Florida boy Jonathan D. Lovitz is flying home to lead his family and friends in Come Out With Pride, the Orlando celebration that's slated to draw more than 70,000 people to downtown Lake Eola Park on Saturday, Oct. 8.
â┚¬Å”I am so honored,â┚¬Â beams 27-year-old actor/singer/model Lovitz, who has a spot on LOGO Television's The Setup Squad, doling out dating advice.
When Lovitz graduated from the University of Florida in 2006, he immediately went on a national Broadway tour. However, it was just a short time before he landed in the Big Apple. Soon after, Renee Lee, who owns Wings Inc, hired him as a dating expert.
A reality series seemed the natural progression: â┚¬Å”When LOGO pitched the idea to Renee, she said, â┚¬ËœI've got just the right team for you!'â┚¬ÂÂ
In his short life, Lovitz has traveled to all 50 states and garnered national attention for his romance tips and his LGBT advocacy. We caught up with him to ask him questions both profound and silly:
WATERMARK: How'd you become a professional wingman for The Setup Squad?
JONATHAN LOVITZ: Our boss, Renee, who owns Wings Inc., realized that she was just this one lonely, little, yenta Jew on our big island of diversity. She wanted a team of different backgrounds to respond to the huge demand she was getting from her customer population. So they were looking for just the right man to balance it out; you notice the team is pretty woman-heavy. She heard I do a pretty good job of setting my own friends up. We hit it off very well, and I love the job!
How's the petition to get the second season going?
It's going well. We really hope to be back. Our fans love it. People want you to be there and show the best of our community. Fans write me all the time and say, â┚¬Å”Thank you for being just a regular Joe.â┚¬ÂÂ
Your boyfriend helps spread the news.
Yes, he's always posting on Facebook for me! (Laughs.)
In March, a NYC judge let you out of jury duty because you said you didn't think you could be impartial, being a gay man who was treated like a second-class citizen.
What's been so incredible is that the story is still going. I still get emails asking me what happened since the CNN interview and Out article. I tell people that the event really connected me to groups like GLAAD, Marriage Equality and Human Rights Council. It really made me an advocate.
You've also got a very strong Orlando connection.
While I was in college, my parents moved from Coral Springs to Clermont to be full-time grandparents. They love every minute of it! Both of my sisters are teachers in the Orlando area. They're raising beautiful grandkids for my parents. I now have four beautiful nieces and nephews. (One was just born!). I'm also a Disney nut through and through. I have a lot of friends who are performers. Every year, I try to arrange my vacation around Orlando Fringe. Yes, the connection is very strong.
I also know a lot of your Orlando friends, so I know you're a huge junk food fan.
(Laughs.) I never met a bag of Doritos I didn't like. But I'm also my father's son, and pizza is my kryptonite.
How do you balance your love of junk food with keeping in shape?
I'm never going to say no to pizza. I just go to the gym five days a week for about an hour and a half. I say you need to do it smarter, not harder.
And you're a secret sci-fi geek?
The garage at my parents' house is full of Star Trek stuff. But I also have a fondness for cheesy, failed sci-fi like seaQuest, because I'm pretty sure that Jonathan Brandis helped make me gay when I was a teenager.
These are really deep questions, right?
Absolutely, Barbara Walters better watch out!
Besides Come Out With Pride, what are you going to do in Orlando?
I don't go home without stopping at the Ale House. I love hanging out at that place; don't ask me why! I go to Pulse, but now I've seen Mr. Sisters, that's another place I'll visit a lot. Also, when I'm home, I have a tight-knit network of people I like to see.
Do you have any big plans for COWP?
I'm just going up on that stage and tell Orlando what an honor it is to get to represent them.
More of this interview is included in the official Come Out With Pride 2011 Guide, on newsstands now. Jonathan's web site is JonathanDLovitz.com. Come out With Pride posts info on ComeOutWithPride.com.
