Actress Amber Heard—from the critically (un)acclaimed screen adaptation of The River Why—has officially exited the closet, stage left. We’re still weighing our emotions on this one. Conflicted, perhaps, as in slightly disappointed… but mostly intrigued.
“Actress Amber Heard (Pineapple Express) publicly came out on Friday, introducing her girlfriend and speaking as an “out actress” at the GLAAD at 25 event in Los Angeles. On the red carpet for the celebration, Heard, who walked with her partner, Tasya van Ree, told AfterEllen.com, “I think GLAAD is one of the many reasons that I, as a 24-year-old, can come out. I think that organizations like GLAAD make that possible, because if it weren’t for opinions being changed, people being influenced, people being engaged to do the right thing, then there would be no prerogative for anyone to come out. Like I said, I can’t be a part of the problem. I hate the idea of a label just as much as anyone else, but I’m with who I’m with, I love who I love…”
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.