Zach Rance, the straight Big Brother houseguest who helped set a new standard of gay/straight integration in the BB house this summer, told former winner Rachel Reilly it felt “great to be a straight gay icon” in an exit interview after the show’s finale.
Zach became one half of the first gay/straight showmance in the show’s history this summer, forming an intimate bond with gay houseguest Frankie Grande and establishing a post-gay mindset among all the other houseguests.
In an interview with Out this week, Zach opens up about defining his sexuality (and why it doesn’t matter), his continuing friendship with Frankie, and his family’s reaction to the legendary #Zankie showmance.
What have people said to you [about the showmance]?
People have been telling me a lot of stuff. When people bring up Zankie, or Frankie, I talk about him in a good light, and that’s the end of the subject. People aren’t like, “Oh, are you gay? Oh, have you come out? Were you bisexual?” That’s never a topic of discussion. And a lot of people are telling me some of the bad stuff he said about me, but it doesn’t matter to me. I know he’s my friend. We’ve talked a lot since we’ve been out of the house. He’s always going to be my friend no matter what happened in the game. It’s just a game.
Zach, who says he plans to travel to Africa to build schools with Frankie in the future, also spoke about the support from his family:
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My whole family loves Frankie. My mom, my dad, my brother, my cousin—they all love Frankie. I feel like I did inspire some straight people to embrace gay people. You can be straight and have a gay best friend. It doesn’t matter. My family’s extremely proud of me because of how I approached that. I didn’t see his sexual orientation at all. That doesn’t define him. As far as the game goes, as far as my relationship with Frankie, my personality, my character—my family is very proud of me.
On “setting the record straight”:
One thing I think that should definitely be on record is that it doesn’t matter if someone’s gay or straight. It doesn’t matter. People don’t need to judge anyone from their sexual orientation, and we need to move on from that. Everyone in the world. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight, it doesn’t matter what you wear, it doesn’t matter what you look like, we’re all people in the world, and we all have feelings. I think that’s the main thing to me. I don’t see Frankie’s sexual orientation at all—it doesn’t define him. He’s a great person. He’s a great human being. He’s extremely smart, he’s extremely funny, and to me that’s all that matters. He’s a very kind person. I just want that to go on record—sexual orientation doesn’t matter, and the whole world needs to move on. That’s just what we need to do.
Check out Zach’s exit interview with Rachel Reilly below:
And for old time’s sake, relive the very best of Zankie below:
http://youtu.be/m1RZ4XsnpwU
Nixter
Zach, you are wonderful, and beautiful inside out. Thank you for setting a great example for everyone!
Billy Budd
Very nice words. It is a perfect speech, even if it was a planned and rehearsed thing.
Mikah
I don’t watch Big Brother,I never have,but I watched some videos of Zankie on youtube and they are adorable together.Frankie and Cody had many lovely moments that I saw as well.Zach doesn’t need to label himself,it’s nice to see a (“straight”)man comfortable with the fluidity of sexuality.Homophobia is for the ignorant and weak minded.
hephaestion
Zach is a great guy. I’ve had straight friends that are extremely close to me for decades. I hope the rest of the world acquires Zach’s wisdom and common sense in the years to come.
NJjoe
Zach has set the bar higher for gay/straight friendships and attitudes. He is very comfortable in his own skin. I missed Zach and all his zaniness in the BB House when he was evicted. I hope “Zankie” still plan go to Africa together. He truly is a great guy and setting a clear, positive example of the realities that a gay and “straight” man can be buds without issue of sexuality.
AtticusBennett
the sentiment is wonderful, and appreciated, but the wording is actually wrong.
we are all, ALL, “defined by being gay” to the exact same degree. not solely, but it is a defining part of us, as is our gender, our sex, our ethnicity. how i am treated and seen – as a gay white man from a middle-class canadian household – need not necessarily have a bearing on how i see myself. how another may choose to define you may not be how you choose to define yourself.
but when people say “they’re not defined by their sexuality” it always seems as if the word “define” is being used PEJORATIVELY. that what they’re saying is “i don’t want to be *negatively* defined solely by my sexuality”
well, then don’t see it as a pejorative. no gay man is “more defined by his sexuality” than another gay man. we all live in a world that is still anti-gay, and our experiences as gay people in a Straight world are indeed a defining thing – yet when i say defining i do not mean ‘it’s the only thing that defines us’ – none of us is “only defined by being gay” – and it’s high time we stopped saying “i’m not defined by being gay” -you are. we all are. and that’s not a bad thing. it’s a good thing – it’s the gift of having an outsider’s perspective.
CarrollAP
Love Frankie, Zach, Hayden, Derrick, and Cody. They are all sweet beautiful people! I have seen the underwear modeling pictures of Cody on the Internet. Hot! I think this is definitely my favourite season so far.
enlightenone
“You can be straight and have a gay best friend.” YOU CAN EVEN BE GAY AND HAVE A STRAIGHT BESTFRIEND! I did as early as 1971. I never thought I couldn’t.
It doesn’t matter. My family’s extremely proud of me because of how I approached that.” IT WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED IF THE SPONSORS OF THE SHOW DIDN’T WANT IT TO HAPPEN! And this straight guy would have OBEYED.
“…Didn’t see his sexual orientation at all.” OF COURSE HE DID! That’s why he had his boundaries, i.e. “I wouldn’t let him kiss me on the lips,” or words to that effect. “That doesn’t define him.” As ATTICUSBENETTE pointed out, no it’s not definitive, but it is a major characteristic that DOES DEFINE him, or US otherwise we would know he defines himself as “STRAIGHT!”