast magazine's "Hottest Commodity" poll in November 2006. He was named by Out Magazine as "One of the 100 Men and Women to make 2008 a year to remember".

In 2008, he released an album of mostly covers titled Music Music Music. We played the first single "What About Us", an original song penned by Gary Barlow and Chris Braide. Watch the video here.