Actor Tom Lenk, who some of y’all may know from his stint as Andrew Wells on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, has come out of the closet in the new issue of The Advocate magazine. After a failed attempt to come out publicly on the recently canceled FOX series Do Not Disturb, Tom is talking to The Advocate about his coming out. Here are a few pics of Tom in the mag and a report on his coming out from After Elton:

The latest issue of The Advocate features icon Harvey Milk on the cover, but a minor icon of geekdom, Tom Lenk (who played Andrew on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), also makes news by officially coming out in the issue … It probably doesn’t come as that big of a shock to fans of Buffy that Tom is gay, which probably isn’t fair, as no doubt Lenk is capable of playing a wide-range of characters. Nonetheless, Lenk pinged quite a few gaydars including Buffy creator Joss Whedon, who told The Advocate that Andrew hadn’t been planned as gay, but when Lenk auditioned they decided to take the character that way since “Tom has a bit of a fey thing going on in his persona that, you know, you can’t really deny.” … Lenk says his coming out now was supposed to be timed to coincide with his first television same-sex kiss. The Buffy alum had been cast as the boyfriend of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s character on Fox’s Do Not Disturb. Alas for Lenk, DNR didn’t make it past its second episode before Fox showed mercy on us all and canceled the sitcom. Lenk also discusses his less-than-pleasant childhood growing up in Camarillo, California, a town north of Los Angeles, where he was “constantly tormented”, how theater was his escape, and how, post-Buffy, he learned his own management company was mocking him behind his back for being less than butch. Despite the setbacks, Lenk stays optimistic about his future. And as Whedon says about Lenk, “He’s very, very f**king talented.” Here is hoping Lenk finds the right vehicle to express that talent.

I have actually been very fortunate enough to know Tom for a couple of years now. We met casually just before I moved to LA and got to know each other very well since that time. He is seriously one of the funniest people I know. While I am very proud of him for stepping forward and coming out so publicly in this way, I’m not at all surprised that he decided to make this announcement in this way. It cannot be easy to consider that coming out as a gay person could greatly impact your livelihood but Tom is a resilient man and I am confident that his talent will outshine the simple matter of his sexuality. Folks who have been reading by blog for years may recall that I have talked at length about how much I love Tom’s Buffy character Andrew. I still contend that Andrew and Anya (Emma Caufield) are the absolute funniest characters on BtVS. Much props and respect goes out to Tom Lenk for making this brave step out of the closet. I never thought it would be possible to care for my friend more … I guess I was wrong :)

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